Barry Bonds says he wants to honor dad and Willie Mays in return

Barry Bonds discussed at length his recent decision to return to baseball as hitting coach for the Miami Marlins with MLB.com this week, and he said one of his motivations was a desire to honor his two biggest influences in the game, his late father, Bobby Bonds, and godfather Willie Mays.

Bonds said his mother actually encouraged him to give coaching a try when the opportunity presented itself. She told him he would never know if it was something he enjoyed and did well unless he gave it a try.

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Bonds was hired for one season by Miami owner Jeffrey Loria and new manager Don Mattingly. He says he will probably know by July if coaching is something he enjoys and wants to continue to do or if he will head in another direction. His playing days ended after the 2007 season.

Loria first called Bonds about the coming to Miami and Mattingly followed up after he was hired.

“I need to try this,” Bonds told MLB.com. “I’ll never know if I like it unless I try. Baseball, that’s my thing, that’s who I am. With everything I’ve done as a hitter, I’m the best at that. I wouldn’t have been able to do it unless the opportunity came up. So I figured, if I’m going to do it, I’m going to do it the way my dad would have done it. I’ve got to be in the trenches with them.

“I could come in for a day or two and give them tips and things, but what happens when a guy really loses it and you’re not there? See what I mean? So I kind of want to honor my dad for what he did. Honor my godfather [Mays] for what he did.”

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Bonds is now 51 and he’s excited about the opportunity to work with Giancarlo Stanton, one of the game=s premier power hitters as well as a veteran such as Ichiro Suzuki, who will going for his 3,000th hit next season. There are numerous young players whom Bonds will have an opportunity to help grow as well.

Bonds said he’s not terribly excited about sometimes living out of a suitcase and spending weeks in hotels, but he understands that is part of the job and he’ll get through it. He said he plans to do his work and leave the interviews to Mattingly.

“This is not for me, it’s for them,” he said. “I’m not going to be in the press. That’s not my thing. That’s Don Mattingly’s thing. My job is hitting, and I’m going to stay in my box. I’m not coming out of my box for anything.”

It will be interesting to see how this works out and what effect Bonds has on the Marlins.

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Kyle Ringo is a contributing writer to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo