MLB Throwback: Bonds wins the 1st of 7 MVPs

The Baseball Writers' Association of America will announce this year's MVP award winners Thursday night, and Josh Donaldson and Bryce Harper are looking to become first-time winners in their respective leagues.

Baseball's home run king, Barry Bonds, captured his first of seven MVP awards on this day in 1990. The prolific slugger was named first on 23 of 24 ballots cast by baseball writers. His Pittsburgh Pirates teammate, Bobby Bonilla, tallied the other first-place vote, preventing Bonds from being the unanimous National League MVP.

The 25-year-old broke out in his fifth season in the bigs after four mediocre campaigns, leading the NL in WAR (9.7), slugging percentage (.565), and OPS (.970). Bonds' big bat powered the Jim Leyland-led squad to a 95-67 record to capture the NL East title, but the Pirates fell in six games to the Cincinnati Reds in the NLCS. Bonds also earned Gold Glove and Silver Slugger honors for his incredible effort.

BONDS' 1990 STATS

Bonds reached the first of many home run milestones on June 12, 1990, when he launched an Andy Benes offering deep to right field for his 100th career homer. He would go on to collect a record 762 home runs over his 22-year career, passing Hank Aaron's mark of 755 long balls in 2007.

(Courtesy: MLB.com)

Bonds would win a second MVP award with the Pirates in 1992 before signing a lucrative six-year, $43.75-million deal with the San Francisco Giants. The deal made Bonds the highest-paid player in baseball at the time, and he responded by capturing five more MVP titles over 15 season in the Bay Area, punctuated by his monstrous 73-homer campaign in 2001. Unfortunately, though, Bonds' name in the baseball record books is tainted due to his involvement in the BALCO steroids scandal.