You know, the more I think about this, the worse I feel. I'm honestly, literally crushed here. I can't articulate it quite as much as the rage and disappointment I feel. That tells me I'm really crushed because I just don't want to fight about it.

I swear to all of you management will not make me hate my team. But I loathe management so much for this bullshit display, and I hate them for making me feel this way.

It's really not aiding in my recovery. That's all I have to say.

is just another senseless slap in the face to fans. Sabean and company are a collective bull in a china shop. They really can't be this clueless.

When the Giants are stinking it up long about July, it won't look as terrible. The Dissin' would have been leaving the chicken wire up, with no chickens on it, or the banners. If you're starving, do you get more or less hungry standing outside the ChicNCoop? I think Mr. Bonds would have been embarrassed watching opposing homers repeatedly pierce holes in the banners on the light standards.

Scrubbing every scrap of evidence that he existed is overly harsh- for example the career homer counter could easily have been changed to list Bonds, Mays, Robinson, McCovey, Kingman, Darrel Evans, Cepeda. Same for the mural on the OF wall. They could have done more selling of "Giants History" which is going to be the only story for a couple of years anyway.

Seriously, what is management supposed to do? The team is going to suck. They're carrying some bad contracts. They have been too closely related to the whole media-knee-jerk-overreaction to the supposed steroids scandal. And to top it off, they are going into this season without the core of their team the past 15 years, the most feared hitter of all-time and the biggest 800 pound gorilla that has ever been in the room.

Barry is a poison right now and this is a team trying to convince fans to pay good flippin' money to see a team that will suck and will be boring to boot (pitching is great, but the casual fan loves the long ball). This is a team that needs to break from the past when making the sales pitch.

It would be nice for them to make a few mentions. A couple of "Thank You Barrys" would even be appreciated. But it would not be in their interest to celebrate Barry too much. Too many fans are angered. Too much bad publicity follows him. His immediate future is too uncertain. It's not as if they are going to pull up the plaques on the Cove walkway. Barry will be celebrated. They will put up the statue. Right now, this team is hurting and the business sense says, "Avoid further damage to the image of the franchise."

As far as who saved the franchise and who built the park. Well, Magowan and friends did BOTH and soo much more. Anger if You will at Peter and Larry, but these are the people who kept the team we love from moving to Blunderdome. They signed Bonds and allowed him to do WHATEVER he wanted. They gave him an atmosphere that was ridiculed by the media and many others. Then this same ownership group built one of the best fucking ballparks in the MLB and filled it. Magowan can play some crappy games when it comes to player and manager relations, but he and his group have developed the most successful era of SF Giants baseball ever.

I have considered it a great privilege to watch Barry over the years. I take the all the steroids BS with a grain of salt. I think the man should be revered as one of the five greatest players to have ever played the best game on earth. But to say or even imply that Bonds lifted this franchise on his back and single-handedly lifted them to the top is plain wrong.

Be mad if You must. But at least understand what obstacles are faced when selling the 2008 Giants. How would You sell the team?

Nothing for Barry, huh? Oh, wait, a plaque. Wonderful.

The guy who was the face of the franchise for more than a decade and who owns the all-time home-run record doesn't have anything to commemorate him at the ballpark that he is said to have built?

Bush league. Undeniably bush league.

It will be extremely embarrassing to have to look at the chicken(s) on the brick after the season we will have. Also the banners on the scoreboard never last anyway, and same with the spot in left field. Plus I sit in Section 103 (by the brick) and am planning to hang up some Ks.

But it would have been nice to leave the Bonds HR counter in center, although I'm not surprised because it is awkward to have that while he is still unsigned and the Giants still need any sort of power. Plus he still has about every single plaque on the portwalk by the Cove. I'll reserve judgement until it's clear they won't make the statue or put up his 25 on the second deck.

Where is this plaque with on Bond's last homer?

They need to move on from the Bonds' years and the media circus. I agree that they should have left up the Bonds HR tracker, but I have no problem with them removing everything else. The team is going to stink all year, so why leave up all signs that remind fans of better times?? So they can chant " we want Barry" everytime the Giants are losing??

It's not so much that they've removed everything, but there's something rather personal and vindictive in Magowan's words that I find galling. I think I might be overreacting, but I'm still annoyed. This gives me the impression that unlike Mays and McCovey, Bonds won't be a welcome figure at the ballpark after his career is over.

they really should leave up the all time HR counter or replace it with something more permanent (since he's clearly not hitting any more HR this season). Bonds was the face of the franchise for many many years and he deserves his recognition. In Seattle, they named a street outside the ballpark Edgar Martinez Dr or something, the least they could do here is leave up Bonds' HR total.

Sure, Barry hit a cove-load of homers over the years. Sure, the Giants are my favorite team. Sure, he was the face of the franchise. Sure, Lamar took more heat than he should have, given the numbers of players who had, and are, using. But as much as I'm a fan of our orange-and-black, I cherish more dearly the integrity of our national pastime. Bonds knowingly screwed with the integrity of the game, and if the price he pays is only that his likeness is removed from the LF wall, then he should consider himself lucky.

Paint it any way you like, McCoven, but McGowan isn't the one tarnishing our game.

Does anybody else wonder how Willy Mays feels about all this? Almost seems to me that he's been as much of a marketing tool as anybody has been regarding making money off of Bonds, and I can't help but feel that the org is lightly slapping him in the face as well.

While Bonds' current career is still in question, I think it'd be entirely inappropriate to have Bonds featured all over the park. After all, he might be playing for another team. Once he officially retires (or gets out of jail), that would be the time to retire his number and build a statue.

People have likened this to Mays and McCovey, but weren't their jerseys retired after their careers were over? I don't think the team was celebrating Mays when he was a Met or McCovey when he was a Padre.

The team has to let him go if they want to honor him with a grand "return" for "Barry Bonds Day" at some point in the future. That'll also give time for the bitterness to fade on both sides.

why is nobody talking about the way Rusty was treated?! The final straw came this offseason when his wee right field shack (think Groundskeeper Willie) was demolished!

I wonder if they will sell Rusty on eBay?

And to keep this on topic, my guess is the ownership group doesnt really know the best way to commemorate Barry's contribution at this time. I know I dont. Considering--as others have mentioned--that Barry's still not even retired, or could end up a jailed felon, I think it's too early. But in time, I think the ownership group will find a way to do something appropriate.

the ball park IS the tribute to Bonds. it's his legacy, not the homerun record. it's his monument. the only thing that should matter when it comes to its contents is what happens on the field. any monuments of 756 and such would be as distracting as the Coke bottle. and while i don't know what Bonds thinks of it, given his style, i am inclined to believe this is the way he wants it.

At first, I thought the reason I don't feel bad at all is because I'm sarcastic by nature (nurtured by years of political correctness BS living in the Bay Area). Then, after thinking about it for ten seconds or so, I realized the following:

1) Bonds was a great player. He was great for the organization and we most likely won't see someone like him for quite a while (apologies to #13 in the Bronx. You'll have your time in a few years). Bonds was, and remains, an enigma: he could be charming, and he could be a serious a-hole. He could have played the smile-for-the-cameras, shake hands with everyone, political game that everyone else plays. But he didn't. He chose to be the way he was and made no apologies for it. So, like I tell my kids, if you want to live a certain way, be prepared for whatever consequences arise from that. So I don't feel bad for him. He led himself to where he is.

He's gone. Thanks, Barry. Clean your stuff out and good luck to you. Done.

2) Peter Magowan deserves a TON of thanks for keeping this team here and steering the team to where it is now, which is to say, not in Tampa. We have a beautiful stadium and a passionate group of fans. However, it's clear that he knew what was going on (you don't get to the top of any organization, Safeway, the Giants, whatever, by being naive) and turned his head away from it because it brought great things. But it's time to pay for all we had, and now we are going to pay. So he shouldn't complain and Barry shouldn't complain.