Missing Barry Bonds...(Not a Lot, But a Little)

(Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

It's a different Giants team and a different Giants organization since Barry Bonds has been gone. No longer are the Giants a team full of aging veterans past their prime like Omar Vizquel and Dave Roberts (if Roberts ever had a prime that is. I'm still wondering when it was).

Nowadays, we more closely resemble the Oakland A's than the Barry Bonds-led Giants teams of old. We rely on our own farm system guys to fill our lineup instead of signing a plethora of questionable free agents in the offseason (And in the irony of ironies, the Oakland A's look more like our old Giants teams, with aging stiffs like Nomar Garciaparra and Jason Giambi withering away on their roster).

And it's a good thing. We may not score as many runs as those Bonds-led Giants teams (we are currently third-to-last in the Major Leagues in runs scored), but things aren't as glum as they were a year ago. Last year, we were battling out with Roberts and Jose Castillo in the lineup.

Now though, we may have our future slugger in Pablo Sandoval, and we have plenty of good young players with pop like Nate Schierholtz and Buster Posey, who is one year away from making "the jump."

And if that isn't good enough, we have the best two pitchers in the National League, maybe in baseball. Tim Lincecum is making an argument that he is a candidate to repeat as the NL Cy Young Award winner.

Fellow young ace Matt Cain is doing his share to prevent that by trying to win his first. And collectively, both these guys have made our pitching dominating night in and night out as they lead Major League Baseball in fewest runs allowed.

Yes, it is a different team without Barry. There is a youthful dominance on the field and in the clubhouse that brings a happiness to the ballpark that hasn't been seen in quite a while.  San Francisco fans don't show up anymore just to see Barry. They come to the ballpark to see the Giants, plain and simple.

No longer are post-game interviews painful for media and fans watching on TV alike. Instead of frowns, one sentence cliches and hostility (as always was the case with Barry), we have energy and genuine love for this team (even though RJ can be a little hostile from time to time, but compared to Barry he looks like Nick Swisher).

And for the sake of Giants fans, management and players, the media circus surrounding Barry has left town with the legendary slugger. Barry Zito doesn't feel the pressure of answering what he thinks about steroids and Bonds.

Manager Bruce Bochy can finally answer questions about how the team is playing instead of how Barry is feeling. Brian Sabean can finally try to get players that fit this team, instead of players that will fit around Barry.

Two years later after he broke Aaron's record, we are finally rid of the Barry "hoopla." We are just a regular ballclub trying to win games and make the playoffs, and no longer the club that houses the most despicable player in baseball since Ty Cobb.

But for some reason...I can't fully embrace this Giants organization without Barry Bonds. I know if we had Barry in the lineup we wouldn't be third to last in the MLB in runs scored.

I know that our offense would be more exciting with Barry swinging a bat, for it is a fact that his presence made players in the lineup better than they actually were (Rich Aurilia and Jeff Kent are prime examples of this).

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