Barry Lamar Bonds is an American baseball player who starred in 22 consecutive seasons in the Major League Baseball. Barry Bonds won seven National League Most Valuable Player awards and fourteen All-Star selections. Throughout his career, he played for the San Francisco Giants and the Pittsburgh Pirates. As a result, Barry Bonds net worth is one of the highest among professional athletes.
Barry Bonds Net Worth: $85 million
Barry Bonds accumulated such wealth mainly from his earnings as a professional baseball player. So let’s take a look at how Barry Bonds net worth came to number $85 million.
Barry Bonds Bio and Career Development
Barry Bonds was born on July 24, 1964, in Riverside, California, to Bobby Bonds and Patricia Howard. His father was also a Major League professional baseball player. He grew up in San Carlos, California. He went to school in San Mateo, California, at Junipero Sierra High School. There he performed in some sports including football, basketball and of course baseball.
Later on, the soon to become professional athlete attended Arizona State University. He graduated college with a degree in criminology. During his college years, he also played during one summer for the team Alaska Goldpanners, in the amateur Alaska Baseball League. He was part of the Sporting News All-American team in 1984 and the College World Series he set the NCAA record for seven consecutive hits.
Barry Bonds Net Worth Over the Years
The first steps Barry Bonds took as a professional athlete came in his high school years. He was selected in the second round of the Major League Baseball Draft of 1982. However, he instead decided to go to college as The Giants baseball executive Tom Haller would not pay the young athlete more than $70,000.
Three years later, in 1985, he was picked by the Pittsburg Pirates. After a year in the Carolina League, as a training period, he made his Major League debut in 1986. He remained with the Pittsburgh Pirates up until 1992. While the attendance to Pittsburgh Pirates was around 10,000 people in 1985, it’s skyrocketed in 1987 with more than 52,000 persons. An important factor was Barry Bonds, who was the leadoff hitter.
Performances
In terms of performances in his early professional career, Barry Bonds managed to hit 16 home runs and had 36 stolen bases. His second season saw an increase in his performances in the field. He managed to hit 25 home runs with 59 run batted ins. Alongside legendary baseball players such as Bobby Bonilla. Van Slyke and Jay Bell, Barry Bonds wrote history for the Pittsburgh Pirates. As a result, the attendance levels for Pittsburgh Pirates grew even more reaching over 54,000 fans in the stadium.
In 1990, Barry Bonds won the Most Valuable Player distinction, after hitting 301 yards, 33 home runs, 52 bases stolen and 114 RBIs. Alongside the MVP award, the also became a member of the “30-30 Club”, for collecting 30 home run and 30 stolen bases. The first time this happened in a single season was in 1922, by Ken Williams. He remained the sole person to have done it for 34 years. Willie Mays achieved this feat in two consecutive seasons, in 1956 and 1957. Barry Bonds father, Bobby Bonds accomplished this feat in 1969 and remained the last professional baseball player to do so until his son achieved this performance in the 1990 season.
More Success
Barry Bonds also obtained the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards in that same year. Furthermore, together with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the athlete won the National League East in 1990. The following year, Barry Bonds won the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Awards once more, further increasing his reputation and net worth. Bonds won the Most Valuable Player award again in 1992 after hitting 34 home runs, 103 RBIs, and 311 yards.
The year 1993 saw Barry Bonds at the San Francisco Giants, where he remained until 2007. He went on to play for the Giants after the Pittsburgh Pirates were unable to pay the new salary Barry requested. As a result, Barry Bonds net worth skyrocketed after signing a free agent contract of $43,75 million, setting a new record at the time. The decision to spend the following six years with the Giants also involved a sentimental aspect. His father, Bobby Bonds, played for the Giants during his first seven years as a professional baseball player. Furthermore, his godfather Willie Mays also played in twenty-two Major League seasons, out of the twenty-four, for the Giants.
An Impressive Career
During his years as a professional baseball player for the San Francisco Giants, the young athlete worn the number twenty-five jerseys, as did his father. During the 1993 season, Barry Bonds achieved 46 home runs, 123 RBIs, and 336 yards. This allowed him to win his third and last Most Valuable Player award. During the 1996 season, he managed to reach 40 home runs and steal 40 bases. This allowed him to be one of the few athletes to get in the “40-40 Club”. The 2001 season saw Barry Bonds break Major League records once more, by reaching 73 home runs in a single season. He was awarded the Babe Ruth Home Run Award for having the most home runs in the 2001 Major League Baseball season.
The 2005 season saw Barry Bonds net worth grow even more, after earning a $22 million salary. Unfortunately, the athlete also had to undergo multiple surgeries due to a knee injury. Also, he had an extensive rehabilitation period. In the 2006 season his salary dropped to $20 million, bonuses not included. Nevertheless, the professional baseball player took home $172 million home, from commercials and sponsorship as well. This made him the best-paid baseball player of all time.
Without a doubt, Barry Bonds net worth reached this fantastic value due to the athletes long and fruitful career.
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