Article:San Francisco Dirtbags?

This upcoming baseball season is going to be a tough one for the San Francisco Giants. This is a year where the Giants really need to start building the foundation for their franchise. Realistically, the Giants will struggle to stay out of last place in the West. At least what it seems on paper, but as sports fans, we know there is more to it than just having big names. The Giants are now rid of their biggest name, Barry Bonds. Bonds, in my opinion, is in the top 5 greatest ever. He was a game changing player and a player I grew to love growing up as a Giants fan. He did have his faults, as we all know, he isn’t the nicest of all people, although I have heard stories of him helping out players. It was hard on players playing with him because when someone with the presence of Bonds play s it puts pressure on other players to perform at that level. Also, Bonds frequently snapped at players and it made for a stressful and negative environment. Now that Bonds has left the clubhouse for good, it’s a new era of baseball for San Fran.

Small Ball, that is the new title for the Giants play. They are going to have to manufacture runs by stealing, utilizing the hit and run, and anything else that doesn’t depend on the long ball. The Giants line-up could be called anything except for a line-up with pop. A line-up in which contains Benjie Molina as the clean-up hitter and now Aaron Rowand as the star hitter of the group. Although the Giants won’t be rocking the ball to outer space I still think there is hope for the Giants to be able to compete at the high level of the West.

This is where Aaron Rowand is going to big. Rowand’s chance to shine as a star and a leader is now. He brings a lot to the table other than skills for the Giants. For example, he has already been making efforts to meat with teammates in activities off the field. This si so the team can bond and be able to depend on each other. They will be able to talk to each other without anything negative coming to the conversation, this enables a team to give each other constructive criticism. Also, one word can describe Aaron Rowand and that is Dirtbag. He is what the sport of baseball is all about. He is here to play for the game and not try and be bigger than the game. Rowand lays it all on the line and is constantly putting his body at risk. Winning baseball games is what Rowand wants and will do anything to get those wins. The mentality of Rowand is that of a certain hall of famer Ty Cobb. Although Rowand does not take the views to the extreme as does Cobb, he has minor qualities that resemble the great Center Fielder. Now I am not talking skill level, no one man is close to Cobb in skill, but the way Rowand views the game. Not to earn money or be the star of the world, but to be none as a player who worked his ass off and played his heart out for his team. If Rowand can rub off this mentality on his teammates, then the sky is the limit. If this Giants team comes out everyday and plays their asses off and have the desire to win, well they could very well get those needed wins to compete for the division title. Giants players will have to take a part out of the Long Beach Dirtbags’ book and earn their respect through hard work and dedication. The Giants can push for that playoff spot as long as they pull together as a team and believe in one another. They have to not only want it though… They have to believe it.