Usually Barry Bonds is the topic of a San Francisco baseball story. Not this one.The Giants opened up their wallet Wednesday and signed Gold Glove centerfielder Aaron Rowand to a 5-year deal worth around 60 million dollars. A fan favorite in Philadelphia, Rowand will be playing for his third team in four seasons. He debuted in the Major Leagues with the Chicago White Sox and helped them win their first World Series title since 1917.
Rowand arguably had his best season in 2007. He batted .309 with 27 home runs, and had career bests with 89 RBIs, 105 runs, 189 hits and 45 doubles in 161 games. In 2006, he let everyone in Philadelphia know who he was, after crashing hard into the center field wall while chasing down a fly ball by the Mets' Xavier Nady. Once he got up, his face was covered with blood and a roar from the crowd showed its appreciation.
The fans will miss him in Philadelphia. There's no doubt about it. Not only did Rowand have career numbers last season, but he was a key part of the 2007 National League East Champions. When a casual fan thinks of the Phillies, Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard might be the first two names that come to mind, but Rowand was just as important. The Phillies had a very good player patrolling center field at Citizens Bank Park, now they will have to find someone new to do the job.
It's not going to be easy to find a center fielder with that kind of attitude. The fans of Philadelphia had a brotherly kind of love for Rowand, but now he's headed west to San Francisco. With all that has happened in his career, there is reason to believe that Rowand will be a fan favorite in the city by the bay.
Shawn Marosek
1 comment:
Agree, Rowand is the type of hustle player you want on your team. He's been one of my favorite players since he came up with the ChiSox. He was a key member on my fantasy team during his great '04 2nd half! I also remember that play in center where he made an incredible catch and broke his nose on the outfield fence. I don't think he's worth $12 million a season, but this is the organization that paid $18 million a year for Barry Zito. Phillies will miss him.
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