ANAHEIM – The godfather wore a pinkie ring on his still-beefy left hand and made an offer he hoped could not be refused.
Look at this 1954 World Series ring, Willie Mays told his godson Barry Bonds, and go get one with a bigger diamond of your own.
“I showed it to him this year to motivate him,” said Mays, who added he plans to will his lone championship ring to Bonds.
Mays watched on TV Saturday night when Bonds, in his first World Series at-bat, homered to spark the Giants to a 4-3, Game 1 triumph. He attended last night’s Game 2, and got to see Bonds blast his titanic ninth-inning homer in the Giants’ 11-10 loss to the Angels, but not without some inconvenience.
Initially, Mays’ car was not allowed into Edison Field. But when he got out of the vehicle, a female usher recognized who he was and he was given a police escort almost literally to the foot of the Giants’ clubhouse. All it took was his famous face and two autographed baseballs.
As Mays talked to a group of reporters, Bonds emerged from the locker room toting three bats, his glove and a cup of coffee. Seeing his godfather, Bonds yelped, “Say, hey, man. Let’s go.” Bonds tried to usher the 71-year-old Mays toward the field. “Damn these people,” Bonds said. “Family first. You show up and cause havoc around here.”
Winning, not hitting homers, Mays insists, is what will make his godson happiest. He pointed to all the Giants who were going by him with smiles and backslaps to prepare for Game 2, and said it was because of the Game 1 triumph.
“Winning, winning, winning,” Bonds said. “If you hit five homes and you don’t win the Series, what good is it?”