One Giant Step For Sports

The San Francisco Giants have had their share of historic events over the past 20 years. They’ve also has their fair share of darkness which began with the steroid scandal and Barry Bonds. But throughout all the accusations and headlines, the Giants still managed to squeeze their way into history. The next record set by a San Francisco Giant could be one that many baseball fans will not witness again for quite some time—possibly never again.

Let’s flash back to the 1980s. The Giants were struggling as a franchise finishing middle to the bottom in the standings. They made the playoffs only twice in the 1980s, but no one will forget the 1989 World Series. The Series was not very memorable in a baseball sense; (the Giants got swept by the Athletics) however, an event during Game 3 will always be remembered. The players were warming up when the ground started to shake—a 6.9 on the Richter scale. The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake was the only earthquake to ever be captured on live television. The Series continued 10 days later (power outage) and the Athletics swept. However, that Series will never be forgotten by those who were alive and remember the incident.

Fast forward to the 1990s. The Giants slide to the bottom again, failing to reach the playoffs seven straight years. What they did have was an icon—a baseball player who would change the sport forever. Barry Bonds helped put people in the stands and had fun ripping the cover off of baseballs. Then came the 2000s when he broke one record after another. 2001 marked the highest single season home run total of 73. Then came the controversy and finger pointing. Bonds had taken steroids which blackened his name and put a cloud over the entire sport. Throughout all the controversy, Bonds continued to play and put himself into history again. On August 7, 2007, Bonds became the sole leader of career home runs when he knocked his 756th home run off Washington Nationals’ pitcher, Mike Bacsik (the home run came at home—in AT&T Park). And throughout all the haze and allegations, people stopped and watched, waited for him to complete his task. History was made on that night. 755 was possibly the most well known number in all of sports and Bonds tore a piece of history for himself when he broke the record.

So 2007 might have been the last year in a while for Giants fans to witness history. This changed when the Giants signed Randy Johnson in the 2008 offseason. Johnson is coming off an 11 win season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, and at the age of 45, this could be his last year. The positive that could come out of it is the fact that Johnson needs only 5 wins to become only the 24th pitcher in history of the sport to win 300 career games. And the special part—he has a chance to do it in San Francisco. Even more special than that is the fact that Johnson could be the last pitcher to get to 300 wins in a long time. It could be as long as 15-20 years—maybe never again. The next closest pitcher has 246 wins. Problem is, the pitcher is 46 years old (Jamie Moyer). So baseball fans, stop, take a minute and think about the upcoming season and the excitement it can bring. History is made almost every season with no hitters and cycles and milestones—but most seasons don’t provide a 300 game winner. Lucky for baseball fans, 2009 could be the last in a while to showcase this, so cherish it.

So forget about steroids and dark headlines, because every sport has their share of scandals, and start to look back at the sport and the history that San Francisco has and will offer. Remember baseball fans, 2009 could be the last time that a pitcher wins 300 career games and it’s nice to see that it could happen in San Francisco.