The father of the eventual Home Run King, Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonds, was one hell of a baseball player himself and the first man with that surname to be an All-Star in San Francisco.

Bonds debuted for the Giants in 1966, and before long, we had the prototype for the Power-Speed # statistic (which he led nine times, five as a Giant) that would come in vogue decades later.  The speedy Rightfielder stole bases the same way he went deep, which was often.  Bonds became the first player to have a 30 Home Run/30 Stolen Base year, and he would do so five times!  An All-Star twice in San Francisco, Bonds became a new type of leadoff hitter who could set the table and clear it with the same ease.  Defensively, he was also very good, winning three Gold Gloves.

Bonds, who would become the second player behind his teammate, Willie Mays, to have 300 Home Runs and 300 Stolen Bases, was traded to the Yankees in 1974.  Bonds collected 1,106 Hits with 186 Home Runs and 263 Stolen Bases as a Giant.

In 2008, Bonds was part of San Francisco's first Wall of Fame Class.

It seemed like Bobby Bonds was always in someone’s shadow.  As a kid breaking into the Giants, he shared an outfield with Willie Mays.  In his final years, he remained a talented pro but was relegated to journeyman status, bouncing around the league.  He is also Barry’s father.  We prefer to think of him as one of the early prototypes of the modern baseball athlete.

Bobby Bonds was one of the great leadoff men of all time.  He combined power and speed in ways that nobody had before, and in the 1973 season, he was a home run away from becoming the first ever 40/40 man in baseball history.  Bonds did the 30/30 five times in his career and displayed the kind of skills that would come to be expected of the next generation of baseball players.  He would lead his respective league in Power-Speed nine times and, as of this writing, is 5th all-time in that statistic.

Bonds did have negatives that would keep him from the Hall.  He did walk a lot, but his batting average was only .268.  Subsequently, Bonds struck out a lot, leading the league in that category three times.  He may not necessarily deserve enshrinement in Cooperstown, but he does deserve to be out of shadows.