Giant Bummer: Bye-Bye, Barry

PHOTOS BY MARY SHEPPARD

Comments

[M.E]

OK folks I'll take a swing at a comment.
If you ever get to a game during batting practice, you can witness the power of this man's swing. You can also witness the power of Klesko's and a few other's swing. Several balls wind up in the bleachers for the folks who get there early. There are a lot of fans who say they won't come back because Bonds won't be there. I believe Bonds did a lot for the Giants, and Sabian isn't the only person who made a decision to let him go. Remember, Baseball is a sport, but there are some who are expert merchandisers, and if you check back to a fellow who used to be among the top CEO's for Safeway, you'll find a person who was and still is an excellent merchandiser.Time marches on, and before you know it, there'll be another athlete, perhaps one of the current players who will draw the folks out to the baseball park.
If you go to: sfgiants.com, you can get updates on everything GIANT in a heartbeat.
GO GIANTS!
M.E.

[Jim Currie]

Chris, Bonds actually doesn't have enough AB's to rank amongst the league in those stats. However, I am not disputing his offensive numbers. He is grossly overpaid for what he does overall. If you want to put a fantasy spin on it Bonds ranks around 50 amongst batters in the average league. Attendance will be determined by the lineup that Sabaen can create with the millions of dollars he can spend elsewhere. I can only hope that next year is the year that Feliz suits up in another uniform also. The time has come to move on and I am glad that the Giants have decided to do so.

[Chris]

Jim, I respectfully disagree. Barry is fifth in the league in slugging; first in getting on base (a more meaningful stat than batting average); and first in "OPS," considered the single most meaningful batting statistic. His $15 million salary is warranted based on those numbers alone...and that's not even factoring in the butts he puts in the seats at PacBell. (I know the garlic fries are good, but that's not why the Giants have drawn 3 million people every year in that park, for eight years running.) Just watch how much the attendance drops off next year--Barry's value will become painfully obvious.

[Jim Currie]

While I agree that Bonds has been left as the scapegoat for the MLB steroids scandal, I cannot wait for him to leave the Giants. His statistics don't reflect his huge paycheck and he is no longer even a mediocre outfielder. The only question to be answered is, do the Giants have the guts to not re-sign him?