Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs during the 2001 season, passing Mark McGwire to become baseball's single-season home run king. Bonds is famous for his strength, speed and all-purpose talent; The Sporting News named Bonds the top player of the 1990s, and he was voted the National League's most valuable player an unprecedented seven times: in 1990, 1992, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004. Bonds played left field for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986-1992, after which he became a free agent and signed with the San Francisco Giants. In 2001 he hit his 500th career home run and by August 12 had hit 50 home runs on the year, reaching that mark earlier in the season than McGwire, Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, or any other player in history. He went on to hit 73 in all, passing McGwire's 1998 record of 70. Despite all this, Bonds had strained relations with the press and with fans, gaining a reputation for being aloof and unfriendly to reporters. Late in his career Bonds has been dogged by accusations that he used steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. Game of Shadows, a 2006 book by two San Francisco Chronicle reporters, investigated the charges in detail and sparked a steroid investigation by Major League Baseball that was widely seen as being aimed at Bonds.