For two weeks in the summer of 2007, something unusual happened to Barry Bonds: He stopped hitting home runs. After going deep on July 3 in Cincinnati off the Reds’ Aaron Harang, Bonds endured a two-week homerless drought that was his longest in more than three years. For 61 consecutive plate appearances, his pursuit of Hank Aaron’s career home run record remained stalled at 751.
Perhaps it was his age. Bonds would turn 43 that month and play in only 126 of the Giants’ 162 games. Perhaps he was feeling the pressure of a historic pursuit that had been years in the making; each of his at-bats at San Francisco’s AT&T Park was met with ecstatic cheers, while each at-bat on the road came to the tune of thunderous boos.