The Baseball Hall of Fame and its voters continue to shun Barry Bonds, but his former team is honoring him: the Giants announced today that they will retire Bonds’ number 25 in a ceremony in August.
Bonds will be the 12th Giants player to have his number retired, following Bill Terry (3), Mell Ott (4), Carl Hubbell (11), Monte Irvin (20), Orlando Cepeda (30), Juan Marichal (27), Willie Mays (24), Willie McCovey (44) and Gaylord Perry (36). Christy Mathewson and John McGraw received an equivalent honor, though they played and managed before jersey numbers were instituted.
Bonds wore number 25 in his 15 seasons with the Giants. He hit 586 of his 762 career home runs and won five of his seven NL MVP Awards as a Giant. No player has worn it since he retired following the 2007 season. His father, Bobby Bonds, wore the number for the Giants between 1968 and 1974.
