Barry Bonds’ Number to be Retired Despite no Place in Cooperstown
Barry Bonds probably isn’t going to make it to Cooperstown, but his number will be retired by the San Francisco Giants this coming season.
Barry Bonds isn’t a Hall of Famer, but that won’t stop the San Francisco Giants from retiring his number. With his voting numbers leveling off somewhat and only four remaining years of eligibility, it looks more and more likely that Bonds won’t get into Cooperstown. The Giants normally only reserve this honor for players in the Hall of Fame, but Bonds is a special exception.
The Giants’ official Twitter account began teasing something regarding Bonds on Monday, first posting a tweet that removed the slash in the date (2/5) to show 25. Later in the day, they showed a 25 jersey being photographed.
The number 25 has unofficially been retired by the Giants since Bonds’ last season in 2007, with the number not being issued in the 10 years since he last took the field. Now, it’s official that no one will wear the number for the franchise again.
This will be the 10th number retired by the Giants. The number 25 will go the way of three (retired for Bill Terry), four (Mel Ott), 11 (Carl Hubbell), 20 (Monte Irvin), 24 (Bonds’ godfather, Willie Mays), 27 (Juan Marichal), 30 (Orlando Cepeda), 36 (Gaylord Perry), and 44 (Willie McCovey). Of course, 42 has also been retired across the entire league in honor of Jackie Robinson.
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To say that Bonds deserves this honor would be an understatement. He played 15 seasons with the Giants after beginning his career with seven years with the Pittsburgh Pirates, and won five of his record seven MVP awards in San Francisco. Over his 15 seasons in the Bay, Bonds hit .312/.477/.666 for an otherworldly 1.143 OPS. He hit 586 of his 762 home runs (also an MLB record), and stole 263 of his 514 bases, making him the only player in the 500-500 club.
In the franchise’s long and storied history, Bonds is the all-time leader in walks (1,947), on-base percentage (.477), and slugging percentage (.666). He also ranks in the top-10 in home runs (second), RBI (third), runs scored (third), total bases (third), doubles (third), games played (fourth), hits (fifth), average (ninth, and stolen bases (ninth).
Most importantly, Bonds brought hope back to the Giants. He was the first move made by a new ownership group, and it proved they were serious about keeping the Giants in the San Francisco and turning them back into contenders. They won 103 games in Bonds’ first season, but missed the playoffs because of an Atlanta Braves’ team that won 104. After a few more lean years, the Giants won at least 85 games in nine straight seasons from 1997 to 2004, including winning 90 games six times and making the postseason four times.
Though Bonds never won a ring with the Giants, he brought excitement back to the fanbase, and laid the groundwork for the team’s three World Series wins in the early 2010’s.
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Bonds’ number will be retired on August 11th, when the Giants play host to the Pirates, Bonds’ only other big league team.