SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — As batting practice ended, Barry Bonds walked from behind the cage toward the Giants’ dugout along the first-base line. Cheers suddenly erupted from hundreds of early-arriving fans in the stands and dozens of family members of team owners who were standing on the field.
Heliot Ramos watched and heard it all from inside the dugout, and, when Bonds started signing a few autographs, Ramos said to someone alongside him, “I’d like Barry’s autograph, too.”
Ramos was an All-Star last season. He’ll be starting in left field this season, Bonds’ old terrain. Yet, he’s still wowed by the presence of the home run king whose weeklong visit to the Giants’ training camp ran through Saturday — and seemed to leave a lasting impression.
“He’s Barry Bonds. His legacy is huge. He will live in people’s minds forever,” Ramos said Sunday. “When he talks, you listen. Just yesterday, he was telling me about playing left field and how I should trust my instincts. You have a guy like that around you, it rubs off on everybody.”
Bonds, 60, remains beloved throughout Giantsville. Whether it’s Oracle Park or Scottsdale Stadium, just like his playing days, fans rise and applaud when he’s spotted or introduced over the PA system.
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The current group of Giants players also gets a genuine kick out of Bonds’ presence, whether it’s on the field, in the batting cage, or simply conversing in the clubhouse. Aside from the seven MVP awards and records for homers in a season and career, he has unparalleled wisdom on hitting baseballs and is willing to share his trade secrets.
“I’m just there if they want to ask a question. Or if they think I could see something, or whatever,” Bonds told The Standard before leaving town. “Same thing Willie did for me and the rest of us.”
With the passing of the esteemed Willie Mays in June, at 93, this is the first spring training in many years that the greatest player of all time isn’t with us. He was the patriarch of Giants legends, the man most synonymous with the franchise. His spirit and energy forever will remain intact with the organization.
“It’s just different,” Bonds said. “I’m sad my godfather passed away. He lived a great life.”
Bonds is among a long list of Giants alumni who have been in camp, including those invited by president of baseball operations Buster Posey, a contrast from the Farhan Zaidi years when former Giants on the property were few and far between.
Posey’s decision to bring back the older players, including those from the championship era, has been well-received by players and coaches. Bonds, who has been around the team for years as a special advisor, along with Dusty Baker and Will Clark, suddenly joins many others who previously wore orange and black uniforms.
“We have a staff of guys that all played,” said Bonds, referencing the guest coaches along with hitting coaches Pat Burrell and Damon Minor, old teammate Matt Williams, the third base coach, and manager Bob Melvin. “I think they respect all of us. It’s a little different than before with all of us around. It resonates with the players right now because we’re all speaking the same language. … It’s not some computer board telling them what to do anymore.”
Under Posey and Melvin, the team has been more open to incorporating traditional baseball concepts with today’s advanced data. Thus, the laundry list of ex-players brought in as mentors: Jeffrey Leonard, J.T. Snow, Marco Scutaro, Ryan Vogelsong, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez, and Yusmeiro Petit have come and gone. Baker and Joe Panik are in now. Rich Aurilia, Hunter Pence, and Jeremy Affeldt are coming, and Dave Righetti has been here most of camp.
“I love it,” said Matt Chapman, one of the Giants’ most trusted clubhouse leaders. “Even if they’re not always hands-on working with you. Just having those guys around is a good feeling. You can’t really match having Barry Bonds sitting in the cage watching you hit, right?”
“He sees everything,” Chapman continued. “You want to impress Barry Bonds. You want to do so well that there’s a little added pressure even though I’m sure it’s just in your head. I want him to be impressed. That’s how I feel. It’s just cool to pick his brain. He’s probably one of the smartest baseball players ever to play the game.
”That’s what baseball’s all about. It’s a brotherhood, and having guys who played before you, who were in your shoes, it’s a respect factor. It brings good energy.”
Melvin knows what it’s like for players to have access to a guy like Bonds. As a Giants catcher for three seasons in the late 1980s, Melvin found when he first walked into the Candlestick Park clubhouse that his locker was right between lockers belonging to Mays and Willie McCovey.
“It took some courage to talk to those guys. They were childhood idols of mine,” Melvin said. “But they made it easy to be able to talk to them. Now, it’s inspiring to have these other guys around. It’s part of the foundation of this organization. The success of this organization is built by guys like Barry and Buster and all these guys we’re bringing into camp.
“Talking to Barry about hitting, it makes my head spin sometimes. His understanding of hitting is second to none. You have that kind of resource, you want to use it. He’s welcome here. He knows that.”
While Bonds is revered in Giants camp, his Hall of Fame candidacy generates varying opinions throughout the industry because of his association with the BALCO steroid scandal that has sidetracked his road to Cooperstown. Last week, the Hall of Fame made changes in its voting format that could further block Bonds’ path.
A candidate receiving fewer than five votes from a 16-member Era Committee panel automatically would be left off the next ballot three years later. If the candidate is on an ensuing ballot and again fails to receive five votes, he would be ineligible for future ballots. Twelve votes (75%) are needed to be elected.
Bonds preferred not to address the new rules, saying, “You guys always want to beat that drum. It’s exhausting.”
Both Mays and McCovey campaigned for Bonds to make the Hall of Fame and said they were hoping for an induction in their lifetimes, powerful sentiments from a couple of Cooperstown icons.
McCovey said in 2017, months before he died, “I just think it’s a sin he’s not in there. If anybody deserved to be in the Hall of Fame, it’s Barry.” A year later, at Bonds’ number retirement ceremony, Mays made an unscheduled trip to the podium to say, “Give somebody the honor who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. On behalf of all of the people in San Francisco and all over the country, vote this guy in. He is very, very important to me.”
Regardless of Bonds’ Hall of Fame predicament, he still fits in nicely with the Giants and will continue to have a home with the organization. Posey told him as much in recent days, saying Bonds could visit the team whenever he pleases and contribute in any way he desires.
The respect is mutual. Asked about Posey taking over the baseball department, Bonds said, “I think having someone playing the game with a true baseball mind is a good thing for any organization.”
Looking back at his own playing career, Bonds recalled receiving valuable insight from Mays, his father Bobby, and others from past generations — and now he wants to pay it forward.
“When you’re growing up, who are you looking up to to become a baseball player?” said Bonds. “The players who have played before you are the only ones who can tell you what you’re going to deal with because we’ve already dealt with it. I already know the pain you’re going to go through. I know the pressure you’re feeling. There’s nothing you’re going to tell me that I haven’t been through myself.
“We can also be a comfort zone to them understanding that ‘this is a long journey, son.’ This is not going to be quick and easy. You’re going to have to prepare to go on this roller-coaster ride.”
Bonds had some momentous BP sessions in recent years, though usually with only a few players and maybe a coach around. There is a strong sentiment that he could still suit up and be a useful designated hitter 18 years after his last game, but he mostly keeps his hitting displays instructional.
“I get in there off the tee and do little things, but not much,” he said. “If there’s something I need to show them, then I’ll show them real quick. They’ll pick it up fast. Maybe one little thing. Then they’re, ‘OK, I get it.’ It’s nothing major.”
That’s the significance of showcasing Bonds and other alumni in spring training. Now it’s up to the players to comprehend the lessons and apply them in their own careers.
“The guys are responding great,” Bonds said. “To me, it’s the players. If they’re happy, everyone’s doing a good job. At the end of the day, it’s on them.”