Barry Bonds is a famous American baseball player who has been embroiled in speculation about the abuse of performance-enhancing steroids during the second half of his Major League career and until his retirement. Long before Bonds became enthralled by what seemed like endless media speculation at times, he was a promising young baseball prospect with a good gene pool.

Barry was born on July 24, 1964 in the city of Riverside, California, which is located about an hour east of Los Angeles. Virtually from his birth, young Barry Bonds was surrounded by a baseball influence due in large part to the stardom of his father, Bobby Bonds, who was an accomplished star baseball player in his own right.

Although the son would eventually eclipse the father in terms of fame and statistical success, Bobby Bonds was a popular player who played for eight major league baseball teams, including the well-known New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, and St. Louis Cardinals, among others. . . Most baseball fans who followed the sport during the years 1968 to 1981, when Bobby Bonds played, remember the iconic player best as a three-time San Francisco Giants star who shared the outfield with legendary teammate Willie Mays. Even though Bobby Bonds and Willie Mays didn’t get together until young Barry Bonds was nearly four years old, Willie took on the responsibility of being a high-profile best man to Barry.

Despite being born in Southern California, Barry Bonds grew up most of his time in Northern California in the area of ​​the state commonly known as the Bay Area due to its proximity to the San Francisco Bay. Barry played baseball at Junipero Serra High School in the affluent San Francisco suburb of San Mateo, California. As a teenager, Barry didn’t just excel on the baseball field. As a three-sport star, the naturally gifted youngster competed on the varsity baseball, football, and basketball teams. Despite the variety of his athletic successes, it was baseball that stood out as his true passion.

After spending his freshman year on the junior varsity at Junipero Serra High School, Bonds graduated to varsity for his sophomore, junior, and senior seasons at San Mateo. During his final season, the baseball prodigy put up stellar numbers that included a miraculous .467 batting average. For his efforts as a breakout prep star, Bonds was named a high school All-American, and by all accounts, it looked like the mature youngster with the famous father and godfather might one day achieve the baseball status achieved by his famous family members.

Despite being selected in the second round of the 1982 Major League Baseball (MLB) draft by the San Francisco Giants, Barry decided to play college baseball for Arizona State University (ASU) after failing to make it to a deal with the Giants. In later interviews, Barry would say that he was glad he decided to attend ASU and receive his bachelor’s degree in criminology in 1986.