August 11, 2004
Giant Responsibility
Only Baseball Matters looks at the issue of the Giants losing money and concludes that it's unlikely.
Why have they been lying? What is the purpose of all this disinformation? That's what I don't understand. And more importantly, why take a championship team apart? For more money?
When the Florida Marlins dismantled their 1997 World Champion team, (many of whom ended up here in SF), owner Wayne Huzienga was widely derided as the worst kind of owner. He did it for the money, and he was honest about it; and the press and the fans vilified him. I know this isn't exactly the same, but three quarters of a championship-contending team has been lost in some 18 months, ostensibly because of financial burdens that appear to have been exaggerated, if not completely made up.
From a pure baseball fan standpoint, I stand by my original point: You absolutely have to take advantage of Barry's last seasons to get a ring. The Giants have not, to this point, and they've been telling us it's because they can't afford it, and it looks like they've been lying about that. Why?
The Giants are one of five teams (Cubs, White Sox, Red Sox and Indians) who have gone the longest without a World Championship. These teams have an obligation to their long suffering fans that when they have a chance to win to go all out to win. I agree with John, the Giants should be putting a team around Bonds that can win the Series.
Posted by David Pinto at
01:06 PM
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Management
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Why have they been lying to the Giants fans? Simple answer: because if they didn't lie, they'd be vilified like Wayne Huzienga.
Why pretend to lose money and dismantle a team that was close to winning it all? Simple answer: $$$
It's a sad state of affairs when most of the owners of MLB teams don't care about winning. The team is a good tax rightoff, and it's an easy way to pocket a bunch of money while pretending that you lost a lot.
And with a commissioner who is both and owner and controlled by the owners, this isn't going to change at all. We fans of the the few teams owned by people who actually care about winning are the fortunate few.
Why is it out of the realm of possibility that the club is actually losing money? Didn't they privately fund that whole stadium at great expense? I seem to remember Peter Magowan saying at the time that this would have to happen a few years after the stadium was completed in order for the club to get back in the black.
They pay a ton on their stadium every year. I can believe it, easily.
The contention is that in actuality, they $20 million in yearly debt service on SBC Park is offset by their lack of participation in revenue sharing. I don't believe that any MLB team is losing money.
re: Five teams without a World Championship
Yes, but;
(1) The Red Sox were famously an inning away in 1986. We all saw what happens when you send in Calvin Schiraldi to close out a World Championship.
(2) The Giants were up five runs in Game Six and had Felix Rodriguez on the mound in Inning 7, and just nine outs away. There is no way Scott "Son of Ed" Spiezio should have hit that homer, and it just made it over the wall anyway.
(3) The Giants also tied with the Braves in 1993 with 103 games and arguably might have beaten the Phils and Blue Jays to win outright had they not lost the playoff.
(4) The 1962 Giants lost on the McCovey line drive.
(5) The Bosox lost the playoffs last year with Pedro on the mound with a lead and the manager left him in when everyone saw he should have put relievers in and gone lefty-lefty on Matsui.
(6) The Cubs were a foul-ball interference away from beating the Marlins and just a few outs away from winning. Who's to say it wasn't their year to beat the Yanks???
(7) The White Sox on the other hand, haven't been close at all. None of their playoff teams have come close to the Series, and the Go-Go Sox of 59' of Aparicio and Nellie Fox and Early Wynn won 2 games of 6 v. a weak Dodgers team. They may be the most cursed of all due to the Black Sox curse. If you build it, will they come???
--AJK