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At this point, perhaps it would be helpful if Barry Bonds were around the Giants. It never hurts to seek advice from baseball’s greatest hitter since Ted Williams.
The offense struggled again in Saturday’s 3-1 loss to the Yankees at Oracle Park, leaving new manager Tony Vitello and the Giants with a record of 0-3 and a fan base wondering what in the world is wrong with the bats.
For the first time in their 144-year history, the Giants scored just one run in their first three games. Also, it was the first time since 1949, when they were housed at New York’s Polo Grounds, that they scored just once in any three-game series at home.
“Obviously, we didn’t get the big hit again,” said shortstop Willy Adames, who went 1-for-11 with five strikeouts in the series. “These first three games didn’t go like we wanted, but that’s how baseball goes. Obviously we didn’t want to start the season like that.”
The way Giants hitters were dominated by Yankees pitchers the past three games, there might have been little Bonds could have offered that would have made a difference. But who knows? He was a fixture at Oracle Park much of last season and would often slip into the batting cage just behind the home dugout, before weeknight games, and be available to hitters and coaches smart enough to ask about his speciality.
Over the years, many hitters have publicly attributed information they received from Bonds for succeeding in the batter’s box. Probably countless more examples surfaced that never became public.
That resource is not currently available. The Standard reported on March 20 that Bonds’ contract as a special adviser expired in December, and he and the Giants have not reached a new agreement.
Do players wish Bonds could be present again? Of course. Including the team’s newcomers who have never got a chance to work with the seven-time MVP.
“I just want to meet him first and see what he can tell me, see what we can talk about hitting,” said second baseman Luis Arráez, a three-time batting champion. “I can’t wait to meet him.”
Center fielder Harrison Bader said, “He’s the greatest hitter of all time. It’s not even close. I’d love to shake the greatest hitter of all time’s hand. I’d love to say hello. We know he’s got stuff going on.”
Like Arráez and Bader, the two biggest offseason hitting acquisitions, outfielder Jared Oliva and catcher Daniel Susac haven’t met Bonds.
“To be able to meet Barry Bonds would be awesome,” Oliva said. “I would love to pick his brain and talk about hitting and his career. I think I could definitely pick up a couple of things. You’d be crazy if you didn’t want to meet one of baseball’s greatest players of all time.”
Susac was born in 2001, the year Bonds set the single-season homers record, and their paths never crossed even though Susac’s brother, Andrew, was a Giant in 2014 and 2015.
“I hope he’s around soon,” Susac said. “I’d like to talk to him.”
Bonds talks with Matt Chapman in the Giants’ dugout before a game at Oracle Park in 2025. | Source: Suzanna Mitchell/San Francisco Giants/Getty Images
Bonds has been with the Giants since 1993, the year he signed a record free agent contract and won the third of his seven MVP awards. His final season as a player was 2007, and since then, he has had a series of contracts with the team starting with a 10-year personal services contract.
It’s rare for Bonds not to be associated with the Giants after 34 years. The team hopes to strike a new deal in the next month, but it’s tricky.
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Other Giants legends are receiving accolades in the coming months and years. Jeff Kent will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in July, and Buster Posey, Bruce Bochy, and Dusty Baker all are eligible for induction in Cooperstown next year. The Giants will continue to try honoring their World Series heroes including Madison Bumgarner and Tim Lincecum.
Bonds, the greatest living Giant of all now that Willie Mays has passed, undoubtedly would like some assurances moving forward beyond a statue, which the team has promised, and where it’s placed. Many Giants fans who experienced Barrymania have expressed on social media that he contractually deserves what he seeks.
It was ironic during the season-opening series that Bonds appeared at the first game and Kent the second. No one could have predicted when they were teammates in the late 1990s and early 2000s that Kent would be inducted at Cooperstown before Bonds, whose candidacy has been detoured because of his connection with performance-enhancing drugs.
Bonds was present Wednesday but only to work for the Netflix broadcast on its pregame and postgame shows. Friday, Kent was honored by the Giants and tossed the ceremonial first pitch, then was escorted to the club level to check out a new display featuring Giants Hall of Famers. He’s showcased more than anyone else with a large photograph and No. 21 jersey.
Jeff Kent and Bonds led the Giants to a National League pennant in 2002. | Source: Donald Miralle/Getty Images
During the Netflix broadcast, Bonds revealed that he had never met Vitello, who was hired Oct. 22. Bonds congratulated him on the air and said he’s happy for the former Tennessee coach.
In retrospect, Bonds offered a message that hits home: “You’re going to have eight-game losing streaks. You might have a 10- or 12-game losing streak, and it’s going to be how he manages in those bad times. You don’t have too many of those in college. We have 162 of those here in the big leagues, and you better be able to understand how to deal with your players when situations are not going well.”
Surprisingly, Vitello didn’t use a single pinch-hitter in the series, and slugger Jerar Encarnación never swung a bat. An opportunity arose in the seventh with a runner aboard and two outs. But Vitello kept Jung Hoo Lee in the game against sidewinding lefty Tim Hill even though Lee struggles against lefties. Predictably, Lee whiffed on three pitches.
Afterward, Vitello said he didn’t hit for Lee because “he’s our guy.” Vitello did summon a runner (Jared Oliva) for Adames in the ninth, which surprised the shortstop, who took a while to come off the field, just the second time in his career he was replaced by a pinch runner.
Vitello: “I know he doesn’t want to come out of the game. You’d hate to have a regret when you’ve got the fastest guy I’ve been around sitting in the dugout.”
Adames: “Tony makes the decision. He’s the manager.”
Aaron Judge hit his second homer in two games, a solo shot with two outs in the fifth, and Vitello said he considered intentionally walking him and admitted he would have done so if given another chance.
Bonds said he’s encouraged with the Giants’ direction and their established veterans and is rooting for Vitello to succeed.
“This is a childhood dream of his, and we should honor that,” Bonds said. “We should respect that, and time will tell what comes out of that. He doesn’t pick the players. He’s not upstairs. He just needs to gain respect, do his job like he did at Tennessee, bring that same vibe here.”
So far, it has been a major disappointment. With or without Bonds, the Giants are off to a historically bad start. They’re off Sunday and start a three-game series Monday in San Diego, still waiting for the first win of their manager’s career.