Giants legend Barry Bonds reveals how he hopes to make Willie Mays proud

Billy Heyen

Giants legend Barry Bonds reveals how he hopes to make Willie Mays proud image

Barry Bonds has been around a lot lately.

The legendary slugger has been hanging out at the ballpark with the San Francisco Giants, and there's a reason.

The reason: Willie Mays.

The late, great Mays loved being around the Giants. Now, Bonds hopes to follow suit.

"I don't know about saying carrying the torch," Bonds told reporters earlier this week, via KNBR. "I'm going to hang on to it with him... It's me now saying, what would he do in this situation? What would he want me to do in this situation? He would want me at the ballpark all the time. He would want me to help the guys all the time. He would want me to give back to this organization all the time. So that's what I do."

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Mays is Bonds' godfather, but their bond goes so much further.

They're the two greatest players in Giants history, and they have a case as the two best baseball players ever.

Mays died on June 18, 2024, and the Giants remembered him this week after a year without him.

Bonds will always be viewed a bit differently by MLB fans at large due to his connection to the Steroid Era.

But in Giants lore, Bonds created a heck of a lot of memories, just like Mays did years before him.

Now, Bonds is just trying to carry on Mays' legacy any way that he can.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle