San Francisco Giants BREAKING NEWS: Barry Bonds Number to be Retired

The San Francisco Giants will be retiring Barry Bonds’ number 25 on Saturday, August 11, 2018 against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The team sent out a tweet earlier in the day with the words Coming Soon with strobe lights and a 25 jersey.

The announcement came shortly after, including a list of all the players who have worn 25 as a Giant, saying “this list is now complete.”

Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group tweeted out a quote from Bonds about the honor.

"“I’m both honored and humbled that the Giants are going to retire my number this season. As I’ve always said, the Giants and Giants fans, are a part of my family,” Bonds said."

It is fitting that the retirement ceremony would be against the Pirates, Bonds’ only other team.

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Bonds is the all-time leader in home runs, walks and intentional walks and is arguably the greatest player to ever play the game.

The Giants, however, have had a rule that retired numbers have been set aside for Hall of Famers only. With Bonds still waiting to hear his name announced to Cooperstown, the Giants are changing their rules for Bonds.

Earlier this off-season, we looked at Bonds latest results with the Hall of Fame.

Bonds has been at the center of the performance enhancing drug controversy of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s that has led to several players being left out of the Hall of Fame. While many players have been denied entry, the league’s commissioner that oversaw the league during that time is in the Hall of Fame. Also, managers who were in charge of several players accused of using steroids are in as well.

After years of trying to distance themselves from Bonds and the questions of whether to retire his number, the Giants have finally answered that question. San Francisco did take the first step last season when they added Bonds to the team’s Wall of Fame.

Next: Baseball Season Can Begin

Even though the Giants had not retired 25 in previous seasons, no player has worn the number since Bonds last game in 2007.

The next question is where and when will they build his statue?