Minor leagues Bonds signed with the Giants in . Playing in the Giants' minor league system, he was Most Valuable Player of the class-A
Western Carolinas League.
San Francisco Giants (1968–1974) Bonds was on the San Francisco Giants from 1968-1974. During his career with the Giants, he hit a
grand slam in his third at bat in his first major league game, June 25, 1968, becoming just the second player, and the first in MLB's modern era, to hit a grand slam in his debut game. The first was
Bill Duggleby in 1898. Bonds was named to the 1968
Topps All-Star Rookie Team. Bonds was remarkable during this era for his combination of power and speed but also for his propensity to
strike out. In his first full season in , he set a major league record with 187 strikeouts, while also leading the NL in
runs. He broke his own strikeout record a year later with 189. That record lasted until , when
Adam Dunn broke it by striking out 195 times. This mark now belongs to
Mark Reynolds with 223 in 2009. Bonds' 1970 total currently ranks tenth on the all-time single-season strikeout list. When Bonds retired, he ranked third in career strikeouts with 1,757, behind
Willie Stargell's 1,912 and
Reggie Jackson's 1,810. Bobby Bonds hit 39 home runs and had 43 stolen bases in 1973—the highest level of home runs and stolen bases (39+ of each) until
José Canseco of the Oakland Athletics in 1988. Barry and Bobby had 1,094 combined home runs through 2007—a record for a father-son combination. He was a three-time
Gold Glove Award winner (1971, 1973–74), and a three-time
All-Star (1971, 1973 and 1975, winning the All-Star MVP award in 1973). In 1970, he stole a career-high 48 bases, the highest total by a Giant since
Frankie Frisch in 1921. Bonds was second in the NL in runs (134), third in triples (10) and stolen bases (48) and fourth in doubles (36) and total bases (334). He also set a major league record with 189 strikeouts, which stood for 34 years until it was broken in 2004 by
Adam Dunn. In 1971, he finished fourth in the NL in
runs batted in and second in runs, leading the Giants with a .288 average as they won the
National League West title, earning their first postseason berth since the
1962 World Series. A bruised rib cage limited his play in the
1971 NLCS, his only postseason appearance. He was a late-inning replacement for rookie
Dave Kingman in Game 1 and did not play in Game 2 before starting the final two games, batting 2-for-8 in the series. That season, he placed fourth in the NL
MVP award voting. In 1972, Bonds scored 118 runs, which was second in the NL (the third straight season he was second in runs scored) and his 26 home runs was ninth in the circuit while his 44 stolen bases was 4th in the league. In 1973, he placed third in the MVP voting after hitting a career-high 39 home runs, 11 of them to start a game and leading the league in runs a second time. Bonds was named the NL
Player of the Year by
The Sporting News in 1973 and was also named an outfielder on
TSN's
American League All-Star Team in 1977.
New York Yankees (1975) After the 1974 season, the Giants traded Bonds to the
New York Yankees for
Bobby Murcer. In 1975, Bonds broke
Eddie Yost's career record of 28 leadoff home runs. His eventual record of 35 stood until
Rickey Henderson broke it in 1989, and his NL record of 30 was broken by
Craig Biggio in 2003. His single-season mark of 11 was broken by
Brady Anderson in 1996. His 32 home runs was fourth in the AL and his 30 stolen bases were eighth in the league. He was voted honorable mention on AP's All-MLB team.
California Angels (1976–1977) With the Angels needing right-handed power hitters, he was acquired from the Yankees for
Mickey Rivers and
Ed Figueroa on December 11, 1975. In 1977, he tied the Angels club record for home runs in a season (37).
Chicago White Sox (1978) Bonds was acquired along with
Richard Dotson and
Thad Bosley by the
Chicago White Sox from the Angels for
Brian Downing,
Chris Knapp and
Dave Frost on December 5, 1977. The transaction was part of
Bill Veeck and
Roland Hemond's rent-a-player strategy in which they attempted to get one productive campaign from a star player who was expected to become a free agent at season's end. It had worked the previous year when
Richie Zisk and
Oscar Gamble helped to keep the White Sox in contention into September but it failed when the team opened
1978 with Bonds as its right fielder and a 9–20 start.
Texas Rangers (1978) He was sent to the
Texas Rangers for
Claudell Washington and
Rusty Torres on May 16, 1978.
Cleveland Indians (1979) Bonds, along with
Len Barker, was dealt from the Rangers to the
Cleveland Indians for
Jim Kern and
Larvell Blanks on October 3, 1978. In his one season with Cleveland, he hit his 300th career home run.
St. Louis Cardinals (1980) His trade to the
St. Louis Cardinals for
John Denny and
Jerry Mumphrey on December 7, 1979, was the sixth in just over five years.
Chicago Cubs (1981) After his contract was purchased by the
Chicago Cubs from the Rangers on June 4, 1981, he had played with eight different MLB teams in eight years. This prompted a line in the lyrics to
Terry Cashman's 1981 hit song "
Talkin' Baseball", in which the line in part reads "And Bobby Bonds can play for everyone." In the first inning of his first game with the Cubs, Bonds tripped on a seam in the artificial turf at
Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh and broke a bone in his wrist. He went on the 21-day disabled list and didn't play again until after the
1981 Major League Baseball strike.
St. Lucie Legends (1989) Bonds joined the
St. Lucie Legends of the newly formed
Senior Professional Baseball Association in 1989, playing for one season as well as managing for the second half of the season. The club folded after their inaugural season and the league folded during the second season.
Legacy Bonds' 461 career stolen bases ranked 12th in major league history upon his retirement. He was hitting instructor for the Indians from 1984 to 1987, and rejoined the Giants as a coach in 1993 when his son Barry signed with the team as a free agent. As a player, coach, scout and front-office employee, he was with the Giants franchise for 23 seasons. Barry Bonds is the only other player in major league history to hit 300 home runs and steal 400 bases, and also the only other player to have five
30–30 seasons. Eleven times Bonds was in his league's top 10 in stolen bases, with eight of those seasons in the top six. Seven times he was among the league top ten home run hitters and nine times he was among the top ten in runs scored, leading the NL in 1971 and 1973. He was in the top ten in total bases eight times, leading the NL in 1973. He had as of 2018 the fifth-highest career
power–speed number, behind his son Barry, Rickey Henderson,
Willie Mays, and
Alex Rodriguez, at 386.0. ==Personal life==