When Mike Krukow went on air with Murph & Mac on Monday morning, all they knew was the Giants put out an unexplained tweet that showed a jersey with No. 25, Barry Bonds’ number, hanging up in dramatic lighting.
Coming soon ? pic.twitter.com/uKfGKC2YqT
— San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) February 6, 2018
It was later revealed that the Giants are planning to retire the slugger’s No. 25 on August 11, but not before Krukow’s appearance on KNBR. Nonetheless, they speculated that was the case and Krukow was ecstatic about the Giants retiring Bonds’ number.
“I’d stand up and applaud,” Krukow said. “I don’t think anyone should ever wear No. 25 again. He was the best I ever saw. I think someday he will have his place in Cooperstown. As far as I’m concerned right now, you do break the tradition. You do retire the number. You do put up a statue.”
After seven years with the Pittsburgh Pirates, Bonds signed with the Giants and finished his career with a 15-year tenure in San Francisco. With the Giants, Bonds added another five MVP awards, including four in a row from 2001-2004, to the two he’d received with the Pirates. He also hit 586 of his all-time 762 career home runs with the Giants, and holds the single-season record with 73 homers in 2001.
With numbers like those, Bonds should be a first-ballot hall of famer, but his steroid allegations and dealings with BALCO have held back the votes of many in the BBWAA.
Nonetheless, the Giants aren’t interested in waiting for the Hall of Fame
The Giants will retire No. 25 on Saturday, August 11 before their 6:05 p.m. meeting with the Pirates. Bonds will become the first non-hall of famer in franchise history to have his number retired and will be immortalized along side Orlando Cepeda (30), Juan Marichal (27), Willie Mays (24), Willie McCovey (44), Gaylord Perry (36), Bill Terry (3), Mell Ott (4), Carl Hubbell (11), and Monte Irvin (20) as the tenth Giants player, from both San Francisco and New York, to have their number retired.
“If you talk to Bonds, he’s funny, but he’ll always come back and will kind of half-kid and says, ‘I built that ballpark,’” Krukow said. “Well, you know what, I can’t argue with that. So, somewhere he’s got to have his place and I think the Giants perhaps might do that this year. I think it’d be very cool if they did.”
To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and skip to 6:59 for Krukow on Bonds.