'Dear John' to the Giants

'Dear John' to the Giants
By Justin Christensen
Special to the Mercury News
Article Launched: 04/06/2008 01:53:01 AM PDT


Editor's note: Justin Christensen, 27, grew up in San Francisco. He teaches history and government and coaches high school baseball.

Open letter to the San Francisco Giants:

In the past month, you have left several messages on my voicemail about my missing payment for the renewal of my Giants tickets. Rather than force you to keep calling me, I thought I'd formally respond.

I will not be renewing my Giants season tickets.

Giants owner Peter Magowan recently asked Giants fans to be patient. After hearing that, I feared that my decision not to renew would be incorrectly deemed as a case of impatience.

This is a decision I do not take lightly. After all, my two seats did not belong to a corporate office that no longer wanted to host clients at the ballpark. They belonged to me: a 27-year-old fan who had owned them since I was 19 years old when the park opened. When I came to pick out my seats in 1999, your ticket representative joked that I would be your youngest season-ticket holder. Some college students get credit cards to finance a trip to Europe; I got mine to buy season tickets.

When I was 8 years old, I attended Game 3 in 1989 and asked my mother why the seats were shaking. When I turned 16, I walked into a Giants Dugout store and asked for a job. I went to 41 games in 1996, when the Giants lost 96 games. The following year, I celebrated when the Giants defied expectations and won the N.L. West thanks to the heroics of true "gamers" like Rod Beck. I befriended many wonderful ushers, such as Nino, who made me feel like Candlestick was my second home. I cried with my mother when the helicopter lifted home plate from Candlestick and took it to China Basin.

I do not have a simple answer for why I am not renewing my tickets. My decision goes beyond the rising ticket prices.

This is about an e-mail I received almost two years ago, on Oct. 5, 2006, from "the Desk of Peter Magowan" after Felipe Alou's departure. It stated, "The Giants' mission this winter is to develop a team that relies less on veteran stars and more on players who are younger, healthier, have productive track records and have bright futures." The Giants proceeded to sign Ryan Klesko and Rich Aurilia.

This is about the Mitchell report. I've known for a while that the Giants were an unfortunate participant in whatever this era of baseball will ultimately be called. I understand the desire to protect Barry Bonds, but Marvin Benard?

This is about Barry Zito's $126 million contract. I didn't appreciate giddy A's fans who laughed and then shoved a copy of "Moneyball" in my hands.

This is about the Giants' failure to draft offensive talent. Matt Williams was the last hitter from the farm system to make the All-Star Game as a Giant. He was drafted in 1986 - as in 22 years ago.

Above all, this is about the Giants' failure to plan for the post-Bonds era. Instead of preparing for the day without No. 25 batting third in the lineup and taking a quarter of the clubhouse lockers, the front office found itself paralyzed by Bonds.

Giants fans have known for years that one day Bonds would no longer patrol left field. And we patiently waited for the post-Bonds plan to present itself.

We are still waiting.