March 31, 2008

Stalinism By The Bay

Thanks to Jay Tannenbaum for the idea for today's blog.

When people fell out of favor in Stalinist Russia, they would be shipped off to Siberia and their likenesses would mysteriously disappear from official photographs. One day they'd be standing with the inner circle, next day the photo would be doctored to remove them.

The San Francisco Giants have done that with Barry Bonds. I attended my first baseball game of the season at ATT Park last week. You'd never know Bonds had ever played for the team.

Since the park opened in 2000, you couldn't turn around without seeing a picture, poster, mural, or tribute to Bonds. Everywhere you looked there was something about Barry. Now, nothing.

I'm no big fan of Barry Bonds (See Barry Bonds). However, the hypocrisy and treachery of the Giants management and ownership is truly breathtaking to behold. For years they lived off Bonds. Now that he's in trouble, they have dumped him like a leaking sack of nuclear waste.

This is bad marketing. This disloyalty will not be appreciated by Giants' fans. The Giants will pay at the gate for their blatant betrayal.

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