Barry Bonds left behind a historic anecdote during Netflix’s MLB broadcast debut, revealing a baseball story that changed MLB history, even if its full impact wasn’t understood at the time.
What did Barry Bonds say at the start of the MLB season?
The New York Yankees and San Francisco Giants faced off in a game streamed on Netflix MLB coverage, with Bonds appearing as a special guest analyst. During his segment, the MLB legend revealed that he was close to joining the Yankees as a free agent in 1992 before ultimately signing with the Giants. What stood out most was the surprising reason behind his decision.
A call from Yankees owner George Steinbrenner ended up shaping the future of one of the greatest hitters in baseball history.
“I got to tell you a story because George isn’t here anymore, so I can tell the truth. I would have been a Yankee, but Steinbrenner got on the phone, and he called us and they told me, ‘Barry, we’re gonna give you the money, the highest-paid player at that time, but you have to sign the contract by 2 o’clock this afternoon.’ And I said, ‘Excuse me?’ And I just hung the phone up.
And I went to go get lunch and Dennis Gilbert, my agent, and them were like ‘Do you know what you just did?’ And I’m like, ‘Do you know what he just said?’ I just said forget it and by the time I walked down the street to go get lunch and said, ‘Let me just think about this,’ the Giants called me and I said, ‘I’m going home.'”
Bonds entered MLB free agency in 1992 as the reigning National League MVP, after already winning two awards with the Pittsburgh Pirates and establishing himself as one of the best players in MLB. His unrestricted status triggered a major free agency bidding war, but he ultimately rejected the Yankees to sign a then-record $43.75 million contract with San Francisco.
The decision also had a strong emotional component: his father had played in San Francisco, and his godfather, Willie Mays, is one of the greatest icons in Giants history.
Considering his dominance in the 1990s MLB era, it’s not hard to imagine that Bonds could have turned the Yankees into an even greater MLB dynasty.
Between 1993 and 2004, he produced historic numbers: 527 home runs, 1,746 hits in 1,706 games, and a staggering .317/.479/.689 slash line, along with an elite OPS+ of 205 and WAR of 104.5. During that span, he won five MLB MVP awards, including four straight from 2001 to 2004.
Although his career was later linked to performance-enhancing drugs in MLB, his offensive dominance remains one of the most impressive runs in baseball history.
Bonds finished as the all-time MLB home run leader with 762 and holds the record for most MVP awards with seven. He is also the only member of the 500 home runs 500 stolen bases club and owns the single-season home run record with 73.
Looking back, it’s impossible not to wonder what could have been. Bonds never won a World Series, while the Yankees captured four titles during his time with the Giants.
Perhaps everything in MLB history would have been different if Steinbrenner had simply given him more time to decide.