Fred Lewis's Days as a San Francisco Giant Look Numbered

(Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

Lewis is that guy, and you wish he wouldn't be. He plays the game the right way. If you watched any of the games against Houston last weekend, you didn't see Lewis sulk in the dugout like Nomar Garciaparra did in 2004 when he got benched against the Yankees.

Rather, he was up and congratulating his teammates and enjoying the camaraderie of his teammates, like any good baseball player would.

In some ways, it is unfair the way Giants fans have turned so quickly on Lewis. Is he the heir-apparent in left field to Barry Bonds? No, but he was a pleasant surprise for the time being.

When our overpriced veteran Dave Roberts went down with an injury last season and two seasons ago, who came in and filled his spot? Lewis did, and he did a heck of a job.

And I think I speak for most Giants fans when I say any time when Roberts played over Lewis last season, we showed the same kind of dissatisfaction that we do now when Lewis plays over Schierholtz.

Lewis may not have been that great player Giants fans wanted him to be after he surprised us all with that cycle game in 2007. Who knows what got to him. Maybe he just wasn't as good a player as we thought, or maybe it was too tough playing in the shadow of Bonds in left field.

All I know now is that Lewis's tenure as a Giant is going to end soon. If he makes it past the end of the month, I'll be utterly surprised.

Yet, I hope Giants fans wish him the best, wherever his career should go from here. He's given much effort to this team and organization, and he has done it the right way.

Every game, he plays hard, and he hasn't complained. He's not just been a model teammate in his tenure as a Giant but a model citizen as well.

I certainly wish things turned out differently for Lewis in San Francisco. He was a refreshing change of pace from the legend who manned left field for 15 years before Lewis.

But, like most things in life, it didn't work out like expected, and the only thing one can do now is move on.

I hope Lewis and Giants fans can do the same.

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