The San Francisco Giants have celebrated Barry Bonds in just about every way imaginable. His legendary No. 25 is retired, a Wall of Fame plaque along King Street lists his unmatched accomplishments, and he’s met with a hero’s welcome whenever the Oracle Park crowd — in a stadium he helped make possible — catches a glimpse of the Home Run King.
But one tribute is still missing: a bronze statue. And it seems the Giants are finally taking steps to turn that idea into reality.
Giants president and CEO Larry Baer said Wednesday on The Morning Roast that the idea of a Bonds statue at Oracle Park is officially “on the radar.”
“It’s coming,” Baer said. “That’s all I can say. It’s coming.”
Baer says it’s obvious Bonds is next in line for a statue, but the official location and date of the unveiling is still to be determined.
This season would’ve been a fitting time to honor Bonds — it’s ’25, after all, and the connection to No. 25 feels naturally symbolic. With no major reunions or Wall of Fame inductions on the calendar, and following the losses of Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda last year, Bonds' role as the franchise’s most prominent living legend has only grown.
With that honor comes added responsibility — and Bonds seems to have embraced it.
He remains based in the Bay Area, regularly working with Giants hitters in the cage before home games. He was prominently featured as part of the welcoming committee for Rafael Devers during the team’s trade of what was arguably their most significant addition since Bonds himself signed in 1993.
It just feels like the right moment to officially pass the torch.
Oracle Park is home to six statues, five of which honor Giants Hall of Famers. Mays was the first to be immortalized in bronze ahead of the ballpark’s 2000 debut. Willie McCovey’s commanding presence stands across McCovey Cove, Juan Marichal’s iconic leg kick rises near the Lefty O’Doul Bridge, while Cepeda and Gaylord Perry are commemorated close to each other along King Street.
The non-player statue depicts a seal in honor of the San Francisco Seals, the city’s minor league baseball team that predated the Giants’ West Coast move in 1958.
While Baer hasn’t publicly disclosed where the statue might go, there are only a handful of spots left outside the ballpark. Bonds launched 35 splash hits into McCovey Cove, making a nearby location a fitting option — though placing it too close might risk overshadowing McCovey’s statue. Placing Bonds’ statue near his godfather, Willie Mays, would certainly be meaningful. But the stretch along King Street — lined with 24 palm trees in tribute to the Say Hey Kid — leaves little room for that possibility.
How about inside the confines of Oracle Park?
The other five players — each legendary in their own right — never played a game at the Giants’ downtown San Francisco cathedral. So, no disrespect intended, but if anyone deserves a statue inside the ballpark, it’s Bonds, who took the field there 494 times.
The location may be tricky to nail down, but the bigger point remains — Bonds is finally getting a statue, and it's long overdue.
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