Goodbye Aaron Rowand

Posted on September 1, 2011

Aaron Rowand of the San Francisco Giants wipes his face with a towel in the dugout during the game between the Houston Astros and the San Francisco Giants on Saturday, May 15, 2010, at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

The news hit me like a ton of bricks as I drove across the Bay Bridge yesterday on my way to the ballpark. The San Francisco Giants had DFA’d Aaron Rowand. That’s right, the $60 million free agent with one year left on his five-year contract was being designated for assignment. Cut. Released. Shown the door. Bottom line: he was gone.

The veteran outfielder who was a fan-favorite during previous stints in Chicago and Philadelphia never made his mark here in San Francisco, and I know there are many fans, like myself, who think it was smart to let him go. It is no secret among my friends that I was never a huge Rowand guy. In fact, I had recently bragged to many friends that Rowand was the one guy on the team I refused to photograph. I did not think anyone would want to use any pictures of him, and his swing made me nauseous.

Of course, all of this is about money. Isn’t it always? Rowand was a fine role player with the White Sox World Series Championship team in 2005. He was not a headliner, merely a supporting player who was a great teammate and made $2 million. The south side fans loved him and were angry when he was traded the following season to the Phillies in exchange for Jim Thome. With the Phillies Rowand sparkled, especially since he was hitting in a band box. He also played stellar defense, and earned national fame (and probably several million dollars with the Giants) by crashing into the center field fence in Philly while making a great catch. This play was aired numerous times on ESPN, etc. and showed our hero breaking his nose and getting blood all over his home white uniform. He was a gamer!

After the 2007 season ended the Giants needed an overhaul. Bonds was gone. The team sucked. They had money to spend, and no good free agents wanted to come to San Francisco. This, my friends, was Aaron Rowand’s lucky day! The hard-working player who always had a dirty (and bloody) uniform was on the market. The Giants wanted him! “How does $60 million over five years sound?” the Giants asked. “Where do I sign?” Rowand answered.

Thus, Rowand became the Giants big-ticket free agent for the 2008 season. I shot tons of pictures of him in Scottsdale for Sports Illustrated that spring. Rowand was going to be THE GUY. One problem. Rowand was not equipped to be THE GUY. He had never been THE GUY. All that money for a guy who was not THE GUY was a bad move, and it became apparent pretty quickly as the season got underway. He was not going to hit for any power at AT&T Park. He tried to show off his arm way too often and ended up throwing the ball away more times than I can count. He struck out a lot. He became hard to watch.

I had a hard time seeing Rowand spend all five years patrolling center field for the Giants. Despite his declining numbers the Giants improved over the next few years and even won a World Series title last year with Rowand on the roster! His .281 on-base percentage in 331 at bats was not pretty, but luckily he was not playing that much as the season drew to a close, so I did not have to shoot many pictures of him. Rowand did make one great contribution to the 2010 post season, and to be fair I need to talk about The Throw. In game 4 of the NLCS at home against the Phillies, Rowand made the throw of his life as Carlos Ruiz tried to score from second base on a single to center field. His strike to catcher Buster Posey nailed Ruiz at the plate and helped save the game for the Giants. For this one great throw I will always think that Rowand earned his winner’s share.

Rowand started the 2011 season as a back up, and only saw his 331 at bats because of injuries to other players. His .233 batting average and demeanor around the club made it clear he needed to go. He was not helping the club at all, and his behind-the-scenes complaining about playing time was wearing thin. The big question was whether the club would be willing to eat the $12 million they owe him for next season. Yesterday the answer was a resounding YES.

By all accounts Rowand is a good guy and a good teammate, but sometimes a player needs a change of scenery. Especially if he is not up to being THE GUY.