Wednesday, March 19, 2008

A New Barry in Town



I just wanted to take a moment away from school stuff and say how wonderful it is that Barry Bonds won't be playing for the San Francisco Giants this season. For over a decade Bonds carried the franchise on his pimple-popped back, and it was obviously a bumpy ride. Barry Bonds was Ike and Giants fans were Tina. We knew he was bad for us, but we stuck with him. As Gladys Knight sweetly sang, "I'd rather live in [Barry's] world, than live without him in mine."

Don't get me wrong, Barry did some nice things for Giants fans. For one, he saved the franchise from moving to Florida. Trust me, you DON'T want to move to Florida. Two, his power from the left side was the inspiration for AT&T Park, one of the most beautiful stadiums in MLB. Three, he helped get the Giants into playoff contention year after year and even to the '02 series (Which I'm still bitter about since I entered the MTC 2 weeks earlier). Four, Giants baseball did NOT matter before he got there. Nobody's recalling the Roger Craig era, or fighting to get Rick Rueschel into Cooperstown. Even Will the Thrill wasn't as big as Barry.

In the end though, despite every good thing Bonds brought to the Bay, I'm glad he's gone. An article in SI a week or 2 back mentioned that a new Barry (Zito) has emerged as the team leader. They're playing Guitar Hero in the clubhouse and actually looking forward to coming to the yard. For the first time in a while, there's covalent chemistry in the Giants organization, and not nuclear warfare. So while it is sad to see Pedro Gomez out of work, Giants fans can now look forward to a new day......
 unless Ike comes calling again.


3 comments:

Kara said...

It makes me very happy to hear Barry is gone, but so sad to hear you are a Giants fan. GO DODGERS! :)

Gracie J said...

I love the connection you made with Ike & Tina. I must also say that while Bonds was an amazing hitter, it makes me really sad to know that it's probable that he wasn't that great "on his own." He was just a figment of our imaginations. I've decided that I'm officially joining the Red Sox Nation and I will be cheering for Papi and hoping he doesn't ever f'up and have roid rage.

Brad said...

I knew a little lefty who thought he was Will Clark. The stadium is really cool.