From the time he arrived at Arizona State on a baseball scholarship in the fall of 1982, Barry Bonds and the state of Arizona have been connected. Many of his highlights — and scandals — have taken place with the desert as a backdrop:
April 7, 1983
Bonds, an 18-year-old freshman at Arizona State, goes hitless in one at-bat in his first game in Tucson. The the Wildcats defeated the Sun Devils 4-3 at Sancet Field.
May 11, 1983
Bonds, now a starter, rips a two-run single in the Sun Devils' 9-5 win over Arizona in Tempe. The ASU win kills the Wildcats' chances of making the postseason.
May 12, 1985
UA pitching coach Jim Wing is ejected for visiting the mound twice while Bonds hits in a 15-3 ASU win. A month later, Bonds is selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first round (sixth overall) of major-league baseball's amateur draft.
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March 1993
Bonds returns to the Valley of the Sun — for spring training, at least — as a member of the San Francisco Giants. Bonds' six-year, $43.75 million contract is, at the time, the richest in baseball history.
April 3, 1998
Bonds goes 1 for 5 with a double in his first game at Bank One Ballpark, the home of the expansion Arizona Diamondbacks.
July 26, 2001
Bonds belts two homers off the D-backs' Curt Schilling in an 11-3 win in Phoenix. Bonds finished the season with 73 home runs, a major-league record.
May 22, 2002
In Phoenix to face the D-backs, Bonds holds a news conference to dispute Jose Canseco's claim that 85 percent of baseball players have used steroids.
March 23, 2005
Coming off knee surgery and embroiled in a steroid scandal, Bonds declares he's physically and mentally finished.
"You wanted me to jump off a bridge. I finally did," Bonds said during spring training in Scottsdale.
April 18, 2006
A 23-year-old Show Low man is charged with disorderly conduct after throwing a tube of toothpaste — meant to look like steroid cream — at Bonds while he plays left field. Bonds reportedly does not notice the tube.
April 28, 2007
Bonds launches his 742nd career home run in the Giants' 5-4 loss to the D-backs at Chase Field. Bonds' blast gives him 19 home runs in Phoenix, the most by any visiting player.
— Ryan Finley
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