Barry Bonds, New York Yankee.
It could’ve happened, according to MLB’s all-time home run leader.
Bonds, as part of Netflix’s coverage of Yankees-Giants on Opening Day, revealed on the streamer’s broadcast that he nearly became a member of the Bronx Bombers during his first free agency in 1993.
“I gotta tell you a story because George [Steinbrenner] isn’t here anymore,” Bonds said. So I can tell the truth. I would’ve been a Yankee, and Steinbrenner got on the phone, and they called us and he told me, ‘Barry, we’re going to give you the money,’ highest-paid player at that time, ‘but you have to sign the contract by 2 o’clock this afternoon. I said, ‘Excuse, me?” and I hung the phone up.”
Bonds said his agent couldn’t believe what he said to Steinbrenner, and after going for a lunch, the Giants called him and the slugger decided to “go home,” where his dad, outfielder Bobby Bonds, started his own playing career.
“It’s the truth, that’s what I was told,” Bonds replied when play-by-play man Matt Vasgersian said the story would go viral on social media.
Bonds joined the Giants in 1993 and played the rest of his career in San Francisco, hitting 586 home runs, setting the single-season record with 73 in 2001.
Even without Bonds, the Yankees built an incredible core of players who won four World Series titles during the period from 1996 to 2000.
Bonds, while smashing records, only made the World Series once, losing to the Angels in a seven-game classic in 2002.
Had a 2 p.m. ultimatum never been on the table, could Bonds have done all that damage — and more — in The Bronx? One can only imagine.