Giants remove all Bonds' images

[jaybird2001wi]

The Giants appear more than ready to get rid of the Barry Bonds aura at AT&T Park as they removed all banners, images and other things related to Bonds within the stadium.
Giants officials won't even take him back at a discounted price. Makes us all wonder if the Giants were waiting to wash their hands of Bonds the moment they had a chance.

[crewcrazy]

This isn't all that surprising to me -- they got what they wanted from him, which was the extra attention and cash from the home run chase. They were curiously quiet throughout Bonds' last few years there, and like you said, this all points to them washing their hands of him as soon as they could.

[razzzorsharp]

That's sad. He gave them a lot of great memories and some of the very best years.

[TooLiveBrew]

Especially once his PED abuse can be put in proper perspective (as in, everybody else was abusing, too), they'll embrace him again. There will be a Bonds statue outside of that park someday soon, I bet.

[PlayerHader]

Do teams usually keep things up after a player leaves via free agency? Not saying they plan on putting things back up, but is this really a big story?

[jazzytrav]

Well, it's not like he left via free agency in the normal way. He didn't jet for bigger money or anything like that. They cut him loose.

[brains and braun]

That head takes up a lot of valuable ad space.

[brewjihad]

Do teams usually keep things up after a player leaves via free agency? Not saying they plan on putting things back up, but is this really a big story?

Is the "Jenkins Jungle" sign still up in left?

[jazzytrav]

I wouldn't doubt it since Vaughn's Valley lasted at least another year after he left.

[TheBwaz]

I think the current Brewers are a little faster than the previous administration.

The Bonds stuff, meh. Just the duplicitous execs dousing themselves in the "We had no idea what was going on" goo of the post-PED era. With apologies to the Simpsons, but did we want to know the truth or did we just want to watch them hit dingers?

[razzzorsharp]

In regards to Vaughns Valley, I was there the day it was taken down if I remember correctly. It was taken down by the fans on the day they announced the trade at the stadium. they ripped it down without any sort of ok from those in charge.

[billyhallfan]

it is bush league imo, the basically used the guy, made as much money off of him as possible without spending any money on the team, and then brush him aside, and pretend they were never associated with him, it is pathetic, and ridiculous.

[PlayerHader]

What about Bonds, who made as much money off the team as possible without spending any effort being a good teammate or clubhouse guy, all while never considering how his actions would reflect on his teammates and organization. Get real if you think Bonds is a victim at all.

[Portage Plumber]

Without reading the link-- this is not correct. I took a tour of the park on Wednesday and their store had numerous thing with a Bonds theme-- "73" picture with ticket stubs from every game he hit a home run in for $1999 autographed and numerous other autographed items from Bonds. Their presee box had 3-4 things from Bonds.

 

This may be removed in days but it was all visibile on Wednesday. It was also their "welcome to giants '08" day with all the press. I actually had a 2 minute conversation with the owner-- Mcgowan(?) who was very personable. Asked how I like the stadium-- I asked if we could move it to Milwaukee-- he said he would be there soon enough for his tastes-- not looking forward to facing the Brewers this year.

[Kurt]

As much as I dislike Bonds and everything he stands for, the Giants owe the guy some gratitude for all the years he played for them and all the spotlight and money he made the Giants.

[ccbrew]

it is bush league imo, the basically used the guy, made as much money off of him as possible without spending any money on the team, and then brush him aside, and pretend they were never associated with him, it is pathetic, and ridiculous.

He's an employee who was paid to do his work. Now he's a former employee. I have mixed feelings about the immediate removal of the signage, but he by no means was being "used" during his time with the Giants.

 

[Time for a Miller]

This is like what the Roman's did after they became an empire. They tried to destroy everything related to a particular ruler if he was ousted as a poor ruler (statues, markers, etc.). It didn't work though, we still have records of all of them and it won't work with Bonds. He is as much a part of At&T park as crazy out of place flashbacks are a part of Family Guy episodes since season 4.

[Invader3K]

I was listening to XM yesterday afternoon, and Rob Dibble was especially fired up about this. His point was that "They paid him millions and made millions off of him...and he was a major part of their team for 15 years." I basically agree with them. I don't like Bonds, but to have had him be such a major part of their organization for that long, and then to just pretend to wash their hands of him is pretty disingenuous, IMHO. They took calls from fans yesterday, too, and at least one Giants season ticket holder was pretty mad about it.

[billyhallfan]

i would be mad about it too, to pretend that you were never associated with the guy is stupid, i just think that is really low class.

[endaround]

I think its being way overblown. Signage changes. Though I think the Devil Rays gave their best to the team and Tampa just decides that they want more Rays than just the Devil Rays and well you know how money talks.

[lcbj68c]

Do teams usually keep things up after a player leaves via free agency? Not saying they plan on putting things back up, but is this really a big story?

Is the "Jenkins Jungle" sign still up in left?

 

Nope, I watched them finally take her down last wednesday.

[Fatter than Joey]

Maybe they want the new guy(s) to not feel like they are in Bonds shadow all the time.

 

I expect that the Packers may do something similar (not to the same degree) with Favre, as they want the fans to focus on #12 and not #4

[RobertR]

The major difference is that Bonds was not just an ordinary member of the team, but one of the all time greats who made them lots of money, won MVPs, and made them a perennial pennant contender. It's like the Brewers removing all signs of Robin Yount or Paul Molitor from the stadium. Yount might be the more appropriate example since Bonds isn't playing for another team.

 

And, frankly, it says more about the team's ownership than Bonds.

 

Robert

[TheBrewer]

I really don't think it's a big deal. It is but it isn't. Hes facing all sorts of issue with the law, with MLB, everyone. Second, Bonds is not retired as of yet. Did the Brewers remove any Molitor signs when he left for the Twins back in the day? Probably. When Molitor retired did they put abunch of signage back up displaying his efforts probably. It'd be like if the Twins would've held on to Johan this seaosn, and he became a FA, signed with say the Red Sox. Red Sox come into town, and all the Santana signage is still up and visible. I would imagne that after Bonds officially retires they'll put something back up, but again keep in mind that you can clearly tell they want the Bonds era to be over and done with, with the bad clubhouse prsence, the law, everything, they want it to be over with, and I see nothing wrong with that. Had Bonds been where he's at today not signed with a club, maybe retiring, but he DID NOT have any of the issues with the law, the clubhouse presence etc, then theres a good chance SOME of that stuff would still be up. Having signs in LF would stll be taken down, he doesn't play there anymore in LF ya know.

[Thurston Fluff]

I see this as getting what you give. He gave his all on the field and they paid him far more than anyone else was willing to give him. He gave very little in the way of media relations or clubhouse leadership or respect for the game in general. They returned that lack of giving by turning their back on him as soon as he was no longer useful to them. The reason guys like Yount and Gwynn get treated with so much more respect is because they gave it.