On October 7, 2001, Barry Bonds gave baseball's newest home-run record its final number. Facing the Los Angeles Dodgers at Pacific Bell Park, the San Francisco Giants slugger hit a first-inning solo homer off Dennis Springer. It was his 73rd of the season, the last addition to a total that had already passed Mark McGwire's 70 from 1998.
The swing completed an extraordinary stretch of offensive production. Bonds had tied McGwire on October 4, then moved beyond him with two homers against the Dodgers the following night. By the season finale, the question was no longer whether the record would fall. It was where the new standard would settle.
A home-run chase makes every trip to the plate feel different. Fans watch for a pitch the hitter can drive, while opposing pitchers weigh the cost of challenging him against the cost of another runner. Bonds turned that tension into an entire season's storyline. The last homer gave the chase a clean stopping point, but it also left a number future power hitters would be measured against.
The achievement belongs to an era that remains difficult to separate from baseball's performance-enhancing-drug controversy. Recognizing the official record does not require ignoring that wider history. The statistical result and the debate about its context are both part of how the season is remembered.
For Giants fans, October 7 marks the afternoon the chase ended at home. For baseball, it fixed one of the sport's most recognizable numbers: 73, the single-season total produced by Bonds in 2001.