San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds hit his 715th career homer on Sunday, overtaking baseball legend Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time home-run list.

Bonds' fourth-inning blast against the Colorado Rockies' starting pitcher Byung-Hyun Kim came a week after he matched Ruth's 714 career home runs.

The milestone College World Series homer was a powerful shot, traveling an estimated 445 feet and landing over the center field wall of the Giants' waterfront AT&T Park.

At age 41, Bonds, a seven-time Most Valuable player who has struggled with injuries over the past year, now trails only Hank Aaron's 755 homers for the Major League Baseball record.

Bonds told reporters he would like to become the home-run king but would not predict if he could do it. "If you keep playing long enough anything is possible," he said.

Bonds, whose father Bobby Bonds and godfather Willie Mays were Giants, said it was a thrill to pass Ruth at home. "There's nothing better than hitting it here," Bonds said.

Giants fans thought so too, New York Mets. They gave a standing ovation to Bonds, a hero to the Giants faithful who have looked past the outfielder's central role in baseball's steroid scandal. A federal grand jury is investigating whether Bonds lied during a probe into steroid use by professional athletes.

The crack of his bat signaled a deep drive and set off a scramble in the center field bleachers for the historic ball. Bonds said he had no doubts he had swatted a homer.

"I knew it was definitely gone," he said.

Seventeen-year-old Giants fan Jeff Lee of Hercules, California, went to catch the ball, but it tipped off the top of the baseball glove he had brought to the game.

"I should have brought my first-base glove, then I would have caught the ball," Lee told Reuters.

The ball fell below the stands and into an area with concession booths, where 38-year-old Andrew Morbitzer of San Francisco was standing.

Morbitzer, who had gone to buy beer and peanuts, said he heard the roar of the crowd, looked up and Bonds' home-run ball fell into his hands.

"It's just fun to be a small part of a big day," Morbitzer said, adding he will hold on for a while to the ball, likely worth tens of thousands of dollars at auction.

As Bonds rounded the bases, joy and relief swept the stands. Giants fans had packed AT&T Park this week for games with the St. Louis Cardinals and the Rockies, longing to see Bonds make baseball history amid the intense public scrutiny he has faced on and off the playing field.

Bonds has denied knowingly using performance enhancing substances, but suspicion has cast a cloud over how he will be remembered in baseball's record books and his play this season has not generated much enthusiasm beyond San Francisco.

Bonds' historic homer scored two runs for the Giants in a 6-3 loss to the Rockies. Paul Richardson, who was with his family on an annual visit from Granite Bay, California to AT&T Park, took the loss in stride. "Barry saved it for us," he said.

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