PHOENIX -- Any milestone he reaches is important to Giants slugger Barry Bonds at this point in his 22-year career. But when he passes his godfather, Willie Mays, those are even more significant. That's among family, Bonds said, and it gives him bragging rights.

"His milestones are better than everybody else's," Bonds told MLB.com on Wednesday night before the Giants dropped a 5-3 decision to the Diamondbacks at Chase Field. "It just cuts down on another thing he can say."

Bonds wasn't in the starting lineup, but in only a few days, he'll catch and pass Mays, who's eighth on the all-time list with 1,903 RBIs. Bonds, with 1,901, is only two away. It could happen this weekend when the Giants play a three-game series against the red-hot Dodgers in Los Angeles, or it could happen next week during a four-game series in San Diego. But it will happen.

The two love to good-naturedly trash talk each other. Earlier in the season, Mays, now 75, told Bob Costas that Bonds wasn't as good as he was during a 22-year career that ended in 1973.

"Barry couldn't throw with me," Mays said during the course of a televised interview. "He might not have been able to run with me. Let's give him hitting, since he hit 73 [home runs in 2001]. Don't think I can hit 73 home runs. I give him that. But what else?"

Now it's Bonds' turn.

"He thinks he's better than me, but he can think all he wants," Bonds said with a laugh. "He's better than me in some things, but he ain't better than me in other things.

"He played center field, so he was a better outfielder than me. Baserunning I think I've got him. I have more stolen bases (509-338). I have more runs scored (2,127-2,062). Home runs, we don't have to discuss that. Willie and I are like that. We go by based on what you have. And what you have is what you have."

Actually, Bonds won't catch Mays in triples (he's trailing 140 to 77) or total hits (Mays has him 3,283 to 2,803), but he's passed him in almost every other category save lifetime batting average, which Mays leads by a scant .302 to .299.

Mays hit 660 career homers, but Bonds passed him early in the 2004 season to go into third on the all-time list. This past May 28, Bonds took it a step higher and passed Babe Ruth at 714 to go into second.

With 15 homers this season, Bonds is at 723, 10 behind Hank Aaron's National League-best 733, and 32 behind his all-time leading 755.

Bonds is on a pace to hit 25 homers this season, but he's only smacked three since the All-Star break and one since July 20. His last homer on the road was on July 7 at Los Angeles.

Bonds, who reiterated that he intends to play next season, said he knows he has to take his play up another level.

"I will. It will happen. I'm not worried about it," he said.

About reaching Aaron's home run record, Bonds said that that's still well within his reach.

"Until I get to 730, I really can't even think about it," he said. "I get there and I'll start taking it seriously."

Right now, what he can take seriously is the usual intramural rivalry with Mays, who has become the father figure in Bonds' life since his father, former Giants star, Bobby, passed away nearly three years ago.

"It's good because Willie keeps getting me up, telling me that I've got to keep doing these things," Bonds said. "He tells me, 'You'd better hurry up. You're going to be old. You'll never catch me.' He motivates me, which is really important. He's a great motivator. When my dad got sick, that's when Willie really started being hands on."

It should be noted that Bonds has won the National League MVP seven times and Mays won it twice. But Mays was the Rookie of the Year in 1951, has 20 All-Star selections to 13 for Bonds and won the All-Star Game MVP twice. Mays also has his godson in Gold Gloves, 12-7, and one more thing that Bonds has always coveted -- that 1954 World Series ring, representing the last time the Giants, then of New York, won the Fall Classic. Bonds has none.

"That's OK," Bonds said. "The flip side of that is we're family, so technically I do have a World Series ring. I get his. So that's the good part of it. He's still, 'Say Hey,' and he should be. That man is great. Now the things he can say goes down from something like seven to six."