Thursday, May 31, 2001
Bonds continues HR assault
Two Wednesday makes record 17 in May
The Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO Barry Bonds hit two home runs Wednesday night, setting a major-league record with 17 in May and moving past Willie McCovey and Ted Williams into 11th place on the career list with 522.
By surpassing McCovey, Bonds became the most prolific left-handed home run hitter ever in the National League.
It's a great honor to be able to have that accomplishment, not just for me but for anybody in the game baseball to be in that 500 home run category, Bonds said after the Giants's 4-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
After Bonds hits his 28th homer of the season in the sixth inning, he stopped to shake hands with McCovey, who was sitting in the front row near the Giants' dugout.
I'm glad he was able to do it at home while I was here to see it in person, McCovey said.
Bonds has homered in nine of his last 13 games, including a three-run performance in Atlanta on May 19. His two-homer game Wednesday was the 49th multihomer game of his career.
Bonds surpassed the May record set by Mark McGwire in 1998 and Mickey Mantle in 1956.
Bonds is the fastest player to reach 28 home runs in a season, doing it in 53 games. McGwire reached 28 in 59 games in 1998, the year he went on to hit 70 home runs.
He's the hottest hitter on the planet, Arizona manager Bob Brenly said.
He's willed his way into the history books, Arizona's Jay Bell said of his former teammate in Pittsburgh. Tonight was such a phenomenal way to tie and break McCovey's and Williams' record. It was like it was scripted out.
He's such a tremendous talent, nothing he does surprises me any more.
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