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

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.

A young Barry Bonds with Willie Mays pic.twitter.com/w1RghpkB0v

— BaseballHistoryNut (@nut_history) June 19, 2024

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

MORE: Best moments of Willie Mays’ career

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.

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.”

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.”

Willie Mays vs. Barry Bonds career stats

Willie Mays	Stats	Barry Bonds
3,005	Games	2,986
12,545	PA	12,606
10,924	AB	9,847
2,068	Runs	2,227
3,293	Hits	2,935
660	HR	762
1,909	RBI	1,996
339	SB	514
.301	BA	.298
.384	OBP	.444
.557	SLG	.607
24*	All-Star	14
2	MVP	7
12	Gold Glove	8
1	World Series	0

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

Willie Mays career stats

Year	Team	Games	PA	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	BA	OBP	SLG
1948	Birmingham Black Barons	13	48	43	6	10	0	6	1	.233	.313	.326
1951	New York Giants	121	524	464	59	127	20	68	7	.274	.356	.472
1952	New York Giants	34	144	127	17	30	4	23	4	.236	.326	.409
1954	New York Giants	151	641	565	119	195	41	110	8	.345	.411	.667
1955	New York Giants	152	670	580	123	185	51	127	24	.319	.400	.659
1956	New York Giants	152	651	578	101	171	36	84	40	.296	.369	.557
1957	New York Giants	152	669	585	112	195	35	97	38	.333	.407	.626
1958	San Francisco Giants	152	685	600	121	208	29	96	31	.347	.419	.583
1959	San Francisco Giants	151	649	575	125	180	34	104	27	.313	.381	.583
1960	San Francisco Giants	153	669	595	107	190	29	103	25	.319	.381	.585
1961	San Francisco Giants	154	659	572	129	176	40	123	18	.308	.393	.584
1962	San Francisco Giants	162	706	621	130	189	49	141	18	.304	.384	.615
1963	San Francisco Giants	157	671	596	115	187	38	103	8	.314	.380	.582
1964	San Francisco Giants	157	665	578	121	171	47	111	19	.296	.383	.607
1965	San Francisco Giants	157	638	558	118	174	52	112	9	.317	.398	.645
1966	San Francisco Giants	152	629	552	99	159	37	103	5	.288	.268	.536
1967	San Francisco Giants	141	544	486	83	128	22	70	6	.263	.334	.453
1968	San Francisco Giants	148	573	498	84	144	23	79	12	.289	.372	.488
1969	San Francisco Giants	117	459	403	64	114	13	58	6	.283	.362	.437
1970	San Francisco Giants	139	566	478	94	139	28	83	5	.291	.390	.506
1971	San Francisco Giants	136	537	417	82	113	18	61	23	.271	.425	.482
1972	Giants/Mets	88	309	244	35	61	8	22	4	.250	.400	.402
1973	New York Mets	66	239	209	24	44	6	25	1	.211	.303	.344
Career		3005	12545	10924	2068	3293	660	1909	339	.301	.384	.557

*Bolded is league-leading

**Bolded and italicized is MLB-leading

Barry Bonds career stats

Year	Team	Games	PA	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB	BA	OBP	SLG
1986	Pittsburgh Pirates	113	484	413	72	92	16	48	36	.223	.330	.416
1987	Pittsburgh Pirates	150	611	551	99	144	25	59	32	.261	.329	.492
1988	Pittsburgh Pirates	144	614	538	97	152	24	58	17	.283	.368	.491
1989	Pittsburgh Pirates	159	679	580	96	144	19	58	32	.248	.351	.426
1990	Pittsburgh Pirates	151	621	519	104	156	33	114	52	.301	.406	.565
1991	Pittsburgh Pirates	153	634	510	95	149	25	116	43	.292	.410	.514
1992	Pittsburgh Pirates	140	612	473	109	147	34	103	39	.311	*.456*	*.624*
1993	San Francisco Giants	159	674	539	129	181	46	123	29	.336	.458	*.677*
1994	San Francisco Giants	112	474	391	89	122	37	81	29	.312	.426	.647
1995	San Francisco Giants	144	635	506	109	149	33	104	31	.294	.431	.577
1996	San Francisco Giants	158	675	517	122	159	42	129	40	.308	.461	.615
1997	San Francisco Giants	159	690	532	123	155	40	101	37	.291	.446	.585
1998	San Francisco Giants	156	697	552	120	167	37	122	28	.303	.438	.609
1999	San Francisco Giants	102	434	355	91	93	34	83	15	.262	.389	.617
2000	San Francisco Giants	143	607	480	129	147	49	106	11	.306	.440	.688
2001	San Francisco Giants	153	664	476	129	156	73	137	13	.328	*.515*	*.863*
2002	San Francisco Giants	143	612	403	117	149	46	110	9	*.370*	*.582*	*.799*
2003	San Francisco Giants	130	550	390	111	133	45	90	7	.341	*.529*	*.749*
2004	San Francisco Giants	147	617	373	129	135	45	101	6	.362	*.609*	*.812*
2005	San Francisco Giants	14	52	42	8	12	5	10	0	.286	.404	.667
2006	San Francisco Giants	130	493	367	74	99	26	77	3	.270	*.454*	.545
2007	San Francisco Giants	126	477	340	75	94	28	66	5	.276	*.480*	.565
Career		2,986	12,606	9,847	2,227	2,935	762	1,996	514	.298	.444	.607