Baseball season is over. It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating the return of baseball season, the spring, the summer, the grass, the bbqs, the beers, the warm weather and trips to the ballpark. The garlic fries, Crazy Crabz sandwiches, overpriced beers, beautiful views, and, in this sad case, Giants late inning losses in close games.
But this year, that's not what really gets me about the end of the season. This year, after 15, the Giants have decided they won't be bringing Barry Bonds back. They've marketed this as a way to rebuild, focus on the young players in the system, and rid themselves of the distraction that Bonds can sometimes (ok, always) create. The problem is, they've tried to sell the fans on something that really, when you look carefully, doesn't make any sense whatsoever.
1) Spin: We're doing this for the financial impact of Bonds' contract on the team. Fact: Bonds does take up a lot of money (15.8 million this season to be exact), but aside from him and Zito, it's not like the Giants do the roster spending the Red Sox and Yankees do. It's also not like we don't have the money to pay him...they probably brought in 15 million in memorabilia sales of his 756 chase alone.
2) Spin: We're doing this for the production of the team. Fact: By getting rid of Bonds, the Giants are in one fell swoop getting rid of their team home run leader, 2nd in doubles, highest slugging percentage, 2nd in RBIs, and one of the highest on base percentages in the entire NL, not to mention the entire league. How do they expect to boost the production of the team by getting rid of their most productive offensive player?
3) Spin: We're doing this because Bonds is done as a player. He's too old and his legs are tired. Fact: See (2) above, then consider that he also had 5 stolen bases this year to go along with a year in which he had only one stretch of time missed due to injury (sprained toe, the last two weeks of the season), and only needed moderate rest for his legs.
4) Spin: We're doing this because it's logical business sense. Fact: Who puts more people in the seats at the stadium? Bonds. Who sells the most memorabilia? Bonds. Who makes you the most money? Bonds. And getting rid of him makes logical sense how?
5) Spin: We're doing this to give our young players a chance. Fact: Don't you need your most productive, most experienced players to help mold your young players in order to give them the chance? They're getting rid of one of the most seasoned and most accomplished veterans in the game.
So there you have it...when you look at any and every reason the Giants claim for getting rid of Barry after 15 amazing seasons, the all-time home run king, All-Stars, Golden Gloves, etc, every reason falls short. If you're going to cut one of the most beloved Giants in SF history, just be honest...you don't want to pay him what he wants and you don't want the distraction of him being around. Say that, it's ok, be real. But to try to sell the decision of getting rid of Barry to the SF public by claiming that it's in the best interests of the team fiscally and athletically is just plain nonsense.
Look at the failure of the Giants to get back to the post-season since the World Series collapse. Is it due to hitting? Is it due to defense? No, it's due to the fact that since that collapse, a loss to the Angels due to shoddy bullpen relief and a suspect closing situation, Sabean, for all his genius bringing in experienced, productive players, has done absolutely nothing to bolster the bullpen roster. The most significant pitching signing he's done (and I'm not talking Lincecum and Zito here, I'm talking bullpen) is sign Armando Blownitez. And look how that turned out.
Finally, there's one more thing today that makes me ashamed to be a Giants fan. Apparently the decision to get rid of Bonds was made long before the season came to a close. Yet, they didn't announce it when they made it, thereby failing to give Giants fans an adequate opportunity to say goodbye to the guy that for many of us, especially in our age bracket, is the Giants and has been since we were 10. I was fortunate enough to be able to attend his last game, but many weren't, or didn't know they were seeing him for the last time when they did.
Is it not enough that they injured him by giving his farewell tour with the Giants short shrift? Apparently not, because in his final game in a Giants uniform, when the last pitch was thrown, the video tribute to Bonds came on. A lovely highlight reel, to be sure. But when that ended, there were no fireworks, no speeches, and most of all, no Bonds. That's right, after 15 years in our city, with all the support that no other city in America would have given him, the Giants didn't bring Barry out for one last speech.
If it was the Giants' decision, it is one of the worst possible PR moves imaginable and only further demonstrates how we're willing to treat our sports heroes when we don't view them as valuable to a franchise anymore. The Niners did it with Rice and Montana, why shouldn't the Giants have their aging hero mistake as well?
Is it possible that Bonds, in anger over the decision to cut him and the timing of the announcement, decided not to come out? Sure. If that was his decision, he hurt his fans tremendously, as Topher and I talked on the phone two hours after we had left the stadium about how disappointed we felt over the lackluster and sorry end of the Bonds era. But even if it was his decision, with the way the Giants front office bought him for the home run chase, chewed him up for the memorabilia and now are spitting him out once the goal has been accomplished, can you really blame him?
So Barry, thanks for the memories. No matter what the front office says or does, the people of San Francisco appreciate your contribution, and all I can do going forward is to hope that for the Giants and SF sports, this is a low point for how they've treated and lied to the fans and mistreated an aging star, and we can only go up from here.
On the upside, it should give us the ability to sign A-Rod so we can use him and kick him out disrespectfully once he's broken Bonds' record ten years from now. For those interested, here's the farewell video they played for him...
No comments:
Post a Comment