Apparently Rowand and Cody Ross were bad mouthing The Giants..
Aaron Rowand bad mouths Giants, makes excuses
What’s up with all the Giants-bashing going on these days from the disgruntled and bitter members of San Francisco’s discard pile?
Last week, it was Cody Ross telling reporters how much better it is in Boston than San Francisco.
Then, yesterday, Aaron Rowand spewed out a bunch of garbage about the Giants, followed by a line of excuses longer than his best hitting streak.
Rowand, who is in the Miami Marlins’ spring training camp as a non-roster invitee, told Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald, “I haven’t been this excited about a season—and baseball itself—in a while. The last couple of years [in San Francisco] definitely weren’t as enjoyable as I would have hoped.”
He then made some excuses as to why he played so poorly in San Francisco:
“I just got shuffled in and out of the lineup, and it was tough to get a rhythm.”
And…
“Physically, it’s a difficult park to hit in…The gaps in that place are 404 in left-center and 421 in right-center, and because it’s only 309 down the line, the right fielder doesn’t play straight up. He plays in right-center. So when you hit line drives to right field or right-center field that you think are base hits and they end up outs, mentally you kind of feel like there’s no hits for me over there, and you start getting into bad habits.”
Even winning a World Series ring wasn’t good enough for Rowand:
“[Winning the World Series] was tough. We pulled together as a group. But as much as we all had fun and loved being around each other, there’s a part of that that’s difficult if you’re not getting consistent playing time. When you feel like you’re not performing to your capabilities, it becomes stressful.”
The Giants certainly overpaid for Rowand when they signed him to a five-year, $60 million dollar contract four years ago, following a 2007 season in which he batted .309 with 27 HR and 89 RBI for the Philadelphia Phillies.
He never came anywhere close to that kind of production again.
And, sadly, the Giants are still paying.
Rowand, who batted .233 with 4 HR and 21 RBI last year, will earn another $12 million dollars this season whether or not he catches on with the Fish. If Miami does sign him, the Giants will save about $480,000 (the league minimum, which will be paid by the Marlins).
Rowand used to carry the nickname “Crash,” because of his fearless style of play in the outfield. And I’m sure Phillies fans will always remember this play.
These days, I hear he goes by “Crash And Burn.” Because that’s exactly what’s happened to his career.
Despite his obvious bitterness, I’ll admit I’m kind of pulling for A-Row.
Hey, $480 grand is $480 grand, right?
http://22gigantes.com/2012/02/is-cody-ross-bitter-about-the-giants.html
