SAN FRANCISCO -- The ball exploded off Barry Bonds' bat, a small white sphere streaking through the dark San Francisco sky, headed for the right-center field seats and a hallowed place in baseball history.
It was 8:51 Tuesday, a night no one in the sellout crowd of 43,154 at AT&T Park would ever forget, a night to be lived and relived by word of mouth, digital camera and endless reels of highlight tape.
On a 3-and-2 pitch from Washington Nationals left-hander Mike Bacsik, Bonds, in his second game after tying Hank Aaron's career home run mark of 755, belted No. 756.
In this, his 23rd season in the major leagues, his 16th in a Giants uniform, the holder of the single-season home run record with 73 in 2001 and a record seven most-valuable player awards, Bonds added the final jewel to his home run crown.
A towering drive that has become Bonds' trademark, the ball, cheered on by a hysterical home crowd, traveled 435 feet before landing in a pile of straining arms and banging bodies, fans with visions of perhaps half a million dollars fighting for the souvenir of a lifetime.
For an instant, Bonds stood at home plate, just another spectator watching the majestic moment.
For an instant, all the doubters, all the critics, all those who pointed toward his alleged use of steroids, who accused him of tainting the game and its most treasured record, had been left behind.
There's no telling what the future holds for the 43-year-old Bonds, whether the allegations of steroid use will ultimately be proved, whether he might eventually be indicted by a grand jury investigating him on accusations of perjury and tax evasion, whether Alex Rodriguez, the youngest player to hit 500 home runs at 32, will someday eclipse Bonds.
But nothing, nobody could take this moment away from Bonds.
"This record is not tainted at all, at all, period," Bonds said.
According to the book "Game of Shadows" by Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada -- the San Francisco Chronicle reporters who broke the story of a sports steroids scandal -- Bonds decided to use steroids in an attempt to surpass the achievements of of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa after their memorable home run race of 1998 in which both exceeded Roger Maris' single-season record of 61.
Bonds hit 49 home runs in 2000, then shattered the record with 73 the next year.
