Editing Barry Bonds (section)

====1993 season====
[[File:BarryBonds1993.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Bonds in 1993]]
In 1993, Bonds left the Pirates to sign a lucrative [[free agent]] contract worth a then-record $43.75 million (equivalent to ${{Inflation|US|43.75|1993|r=1}}&nbsp;million in {{Inflation/year|US}}) over six years with the Giants, with whom his father had spent the first seven years of his career, and with whom his godfather [[Willie Mays]] played 22 of his 24 Major League seasons. The deal was at that time the largest in baseball history, in terms of both total value and average annual salary.<ref name=43million>{{cite news |author=Chass, Murray |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/06/sports/baseball-giants-make-investment-43-million-in-bonds.html |title=Giants Make Investment: $43 Million in Bonds |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=December 6, 1992 |access-date=January 31, 2008 |archive-date=November 5, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105211836/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/06/sports/baseball-giants-make-investment-43-million-in-bonds.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Once he signed with the Giants, Bonds had intended to wear the number 24, his number during most of his stay with the Pirates and, after receiving Mays's blessing, the Giants were willing to unretire it until the public commotion from fans and media became too much.<ref>{{cite news |author=Shea |first=John |date=September 23, 2007 |title=Did Giants' special treatment of Bonds contribute to messy end?: Pampered slugger delivered, but there was a big downside |url=https://www.sfgate.com/giants/article/Did-Giants-special-treatment-of-Bonds-contribute-2521262.php |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709094441/http://articles.sfgate.com/2007-09-23/news/17263404_1_giants-uniform-willie-mays-number-performance-enhancing-drugs |archive-date=July 9, 2012 |access-date=September 14, 2010 |work=[[SFGate]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Pearlman |first=Jeff |url=https://archive.org/details/lovemehatemebarr00pear |title=Love Me, Hate Me: Barry Bonds and the Making of an Antihero |date=April 18, 2006 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |isbn=978-0-06-079752-2 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lovemehatemebarr00pear/page/143 143] |quote=bobby bonds number 25 barry. |access-date=April 17, 2008 |url-access=registration}}</ref> To honor his father, Bonds switched his jersey number to 25, as it had been Bobby's number in San Francisco.<ref>{{cite web |title=Barry Bonds |url=http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/bondsba01.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510144452/http://www.thebaseballpage.com/players/bondsba01.php |archive-date=May 10, 2008 |access-date=September 14, 2010 |website=The Baseball Page}}</ref>

In an emotional press conference announcing the signing, Bonds described joining the Giants as going "home" and following in the footsteps of his father and godfather as "unbelievable" and "a boyhood dream come true".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Stone |first1=Larry |date=December 9, 1992 |title=Bonds now a part of the family |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112822280/bonds-now-a-part-of-the-family/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221110035108/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/112822280/bonds-now-a-part-of-the-family/ |archive-date=November 10, 2022 |access-date=November 10, 2022 |work=[[San Francisco Examiner]] |page=B-4 |via=[[Ancestry.com|Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> His father joined the team as a coach in the same year.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Weinrib |first1=Ben |date=February 22, 2018 |title=Bobby Bonds first ever with five 30-30 seasons |url=https://www.mlb.com/news/bobby-bonds-redefined-the-leadoff-position-c266982600 |access-date=23 June 2024 |work=[[MLB.com]] |publisher=[[MLB Advanced Media]] |language=en}}</ref> During a game against the [[Colorado Rockies]] on May 12, 1993, both Bonds and his father, along with [[Jerald Clark]] and [[Ron Hassey]] of the Rockies, were ejected for their role in an on-field fight.<ref>{{cite news |date=May 13, 1993 |title=Bonds, and Dad, Are Ejected |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/05/13/sports/baseball-bonds-and-dad-are-ejected.html |access-date=June 23, 2024 |work=[[The New York Times]] |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref>

Bonds hit .336 in 1993, leading the NL with 46 home runs and 123 RBI in 159 games en route to his second consecutive MVP award,<ref>{{cite web |title=1993 National League Most Valuable Player Award |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1993.shtml#NLmvp |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080414172552/http://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_1993.shtml |archive-date=April 14, 2008 |access-date=April 16, 2008 |work=[[Baseball Reference]]}}</ref> and third overall. As good as the Giants were (winning 103 games), the [[Atlanta Braves]] won 104 in what some call the last great pennant race (because the [[Wild card (sports)#Major League Baseball|wild card]] was instituted the year after).<ref>{{cite web |author=Neyer |first=Rob |date=October 1, 2001 |title=What makes a great Pennant Race? |url=https://www.espn.com/classic/s/2001/0927/1255891.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050819134255/http://espn.go.com/classic/s/2001/0927/1255891.html |archive-date=August 19, 2005 |access-date=September 25, 2007 |work=[[ESPN Classic]]}}</ref>