Barry Bonds’ tainted baseball career will be celebrated by the Giants this season.
Barry Bonds’ tainted baseball career will be celebrated by the Giants this season.
The team announced Tuesday that his No. 25 jersey will be retired in a pregame ceremony Aug. 11, when the Giants welcome the Pirates in a contest between the only two organizations Bonds ever suited up for.
The all-time home run leader swatted 586 of his 762 career home runs as a member of the Giants, slashing .312/.477/.666 in his 15 seasons with the club.
He also took home five of his seven career NL Most Valuable Player Awards, along with five Gold Glove awards.
“I’m both honored and humbled that the Giants are going to retire my number this season,” Bonds said in a statement . “As I’ve always said, the Giants and Giants fans are a part of my family.”
Bonds, of course, is one of the primary faces of the Steroids Era, and both he and Roger Clemens — despite owning numbers that place them among the all-time great — have yet to break through on the Hall of Fame ballot because of their association with PEDs.
In what was both their sixth year of eligibility, the pair didn’t close much ground with Bonds receiving only 56.4 percent and Clemens earning just 57.3 percent of the vote. Players need 75 percent to be voted into the Hall of Fame.
