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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;New Miami Marlins hitting coach Barry Bonds credits his late father, Bobby Bonds, and godfather, Willie Mays for giving him the motivation to return to baseball.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CIt was something I had no intention of doing,\u201C Bonds said in an interview with MLB.com. \u201CAnd then I started thinking about my dad and everything he taught me. I started thinking about [manager] Jim Leyland and 1986 with the Pirates. We had all these kids sprinkled with a few veterans.\u201D\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bonds went on to say that taking the coaching job was something he felt that he needed to try.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CBaseball, that\u2019s my thing, that\u2019s who I am. With everything I've done as a hitter, I'm the best at that. I wouldn\u2019t have been able to do it unless the opportunity camp 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\u2019ve got to be in the trenches with them,\u201D Bonds said.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 JAFFE: Why HOF case for Trevor Hoffman isn\u2019t so cut and dry\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bonds also discussed his his doubts when it came to returning to the sport. The former outfielder is a controversial name in Major League Baseball after he was prosecuted for allegedly using performance enhancing drugs.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI didn\u2019t ever think this was something I wanted to do,\u201D Bonds said, but his mother encouraged him take the position. \u201CWhy not? You may hate it, but if you don\u2019t try you\u2019ll never know. You might love it and you might be one of the best teachers who ever lived. You don\u2019t know unless you get in the box and find out,\u201D she told Bonds.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Bonds is currently on a one year contract with the Marlins. He is not sure how long the job will last, but he\u2019s focusing on the present.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u201CI think it\u2019s a good thing. I think what I\u2019m doing is a good thing. Right now, I\u2019m just so happy about being back,\u201D Bonds said.\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/12/22/barry-bonds-miami-marlins-coaching-job-willie-mays>