When Barry Bonds received death threats while attempting to surpass Hank Aaron's career home run record
In a 2007 appearance on the KNBR radio show, Barry Bonds revealed how he had received death threats for attempting to break Hank Aaron's career home run record.
"I just looked around and could see where they were all located, all the security. It was scary at first," Bonds said. "I really didn't start hitting home runs at first because I was really nervous."
Barry Bonds grew extremely worried about his safety as he came closer and closer to breaking Hank Aaron's record. This occurred right after 9/11 when tensions were high, and many were in fear for their safety.
Barry Bonds and Michael Jordan, 1993 https://t.co/r1EdEq9ipM
At the time, Bonds would get threatening messages cautioning him against breaking the record. Barry recalled seeing guards everywhere and feeling scared for his safety. Bonds said that because he was so scared and nervous, he wasn't able to hit any home runs. He claimed:
"It was like, 'I could get shot out here.' I was thinking, did I tell my mom I love her?"
Bonds thankfully didn't experience any physical harassment at the time and did manage to break Hank Aaron's record. He now holds the highest home run record with 762 career home runs.
When Barry Bonds prioritized Baseball over his safety.
When Barry Bonds was close to breaking Hank Aaron's record, he received alarming death threats. This led to him underperforming and not being able to hit home runs.
"Then I started playing again, and then I started hitting them again," Bonds said in the aforementioned interview. "I just thought, 'if this is what's going to happen, you know what...'"
As he started playing more and more, the fear inside him started subsiding. Bonds kept thinking that if something bad was going to happen, then all he could do was play his best. This was when Bonds started hitting home runs again.
Bonds didn't communicate his fears to anyone on the team, and he didn't even want to tell his wife about the situation. However, Barry did come clean with his wife for his daughter's sake. He recalled telling her that if something happened, then it happened, and they had no power over it.
"I didn't want anybody else on the team to know this," he said. "I didn't want my wife to know about this, either, but I had to tell her for my little girl's sake. I was like, 'You know what, honey? If it happens, it happens.' What are you going to do about it?"
9/20/2001: Barry Bonds’ 64th home run of the season went dead central in the fifth inning by the Bay.
#SFGiants (via MLB) @TheBsblr @BaseballCentral https://t.co/qDrNzKEdZo
"The main thing is just take care of our daughter. Whatever happens to me is fine. Let God handle that."
However, Barry Bonds did retain his faith in God. The baseball legend believed that no matter what happened to him, God would take care of his family, especially his daughter.