I love you Bondsy!

I am a major, die-hard, over the top San Francisco Giants fan. It is a sickness, a disease that will never die. I was in 2nd grade trying to brag about how much I loved sports and the Giants, and being a tomboy was my goal in life. I eventually grew out of the tomboy part, but my love for the Giants never faded one bit. My dad promised he would take me to see the Giants games, but he never did. I always resented him but as I got older I took any chance that I could to go to a game. My first game (of many) was when I was 12 years old, with a friend named Aaron that I had met at the mall. His dad took us to Candlestick Park and Barry Bonds had only been on the team a few months, however he was already the up and coming superstar of the team. I regarded Barry as any average player, it was not until I got much older that I started really appreciating the sport and my team.

I went through a phase where I was all about football and Steve Young, not so much Giants. It was definitely a phase, at the time I didn't think so. I followed football and the 9ers, but after a while I just got so bored. I started watching the Giants again in about 2001. The Giants were doing awesome then and I started remembering how the sport worked. After a few weeks, you could find me at the same bar, drinking the same beer, watching the game night after night. One may call that a problem, I called it love! It was such a great release to watch my game every night (well, with baseball, your team plays almost every night) we just were doing so great I was having so much fun! I called Barry the hometown hero. That is what a lot of people called him, actually, not just me. He really was our hometown hero. If it was not for this man, we wouldn't have AT&T park, a lot of people will tell you that he not only built that stadium- he sold the food, filled the seats and made SF recognize wht a team we had. Any Giants fan will not want to even relive the devastating loss of the World Series from 2002 so let's not even go there.

The point was, we loved Barry. I know he has a bad reputation, and whether or not he is a prick in real life, I don't know, cause I have never met him. I remember watching the games and sometimes he would be happy, he would smile, really big. It made ME HAPPY when I would see him smile! I was in complete awe of this person. He doesn't even have any idea what he means to me, and so many people in the bay area. He made me a happy person, he made me feel joy on a lot of occasions. He is a great player. He always will be remembered, and while a lot of people do not feel the way I do, it is because they didn't grow up with him, they didn't have him there making them feel good almost half of their lives. This in my opinion is no different than watching someone you love grow up and move on. Barry Bonds is my friend. He has been there for me. I was 12 and he was there. Now I am 26 and I saw him leave last night.

I went to the game, thank god that my boyfriend got us tickets. He said last week that he would try, but I didn't think it would happen. It did.. he found tickets at the last minute, and we went. Watching Barry tip his hat and wave as he ducked out in the bottom of the 6th inning, making his final exit, sparked tears. A lot of tears, I hadn't prepared myself, because I was too busy watching and eating and having fun. Then suddenly it hit me, this is it. This is the last time I will see Bondsy in his uniform. All of the years came rushing back to me, the joy I felt, the heartbreak from the last world series. MY Bondsy is leaving, and the Giants as I have known them are going to be different. I cried for 10 minutes. The walk back to the train, I cried the whole way, and in the train station bathroom I cried. This was my life, a part of it anyway, and I witnessed my favorite player duck into my dugout for the last time ever.

The game wasn't a good one for us, we lost terribly. But seriously, it was the best game I have ever been to. I remember hating myself for not jumping on these tickets that we could have gotten to see him hit his 756th home run. I have to say this right now, that game would have been a nice memory. The game I went to last night means oh, so much more. I am so glad I was able to be there as he left. The emotion I felt seeing him leave would have been unparelled to that if I saw him hit the world record for home runs. Someone may break that record someday. No one can break the feeling I have for Bondsy. The emotion he has given me throughout my life will never be forgotten. Just a cute note to add to this story, my Chorkie (Chihuahua-Yorkie mix)'s name is Maysie. She was named after Willie Mays, Barry's Godfather. Barry is always with me somehow!