pitched around Bonds (he walked a record 13 times). When they finally did challenge him, however, they suffered the consequences. In one classic October confrontation, Anaheim closer Troy Percival came at Bonds with 95-mile-an-hour gas only to watch him belt the ball 480 feet.

At the start of the 2003 campaign, Bonds sits among the career leaders in several major offensive areas: eleventh in on-base percentage (.428), eighth in slugging (.595), fourth in walks (1,922), fourth in home runs (613). If the 38-year-old left fielder can remain healthy for two or three more years, he has a legitimate shot at breaking the records in these categories. As for OPS+, a statistic that is always in flux, it's difficult to gauge where Bonds will finish. But one thing is certain:Look up his career batting statistics in the player registry and you'll see just how often his figures appear in bold, indications that he led the league in that particular category. In 23 seasons, Hornsby topped the league in hitting seven times, in runs scored five times, and in hits and runs batted in four times. Yet, probably his most impressive stats are his on-base percentage and slugging average. During his career, Hornsby led the league nine times in on-base percentage and nine times in slugging. What's more, from 1917 through 1929, he led the league in OPS+ 11 times.

Hornsby's best streak of years was from 1921 to 1925. Incredibly, Hornsby's average during that time was .402 -- one of the most undersold records in baseball history --