June 25, 1968: Bobby Bonds in Grand in his debut
June 25, 1968, At Candlestick Park – San Francisco Giant, Bobby Bonds, a 22-year old outfielder just called up by the San Francisco Giants, announced his arrival in grand fashion, clearing the bases in the sixth inning with a homer off Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Jack Purdin. The hit came in Bonds’ third career at-bat and made him the first player in 70 years to hit a grand slam in his first major league game.
The only other player to hit a grand slam in his first major league game at the time was Bill Duggleby of the Philadelphia Phillies, who achieved the feat in 1898.
Bonds arrived in San Francisco hotter than a pistol, leading the Pacific Coast League with a .367 batting average before his call-up from Triple-A Phoenix. In his debut, he joined a powerful Giants lineup that included Willie McCovey, Willie Mays, and Jim Ray Hart. McCovey had just been voted the starting first baseman for the NL All-Stars by his fellow players on account of his .307 average (eighth best) and league-leading 18 HR and 48 RBI. Mays finished nine votes behind Hank Aaron and his .236 BA in the voting for outfielders despite having 12 homers; Hart also stood among the leaders, tied for second with 14 round-trippers.
The Dodgers-Giants rivalry wasn’t much to speak of in 1968. On this night, fans saw a face-off between two pitchers who would share the league lead at season’s end with 18 losses apiece: Ray Sadecki and Claude Osteen. Sadecki emerged victorious, racking up 10 strikeouts and allowing just two hits in the Giants’ 9-0 victory.
Osteen did not fare as well, allowing six hits, three walks, and hitting Bonds with a pitch before giving way to Purdin in the sixth. Purdin was in the midst of the best season of his four-year career, finishing the year with a 3.05 ERA. But Purdin wasn’t so reliable this time, and Bonds made him pay with a grand slam into the Candlestick Park seats.
BONDS’ HOMER SIGNALED THE ARRIVAL of a legitimate offensive threat. Never one to wait for a home run, Bonds would set a major-league record (broken by Rickey Henderson in 1988) with 30 career leadoff homers. He would achieve 30 homers and 30 steals in a season, a record five times (matched by his son Barry in 1997), but consistently struck out at an alarming pace. At his best, he smacked 39 homers and swiped 43 bases in 1973; at his worst, he whiffed an unprecedented 189 times in 1970.
