1 Month Down, 5 more to go for the Giants

Baseball season is back and sure to excite all baseball fans and their favorite teams. However, I'm less than excited about what is happening to the San Francisco Giants. It's their 50th anniversary here on the West Coast and a few changes have happened since last season came to a close. It has mostly been a turn for the worst.

Since last season ended, the main concern for Giants fans has been the end of the Barry Bonds era. Fourteen years of watching Bonds play in a Giants uniform saddens us fans because there will be no one that the Giants will sign that has the same passion for the game and hitting home runs. He is still the reigning home run king with 762 for his career after breaking the record previously held by Hank Aaron. The single-season home run record has also been broken after it was held by the Cardinals' Mark McGuire. In his later years, Bonds won four National League MVP from 2001 to 2004. Since then he has slowed down even though he was on his way to breraking the home run record. He was able to represent the Giants as an All-Star when the midsummer classic was held at AT&T Park. He broke the record in mid-August and was crowned the new home run king, though baseball fans outside the Bay Area didn't approve of what he's done. Like several other players, he is a member of the steroids era in baseball. As the Giants' season ended, Barry Bonds ended his 14-year career with the Giants and hopes to play with another team in 2008, but the question is "who is going to sign him?" So far, nothing new in that category yet.

The 2008 baseball season is currently underway and one month has passed. The Giants are 12-17 going into the month of May. There have been a few cons of the way the season has progressed: 1. key players like Noah Lowry, Omar Vizquel, and a few others began the season on the disabled list and/or made the DL after injuries plagued them during the first two weeks; 2. the Giants' "ace" pitcher Barry Zito is off to a dismal 0-6 start. His poor performance and shorter outings have allowed the Giants to demote Zito from the rotation to the bullpen in order for him to get back the mechanics he lost since signing with the Giants last year. As May begins and the season progresses, we have yet to see how this season will end for them.

Barry Bonds' presence may no longer be felt inside AT&T Park since there is barely anything left to remember him by, but fans have not given up on their team. The Giants have had losing seasons for the past three years. A new chapter of Giants baseball has just begun. Only five more months to go and we don't know how this season will end. The only way to find out is to [in the words of former Giant Jeff Kent] "enjoy the game more!"