Barry Bonds: Breaks the single-season home run record, finishing with 73 home runs.

On 7 October 2001, Barry Bonds hit his 73rd home run of the season, closing a year that rewrote baseball's most famous record. The San Francisco Giants left fielder passed Mark McGwire's mark of 70, set only three years earlier.

A first-inning swing off a 43 mph knuckleball

Bonds had already broken the record two days before, hitting two homers on the night of 5 October. In the finale, he wasted no time, connecting in the first inning off Los Angeles knuckleballer Dennis Springer.

The pitch came on a full count, clocked at just 43 miles per hour, and carried onto the right-field arcade. Fans scrambled for the ball, and Patrick Hayashi came away with it after a scrum above the fence.

The solo shot gave the Giants a 2-1 win over the Dodgers. The crowd rose, and Bonds stepped out for a quick curtain call.

A slugging record older than the number 73

The same season secured more history. Bonds finished with a slugging percentage of .863, passing Babe Ruth's 1920 mark of .847, and homered once every 6.52 at-bats. It opened a run of four straight MVP awards, part of a career that would end with 762 home runs.

"This was a great, great way to end it with a victory and a home run," Bonds told reporters afterwards. "You can't ask for anything better."

At 37, in the city he called home, Bonds had set a number that has stood ever since.