Why Willie Mays is Barry Bonds' godfather, explained: Giants legends shared lifelong relationship beyond diamond

Brendan OSullivan

Why Willie Mays is Barry Bonds' godfather, explained: Giants legends shared lifelong relationship beyond diamond image

Willie Mays passed away on Tuesday at the age of 93, but the Hall-of-Famer will forever be one of baseball's biggest stars.

He spent most of his career with the Giants before playing a season-and-a-half with the Mets. Not only is he forever enshrined in Cooperstown, but the outfielder is also linked with another Giants MVP outfielder.

Mays is the godfather of Barry Bonds, connecting arguably the two best all-around players in MLB history. Bonds, who holds baseball's all-time home run record, albeit with some controversy, was around Mays as a kid and eventually starred for the same organization.

How did Mays become Bonds' godfather? The Sporting News details their connection and compares the stats of the two Giants sluggers.

THE SPORTING NEWS ARCHIVES:
Mays' 500th HR | Mays voted 1954 NL MVP | Mays voted 'Player of the Decade' | Mays 'still having fun'

Why is Willie Mays Barry Bonds' godfather?

Bonds grew up around baseball, as his father, Bobby Bonds, broke into the MLB in 1968 with the Giants. It was Mays' 17th season, so he took Bobby, also an outfielder, under his wing.

Barry was 4 when his father joined the Giants and would often visit the team locker room and "play pranks" on Mays. Eventually, Bobby's wife, Pat, asked Mays to be Barry's godfather.

MORE: Best moments of Willie Mays' career

Barry Bonds tribute to Willie Mays

That began a lifelong connection between the two. Bonds, who is now 59, posted to Instagram after learning of his godfather's death on Tuesday.

"I am beyond devastated and overcome with emotion," Bonds wrote. "I have no words to describe what you mean to me — you helped shape me to be who I am today. Thank you for being my Godfather and always being there. Give my dad a hug for me.
Rest in peace Willie, I love you forever."

Barry Bonds relationship with Willie Mays

Mays remained close with Bonds throughout his career and was a big reason why Bonds signed with San Francisco in the 1992 offseason. Mays reportedly even offered to give Bonds his retired No. 24 jersey — the number Bonds wore in Pittsburgh. He declined and wore No. 25 while with the Giants.

Bobby Bonds died in August 2003 due to cancer, but he spoke to Willie beforehand, telling him to look after Barry.

"Willie, you’ve got to take care of Barry," Bobby said. "He’s not going to listen to other people like he does you and me."

Barry valued their relationship deeply, especially after the passing of his father.

"Just being with my godfather trying to go through the healing process without my father, just through our conversations and support of me in the wintertime has changed my outlook on a lot of things,” Barry said. "[Bobby has] been my coach my whole life. The best thing is, Willie has taken that role for me now and he’s been working out with me three days a week in the wintertime and easing the pain for me to go through the process without my father."

MORE: Why Willie Mays was called the 'Say Hey Kid'

Willie Mays vs. Barry Bonds career stats

Willie MaysStatsBarry Bonds
3,005Games2,986
12,545PA12,606
10,924AB9,847
2,068Runs2,227
3,293Hits2,935
660HR762
1,909RBI1,996
339SB514
.301BA.298
.384OBP.444
.557SLG.607
24*All-Star14
2MVP7
12Gold Glove8
1World Series0

MLB played two All-Star games per season in 1959-62

Willie Mays career stats

YearTeamGamesPAABRHHRRBISBBAOBPSLG
1948Birmingham Black Barons134843610061.233.313.326
1951New York Giants1215244645912720687.274.356.472
1952New York Giants3414412717304234.236.326.409
1954New York Giants151641565119195411108.345.411.667
1955New York Giants1526705801231855112724.319.400.659
1956New York Giants152651578101171368440.296.369.557
1957New York Giants152669585112195359738.333.407.626
1958San Francisco Giants152685600121208299631.347.419.583
1959San Francisco Giants1516495751251803410427.313.381.583
1960San Francisco Giants1536695951071902910325.319.381.585
1961San Francisco Giants1546595721291764012318.308.393.584
1962San Francisco Giants1627066211301894914118.304.384.615
1963San Francisco Giants157671596115187381038.314.380.582
1964San Francisco Giants1576655781211714711119.296.383.607
1965San Francisco Giants157638558118174521129.317.398.645
1966San Francisco Giants15262955299159371035.288.268.536
1967San Francisco Giants1415444868312822706.263.334.453
1968San Francisco Giants14857349884144237912.289.372.488
1969San Francisco Giants1174594036411413586.283.362.437
1970San Francisco Giants1395664789413928835.291.390.506
1971San Francisco Giants13653741782113186123.271.425.482
1972Giants/Mets8830924435618224.250.400.402
1973New York Mets6623920924446251.211.303.344
Career 30051254510924206832936601909339.301.384.557

*Bolded is league-leading

**Bolded and italicized is MLB-leading 

Barry Bonds career stats

YearTeamGamesPAABRHHRRBISBBAOBPSLG
1986Pittsburgh Pirates1134844137292164836.223.330.416
1987Pittsburgh Pirates15061155199144255932.261.329.492
1988Pittsburgh Pirates14461453897152245817.283.368.491
1989Pittsburgh Pirates15967958096144195832.248.351.426
1990Pittsburgh Pirates1516215191041563311452.301.406.565
1991Pittsburgh Pirates153634510951492511643.292.410.514
1992Pittsburgh Pirates1406124731091473410339.311.456.624
1993San Francisco Giants1596745391291814612329.336.458.677
1994San Francisco Giants11247439189122378129.312.426.647
1995San Francisco Giants1446355061091493310431.294.431.577
1996San Francisco Giants1586755171221594212940.308.461.615
1997San Francisco Giants1596905321231554010137.291.446.585
1998San Francisco Giants1566975521201673712228.303.438.609
1999San Francisco Giants1024343559193348315.262.389.617
2000San Francisco Giants1436074801291474910611.306.440.688
2001San Francisco Giants1536644761291567313713.328.515.863
2002San Francisco Giants143612403117149461109.370.582.799
2003San Francisco Giants13055039011113345907.341.529.749
2004San Francisco Giants147617373129135451016.362.609.812
2005San Francisco Giants1452428125100.286.404.667
2006San Francisco Giants130493367749926773.270.454.545
2007San Francisco Giants126477340759428665.276.480.565
Career 2,98612,6069,8472,2272,9357621,996514.298.444.607

*Bolded is league-leading

**Bolded and italicized is MLB-leading 

Brendan OSullivan

Brendan OSullivan Photo

Brendan O'Sullivan is an editorial intern for Sporting News, joining in 2024. He previously worked at Newsday on Long Island, New York after graduating from Quinnipiac University.