Barry Bonds Won't Be A Giant In 2008

After 22 years, 762 (and counting) career home runs, 2,935 (and counting) career hits and other numerous accomplishments, many questions surround the life and career of San Francisco slugger, Barry Bonds. Did he use performance-enhancing drugs? Should an asterisk be placed next to his home run record? Is he really that much of a sour-puss? With all that, one thing is certain — Bonds will not suit-up in his familiar orange and black uniform next year.

After 15 seasons, the Giants decided to part ways with their as much famous as infamous slugger. Bonds was the first to break the news.

“Yesterday [Sept 20], I was told by the Giants that they will not be bringing me back for the 2008 season. During the conversation with Peter Magowan I was told that my play this year far exceeded any expectations the Giants had, but that the organization decided this year would be my last season in San Francisco,” Bonds said on his website.

Many will speculate that the Giants organization finally grew weary of the constant off-field struggles of the embattled Bonds but Magowan is all to keen to recognize what Bonds meant to the organization.

"No one is more aware of what Barry has meant to the Giants and San Francisco than I am," Magowan said in the team's news release. "He gave our ownership group instant credibility when we bought the team in 1993 and he helped transform the Giants into a consistent winner."

But both Magowan and general manager, Brian Sabean nearly telegraphed the move in July when they noted the team needed to head in a new course of action as the Giants failed to make the play-offs for a fourth consecutive year. One of the oldest teams in baseball, starting-roster average age of 35, the Giants have long acknowledged the idea of surrounding Bonds with aging veterans was a failed thought and the team needed to get younger – at 43, Bonds is the oldest player on the team.

Beyond Bonds and the Giants, those hit hardest will be Giants fans themselves. Everyone else may castigate Bonds as a jerk, a curmudgeon towards the media and other accusations but “The City” absolutely adores their hero. “No one knows the Bonds we know,” is a common refrain in the bars and taverns of San Francisco as yet another report on Bonds’ bad attitude plays on the television. Course, a younger, faster team that gets into the 2008 play-offs will go a long way towards making Bonds a favored, but distant memory.

Article Author: Benjamin Cossel

A working journalist, Benjamin currently serves as a combat photojournalist and is the managing editor of a weekly newspaper in southeastern Wyoming. He’s worked as a reporter in Ohio, Arizona and done several deployments in the military crossing the globe. …

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