5 San Francisco Giants Not Named Barry Bonds Who May Deserve A Statue
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- News of a proposal by a group of San Francisco Giants fans to start a fundraising campaign to have a statue of Barry Bonds placed outside of AT&T Park has generated a fair amount of comments on the CBS SF Facebook page.
Many of the comments lambaste the home run king for using performance-enhancing drugs (while seemingly ignoring the untold number of other players who used PEDs in that era). But if Bonds is not worthy, which other SF Giant has had the kind of career that gets them a bronze likeness outside the ballpark?
There may be a few current Giants players that eventually end up being statue-worthy (Lincecum, Posey, Cain), but if the criteria is former players now retired, here are our picks for statue-ness .
Gaylord Perry
There a couple of glaring issues with Perry as the choice. Even though Perry became an All-Star while pitching for the Giants in the 60s and early 70s, he ended up pitching for seven other teams after the Giants traded him. Of his 22 years in the league, only nine were with the Giants. Of course, he was also notorious for throwing a spitball, or at least making batters think he was throwing it.
Will Clark
The player who was dubbed "Will the Thrill" introduced himself to the league by hitting a home run in his first at-bat off future Hall of Famer Nolan Ryan. He was a perennial All-Star for the Giants - the starting first baseman for the National League every season from 1988 through 1992 - and won the league MVP award in 1989. During the NLCS that year, Clark powered the Giants into the World Series, hitting .650 along with two home runs and earning the series MVP award. Always a fan favorite, Clark now works with the Giants front office and coaching staff.
Robb Nen
Blowing out your arm and ruining your career while giving your all to help the team certainly deserves a statue, no? Nen literally left it all on the field during the Giants 2002 playoff run which ended with a World Series loss to the Anaheim Angels. He pitched the last half of that season with a painful, worsening shoulder injury – sacrificing his health as he continued to rack up saves. After giving up the go-ahead hit in that fateful Game 6, he never pitched again. He finished his career as the Giants all-time saves leader.
Matt Williams
One of the premier 3rd basemen of his time, earning four Gold Glove Awards, he may have been an even better hitter. Williams was on pace to break Roger Maris' single-season home run record in 1994, until a players' strike ended the season two-thirds of the way through. He hit more than 30 home runs in a season six times while with the Giants. He was alleged to have used steroids in 2002 while a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Bruce Bochy
Technically, he is a retired player ... but seriously, if anyone on this list deserves a statue, it has to be Bochy, the manager who finally delivered a World Series championship to San Francisco- twice. In Bochy's case, since he is known for having one of the largest cap sizes in the league (size 8), maybe one of those huge Olmec colossal head-type statues will do.
Bochy's success hasn't gone to his head as his players would attest, he is known as a players' manager and someone ballplayers love to play for. He seemed to have the Midas touch in the Giants World Series runs, constantly juggling the lineup and the defense and coming up roses. His 1,530 victories are currently the most by an active manager and he ranks 21st on the all-time list. Bochy also lead all active managers in consecutive years managed with 19.
