BBC SPORT | Other Sports | The unpopular hero

Though Barry Bonds is baseball's new home-run king, BBC Sport Online's Kevin Asseo reveals why he is not a popular holder of the sport's most coveted record.

Baseball is not like the movies. Sometimes, the villain actually wins.

That was the feeling of many when Barry Bonds broke Mark McGwire's home-run record in 2001 by hitting his 71st and 72nd home runs of the season.

The villain had won.

One wonders how those people will feel now that Bonds has made more history by becoming only the fourth Major League player to hit 600 home runs

It was not a feeling shared by the thousands of San Francisco Giants fans at Pac Bell Park who rejoiced as Bonds hit his record-breaking homers.

Bonds joins 600 club

But the hometown fans are probably the only group who do not vilify Bonds.

He is one of the greatest players of this generation, possibly the greatest. There is no doubt about that.

Jeff Kent
Kent says Bonds is "not a team guy"

Even before his miraculous 2001 performance, Bonds was a sure thing to be voted into baseball's Hall of Fame upon retirement.

And now that he has broken one of baseball's most prestigious records, the immortality of his legend has been cemented.

But that does not change the fact that Bonds is, simply, not a well-liked man.

Highly respected, yes, but not liked - not by the reporters who cover the sport, certainly not by opposing teams and players, and not even by his own team-mates.

Long ago, Bonds earned a reputation as baseball's most egotistical player.

Off the field, I don't care about Barry and Barry doesn't care about me - or anybody else

Jeff Kent
San Francisco Giants

In a sport that does not appreciate showmanship, Bonds is the ultimate show-off.

Just one example of Bonds' braggadocio is his famous "home-run trot".

Unwritten baseball code says that when you hit a home run, you put your head down and run the bases as quickly as possible.

Bonds v McGuire

When Bonds hits a home run, he stands at home plate and admires the flight of the ball before slowly trotting around the bases, drawing the ire of many an opposing pitcher.

Bonds does not take part in pre-game exercises with team-mates and is the only Giant who has not posed in the team picture for the past two seasons.

Mark McGwire
McGwire's record has been smashed by Bonds

He asks for, and receives, special treatment from the San Francisco organisation, and his prima donna ways have not endeared him to team-mates.

Second baseman Jeff Kent candidly expressed his feelings about Bonds in a national sports magazine.

"On the field, we're fine. But off the field, I don't care about Barry and Barry doesn't care about me. Or anybody else," said Kent.

"I was raised to be a team guy, and I am, but Barry's Barry. It took me two years to learn to live with it, but I learned."

Uncomfortable in the spotlight

It is not the first time the "villain" has won the race to the home run record.

In 1961, Roger Maris and Mickey Mantle were both on pace to break Babe Ruth's single-season home run record.

Mantle was a crowd favourite, a charismatic performer with matin�e-idol looks, while Maris was a sullen, withdrawn man uncomfortable in the media spotlight.

Throughout the season fans cheered Mantle and booed Maris, but it was Maris who hit 61 home runs and walked away with the record.

Just another example that when it comes to the home run record, sometimes the old adage applies - "nice guys finish last".