Barry Bonds just took over fifth place on the all-time home run list and is the greatest home run hitter of his generation. He hit his 500th home run last year and likely will hit his 600th this year. He holds the single-season record for home runs and soon will have more career home runs than anyone but Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Roy Hobbs and the Whammer.

	Barry Bonds has hit a combined 90 home runs over the last two seasons. ...

Sammy Sosa, meanwhile, has reached the 60-homer mark three times in his career and is close to becoming the first member of the 500-homer club ever traded away by a U.S. president.

Then there's Ken Griffey Jr., who despite his recent injuries, is a full season of games away from 500 home runs and at 31, still must be considered a promising young whine.

And don't forget Alex Rodriguez, who is only 26 and already a third of the way to Aaron's career mark -- and even closer to Bill Gates'.

So who comes to mind first when you think of the modern home run hitter, the type of slugger who blasts Hobbs-like, clock-smashing, music-swelling thunderbolts into the seats? Easy.

Mark McGwire.

McGwire lost his single-season record to Bonds last October and his spot on the career list to him this week, but he remains the archetype of the home run hitter, the broad-shouldered man strong enough to lift an entire nation for a summer.

Why? Several reasons. One, he looks the part. He's a big man, one of the largest to ever play the game. Two, we never saw him as anything but a classic slugger -- those McGwire-Roger Maris home run boxes began running atop our sports sections during Big Mac's rookie season and he always was considered the prime candidate to break Maris' record. Three, when he finally passed Maris in 1998, his pursuit was the most closely followed story in the country that did not involve a White House intern. We saw so many highlights of his home runs that it's hard to picture McGwire ever doing anything but wielding the most awesome, powerful swing since Paul Bunyan.

Bonds can hit tape measure shots capable of bridging a Bay Area rush hour backup, but no one hit so many balls so far so consistently as McGwire did. McGwire was such the slugger that his mere batting practice became an event -- such must-see baseball that he was criticized on the occasional day he skipped b.p. Mac is the one player in the past couple decades that fans and players alike made certain to watch in the batting cage. He hit homers so mesmerizing Industrial Light and Magic must have been involved, homers so gravity-defying Todd McFarlane is still waiting for some to come down, homers so spectacular they seemed to come with their own fireworks.

They didn't play the theme to "The Natural'' when McGwire stepped to the plate, but fans could hear the music anyway.

	... But home runs like this separated Mark McGwire from all the rest.

Bonds broke McGwire's record last year, but he didn't capture the country's imagination the way Mac did. Further, despite all his home runs, until last season Bonds (to his credit) was always considered more of an all-around, complete player than a mere slugger. Think Bonds and you pictured him doing so much more than hitting home runs -- driving in runs, stealing bases, hitting for a high average, walking to first base, snarling at autograph seekers.

He led the league in home runs only once prior to last season and didn't even make the All-Century team. Despite his multiple MVP awards (McGwire never won even one), Bonds sort of sneaked up on us. We're still getting used to the concept of the home run-hitting Bonds.

This could change, of course. Should Bonds continue slugging home runs and one day approach Aaron, our view of him will evolve as well. We'll think home run hitter and we'll picture Bonds slamming a parabola into McCovey Cove. But for now, he's sort of like Aaron himself was. Because fans had focused on Mays and Mickey Mantle so long, we didn't really notice Aaron until he had nearly caught Ruth.

As for Sosa? We certainly see him as a home run hitter, but he's always been the loveable No. 2 guy instead of the main man. Until Sammy passes Bonds, until he holds a home run record, he won't be the first slugger we think of.

Griffey? He always bristled at the suggestion he was a home run hitter (and how dare we paint him as such just because he hit so many home runs?) and thanks to the past couple years, he no longer has to. Now he's just viewed as pouty and fragile.

A-Rod? It's still too early, even if he might have the best chance of anyone to pass Aaron. And he may have to do it if he's to ever be viewed as anything other than the richest player in history.

Again, all this can -- and will -- change as those players (and others) climb the home run charts. But at least for now, McGwire remains the icon. It takes longer to take over the public imagination than to crowd into the record books.

Jim Caple is a senior writer for ESPN.com.