Bonds joins Giants as coach
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. » The black San Francisco Giants T- shirt that Barry Bonds wore was so new, the fold lines from being wrapped in plastic were easy to spot.
Still, it seemed a natural fit for Bonds, the former slugger who donned a Giants uniform for his first day of work in his new role with the club, a hitting instructor and special adviser to CEO Larry Baer.
The job began Wednesday with a week in Arizona working with major league hitting coach Hensley Meulens and the minor leaguers at spring training. Then Bonds will become an
ambassador of sorts for the Giants, representing the team at various community and club events.
“Any role that they want, that’s what I’ll do,” Bonds said. “All I’ve ever wanted to be is a Giant.”
Bonds spent last season as Miami’s hitting coach before being fired, and thanked the Marlins for the opportunity.
The 52-year- old Bonds looked relaxed and had plenty to smile about in talking about reuniting with the Giants, the team with which he set baseball’s all- time home run record and won five of his record seven NL Most Valuable Player awards.
Bonds said he wished his father was there to see his return to the Giants — Bobby Bonds died in 2003. He also was hoping to cross paths with his famous godfather, Giants great Willie Mays.
“I want to help our community, our team, San Francisco, the Giants, the younger players, keep the tradition alive,” Bonds said. “Same thing my godfather’s done, my father’s done ... it’s the right thing to do. I’m from San Francisco, raised there, and I want to help out our community kids become Giants, and good ones.”
“All I’ve ever wanted to do is to make my godfather and my dad proud of me,” he said.
Bonds hit 762 home runs in his 22-year big league career, 15 of those seasons with his hometown team, the Giants. He was a 14time All- Star whose last game was in 2007.
Bonds joked about the small gathering of reporters around him, recalling when hordes of media types would surround him in his playing days. He won’t have an office at AT& T Park, saying his office is only four blocks away in his city center penthouse.
To get around, Bonds said he often rides his bike in San Francisco and is frequently greeted warmly by those who spot him. He called the Giants and the city his family and said that as long as the people of the city are with him, then the Giants go hand in hand with that sentiment.
“The timing’s just right. Sometimes you need to get away from the game as a player and just regroup on everything, think about all that’s gone on, what’s gone on around you, and you need time to mature yourself and realize what’s best for you,” Bonds said. “I feel like this is what I’m supposed to be doing.”
Bonds is getting more support for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, as seen in the most recent voting numbers, and his return to the Giants would indicate the pathway is paved to get his number 25 retired. He is expected to be added to the Giants’ Wall of Fame in a ceremony this season.
In July 2015, federal prosecutors dropped what was left of their criminal case against Bonds after a nearly decade- long steroids prosecution, another factor that presumably led to Bonds’ return to the club in his new capacity.
“I thought I had a great career. There’s a lot of great memories that at one point in time, I’ll be able to tell it all, but right now, that’s in the past. I just see things differently,” Bonds said. “I more want to help out and do things like that.”
“Now it’s time for us to bring along this generation, so they can have the same feeling we had throughout our career,” he said. “That’s pretty much what I want to do, is see the ( Buster) Poseys and (Joe) Paniks and (Hunter) Pences and them, and they get to retire like I do and ride their bikes or scooters around and have the whole city of San Francisco say, ‘ Hey man, it was great watching you throughout your career.”’ namo and Tuscalee were inducted via the Steeplechase Review Committee.
Bred in Maryland by Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Bowman, Good Night Shirt (Concern—Hot Story, by Two Punch) was owned for the majority of his career by Harold A. “Sonny” Via, Jr., and trained by Jack O. Fisher. Good Night Shirt joined Fisher’s barn in 2005 after beginning his career as a flat racer. He went on to win 10 graded stakes races, including eight Grade 1s.
In 2007, Good Night Shirt won the Iroquois, Lonesome Glory and Colonial Cup — all Grade 1 events — to earn the first of his consecutive Eclipse Awards. As a 7-year-old the following year, Good Night Shirt raced exclusively in Grade 1 company. He won each of his five starts, taking in succession the Georgia Cup, Iroquois, Lonesome Glory, Grand National and Colonial Cup. Good Night Shirt’s 2008 earnings of $485,520 set a single- season record, surpassing the previous mark of $314,163, which he set in 2007.
In his 2008 Lonesome Glory victory, Good Night Shirt set a Belmont Park track record of 4:24 for 2½ miles over jumps. He received 168 pounds in the National Steeplechase Association Theoretical Handicap in 2008.
Only Lonesome Glory was given a higher impost (170 pounds in 1995) among annual highweights in NSA history. The NSA Theoretical Handicap has been in place since 1992.
As an 8-year- old, Good Night Shirt began his 2009 season with a victory in the Grade 2 Carolina Cup — securing his 10th career graded stakes win — before finishing second in the Iroquois. He was then retired because of an ankle injury with a career record of 14- 5- 3 from 33 starts and earnings of $1,041,083, joining Lonesome Glory and McDynamo as only the third steeplechaser to surpass $1 million in career earnings. Good Night Shirt is also in the elite company of Lonesome Glory, Zaccio, Mistico, Moonstruck and Alajmal as the only horses to win both the Carolina Cup and Colonial Cup in their career.
Voss ( 1950- 2014) led all NSA trainers in wins in 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2011 and in earnings in 1997, 2002 and 2009. In a career that spanned from 1974 through 2013, Voss won 706 total races and had purse earnings of more than $17 million. He won 394 steeplechase races and his jump earnings of $8,868,201 rank third all time.
Grade 1 steeplechase victories for Voss include the Colonial Cup (2010), Grand National (2009), Supreme Hurdle (2007), Joe Aitcheson Hurdle (2002), Breeders’ Cup Steeple-
chase (2001), Atlanta Cup (1998), Appleton Hurdle (1998) and the New York Turf Writers Cup (1996). Other graded steeplechase wins for Voss include the Temple Gwathmey (2010), Marcellus Frost Hurdle (2009), Appleton Hurdle (2006, 2007), Crown Royal Hurdle (2005, 2007), A.P. Smithwick Memorial (1997, 2003), David L. Zeke Ferguson Memorial (2003), National Hunt Cup Hurdle Handicap (1996, 1998) and the Noel Laing Hurdle (1996, 1997). Voss also won the Maryland Hunt Cup in 1998 and 1999 and the National Hunt Cup when it was an ungraded event in 2008 and 2012.
Also successful in flat racing, Voss won the Grade 1 Sword Dancer Invitational and the Grade 1 Turf Classic with 9-yearold John’s Call in 2000. John’s Call also finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Turf that year and added another graded win for Voss in the Grade 3 Laurel Turf Cup. Other flat victories for Voss included the Grade 2 Red Smith Handicap and the Grade 2 W.L. McKnight Handicap with Dreadnaught, as well as the Grade 3 Sycamore Stakes and Grade 3 Stars and Stripes Turf Handicap with Always First.
Voss trained 2010 Eclipse Award winner Slip Away, winner of the Colonial Cup and Temple Gwathmey that year. Slip Away turned heads with his early speed in jumping events, often taking his rivals all the way in the mar-
athon events. He sealed his championship with a powerful performance in the Grade 1 Colonial Cup, winning by nearly 26 lengths.
In his youth, Voss successfully rode over timber fences and subsequently launched his career as a trainer in his native Maryland. He won his first steeplechase race as a trainer in 1975 with Aruhapy at Monkton, also riding the winner.
Along with Eclipse winner Slip Away, Voss trained NSA champions Left Unsaid (2009 Novice Champion), Guelph (2005 and 2008 Filly/Mare Champion and 2005 Novice Champion), Planet’s Aligned (2007 Novice Champion), Ginz (2005 3-Year- Old Champion), Ironfist (2000 Timber Champion), Approaching Squall ( 1998 Novice Champion) and Soaringoverseattle (1997 Novice Champion).
Voss won a total of 10 Grade 1 races in his career and 30 overall graded stakes. He also served on the National Steeplechase Association’s Board of Directors and was the NSA’s secretary in 2013. He died in 2014 at the age of 63.
The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame’s Steeplechase Review Committee is comprised of Beverly R. Steinman (chair), Edward L. Bowen, Charlsie Cantey, Joe Clancy, Don Clippinger, Charles Colgan, Bill Gallo, Leonard Hale, Mike Mullaney, William Pape, Stanley D. Petter and John von Stade.