Grant,

I don’t think you’re wrong on this one, but no matter what Magowan’s role was or was not in the past 3+ years, him stepping down indicates an organizational change in and of itself.

With the way the team’s been headed, any change upstairs should / can / hope to change the direction in a positive way.

I’ll reiterate what I said in a previous diary: however responsible he is for the ongoing mess of a team on the field, Magowan built Mays Field without bankrupting the city, he kept payroll in the top-10 for most of his ownership, and he gave us Barry Bonds for 15 years. He’ll be missed, by me at least.

I will always be grateful to McGowan for keeping the Giants in San Francisco, and for building the beautiful sanctuary I visit many times every year.

But I also believe he had some role in the cockamamie roster decisions that have been made over the last ten years that have left me bitter and hopeless about the team’s future.

Thank you Peter. I mean that. But it’s time to go.

I’m feeling sort of sad for Peter the person, because he’s walking away from a post that has to be a dream come true for him. He did wonderful things for me as a fan, giving us the best ballpark ever and the good Barry. He was not perfect. I’m not just closing my eyes to all the missteps the team has taken in recent years. But since he’s on his way out, I don’t feel compelled to rag on him for the ills of the team.

Plus I’m also reserving judgement on the move as a whole until I know what Neukom will be like.

I’m right with you Grant… all we do know is that McGowan got Bonds the first time, and did get park built WITHOUT public funds. For that alone, he should be lauded.

Sabean is an idiot either way. Either he made all the bad decisions, or stood by and let the owner wreck his reputation (which was until about 2004 actually quite good outside of the lunatic fringe/stat drunk computer nerd demographic). Most likely it’s a combination.

I’m going to cry if I have to read too many more posts where people spell his name McGowan, or some other wrong derivative. It’s Magowan! MAGOWAN!!! If you’re unsure, just call him Peter. Not Peeter or Petre or Peatre.

Meanwhile, I’ve always liked Magowan. He loves baseball, he loves the Giants. The Giants ownership didn’t go crazy and try to raise the team payroll into Yankees/Red Sox territory, he kept it respectable. Peter and Co. bought the Giants when MLB wanted someone to step in and buy it. During his years as MGP, we’d frequently had a very competitive team. There have been many questionable decisions, just like there have been everywhere else in the world. He’s not perfect, the Giants aren’t spotless. But we’ve got a team in SF, we have a gorgeous ballpark, we have an organization that celebrates its historic past, and we have gotten to enjoy one of the greatest ballplayers in the history of the game. These are the things we know he’s at least partially responsible for, without any extra conjecture. The things that have been accomplished far outweigh everything bad that’s happened in recent seasons.

My vote was cast, I’ll miss him. Happy retirement, Pete!

Currently, 83% of us think Grant is a jerkface. Looks like he’s going to win without even counting the superdelegates.

I’d like to thank Peter Magowan for signing Barry Bonds and introducing the Safeway Club Card, not necessarily in that order.

Even if you add Nader’s Aww Bummer to Gore’s Yes Finally!....Bush still whips your llama.

Indifferent about Magowan.

to all the navel-gazing that’s been going on the last few days. Two pieces in the Comical? His time in the booth with Jon Miller was like listening to ice melt. He basically ignored the game and seemed to talk over most of the “action”. I understand all the interviews with the bowtie guy, but it’s been very interesting watching Magowan make the rounds talking about how excited he is to spend more time with his family. Just like Carly Fiorina.

As for who did what, isn’t there plenty of blame to go around for the current mess? Like Grant, I’d be surprised if Magowan called Sabean before the season to make sure he picked up Joe Castle and left Leone/McClain/all the usual suspects in Fresno.

But on the other hand, somebody with a checkbook had to sign off on Zito, and the non-Bonds budget (i.e. Sabean surely wasn’t setting the overall salary number, just choosing to allocate it on Alfonzos and Tuckers).

One thing that was definitely overlooked in all the breathless Petro-spectives: he and his gang made it at least a little awkward for teams to go hat in hand to cities begging for free stadiums. And probably absolutely sunk any possible hope the A’s had of getting money from Oakland or Alameda Co. (although after Al’s big bonanza of freebies that hope was fairly dead anyway as a political matter).

So, for proving that professional sports franchises are not, in fact, charitable institutions, and can, in fact, finance their own facilities, the country should be thankful for his efforts to build a stadium and a competitive team.

Whatever…