MLB Legend Barry Bonds Shares a Viral Moment With San Francisco Sporting Royalty While Celebrating an NHL Legend

The NHL world was going through an emotional roller coaster when the San Jose Sharks retired Patrick Marleau’s jersey. The SAP Center, the hockey team’s home stadium, blew up the number 12 to an emotional crowd on Saturday, February 25th. Various former teammates as well as Bay Area sports greats such as MLB icons Barry Bonds and Rollie Fingers and former NBA player Chris Mullin were invited to honor the hockey legend.

Given the sheer number of accomplishments he’s had, it’s only natural that Marleau would be the first to have his jersey retired in league history. When Bonds was announced, he waved to the crowd and bowed several times to the Sharks player. Because really, if the player with the most games played in league history doesn’t deserve it, who does?

Barry Bonds honors NHL legend Patrick Marleau

Bonds may not have played hockey professionally, but as a fellow athlete, he knows how to appreciate a game. The former pro baseball player, whose own number retired in 2018, posted photos to Instagram to welcome Marleau to the club. He included photos featuring all the sports greats and Marleau’s family and captioned them: “Congratulations to Patrick Marleau on retiring his #12 jersey with the @sanjosesharks tonight. You’ve had an eventful career…welcome to the club!”

The Bonds jersey no. 25 in August 2018, and he was only the 12th player in franchise history to earn that privilege. Given his distinguished career as well as his status as one of the greatest baseball players of all time, it’s no wonder the San Francisco team selected him for this honor.

What did fans think of that moment when worlds collided?

It was a great day for Bay Area residents, especially sports fans. They saw some legends get together to celebrate another sports superstar and they couldn’t contain the excitement. First up on the Bonds post was the official Sharks Instagram, which commented: “Thank you for celebrating with us! 👏”. They were joined by the Giants and they all revolved around San Fran, “👏 #BayAreaUnite”.

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one fan commented, “This is the greatest cultural crossover of all time”while another referenced his lack of election at Cooperstown, “Barry doesn’t have to be in the MLB HoF for us to know he’s the GOAT…”. And another cheekily referred to Bond’s past of PED use, “Lol I almost read a steroid career”.

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Despite the subtle digs, fans seemed to love seeing the former pro baseball celebrate the hockey legend!