The 15-year stretch known as the Barry Bonds era in San Francisco is known by sports fans alike. It is known for the success Bonds had in his years in the Bay Area. The success includes 586 homers, 1951 hits, 263 stolen bases, and a monstrous .312/.477/.666. He also broke the single-season home run record in 2001 when he smack 73 balls out of the park, became the 4th person in MLB history to have 300 career homers and 300 career steals (that has since gone to 7 members), broke one of the most sacred records in sports, Henry Aaron's record of 756 home runs, and he is the only player to ever record 500 homers and 500 steals. He also brought home the hardware, winning 5 MVP awards, 5 gold gloves, 9 silver sluggers, and was a 12-time all-star, and led the Giants to the 2002 pennant. But there was also the baggage.
While Bonds did rack up the monstrous numbers, there was tremendous suspicion that these numbers were tainted, being a big part of the steroids scandal in baseball. He also brought himself to the attention of many with several controversial comments, with a racially charged comment toward baseball legend Babe Ruth. He gained a reputation as a selfish-person, a poor teammate, and was hated by many around the baseball world and beyond. His hype and attention he attracted essentially put the Giants organization in a stranglehold, and set them back quite a few years, and as a result limited the Giants to sub-.500 seasons in his final 3 seasons, as well as the year after in 2008. But as of late, that stranglehold has seemed to go away.
In 2009, the Giants broke out, led by young phenom and 2008 Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, enroute to his second consecutive Cy Young Award, as well as a young, promising rotation that featured Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, as well as late-season acquisition Brad Penny and 19-year old stud Madision Bumgarner, who came up in Semptember after a dominant season at AA-Connecticut. It also featured 22-year old sensation Pablo Sandoval exploding on the scene as well. It all resulted in an 88-win season, a 16-game improvement from 2008, and missing the wildcard by 4 games to division rival Colorado.
This led to big expectations for the 2010 season, with a loaded rotation following another Cy Young year for Lincecum, breakout seasons from Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez, and a stellar second half from Barry Zito, as well as rookie phenom Madison Bumgarner. The rotation failed to disappoint, with Lincecum once again being one of baseball's best, posting a 16-10 record and striking out 231 despite having his ERA over a run higher. Matt Cain led the team in innings pitched and Sanchez struckout 205 batters. Brian Wilson emerged as one of baseball's best closers, posting 1.81 with a league-leading 48 saves and 93 strikeouts compared to 26 walks. The biggest piece of the puzzle came in late May, with Buster Posey coming up to the big club, and was arguably the team MVP over the last 4 months of the season, hitting 18 HR, 67 RBI, and 23 doubles in 108 games, winning the NL Rookie of the Year.
But the biggest thing about this team was that it developed a personality. It became a likeable, loose clubhouse, as opposed to the hated team that had public enemy Barry Bonds in its clubhouse. Things like "fear the beard", referring to Brian Wilson's postseason beard were vivid examples the sun had set on the San Francisco Giants of 5 years ago. The biggest sign of all, however, was seen one night in November, when this young, loose group of guys did something Barry Bonds, or any player that put on a San Francisco Giants uniform for that matter, could never do- bring the World Series Trophy to San Francisco.
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