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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

It’s been a bummer summer by the bay


Giants players endured a 16-0 drubbing at the hands of the A's on Sunday.
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Janie McCauley Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO – Barry Bonds and Oakland’s Big Three aren’t the only things missing at the Bay Area’s baseball stadiums this summer. The pennant races that have provided excitement for nearly a decade seem like a long shot right now for both the Athletics and Giants.

The 49ers aren’t even playing and they’ve been making headlines for their now infamous training video. It’s those perennial losers the Golden State Warriors – gasp! – who many area sports fans are turning their attention to now.

“I don’t blame the fans for being disappointed,” A’s outfielder Eric Byrnes said. “I don’t think anybody expected us to have the record we do at this point of the season.”

The Giants were swept and completely embarrassed by Oakland over the weekend, including Sunday’s 16-0 loss on the heels of their five-error game Saturday. And while the A’s are on a roll, they’re still 10 1/2 games back in the A.L. West and five games under .500.

“It seems like every single one of us in this clubhouse has been saying hopefully we can turn this thing around after every series,” Giants reliever Jason Christiansen said. “All of us are tired of saying that. It seems like nothing, not even a pitch, goes our way. It seems like a downward spiral.

“You never say the words ‘give up,’ but it’s frustrating right now.”

The Giants aren’t close to the same without their injured slugger. The demoralizing defeat to the A’s on Sunday was the largest shutout loss in San Francisco history. The Giants have dropped 22 of their last 29 games – and nobody’s sure how much Bonds will be able to help change things if he returns this year.

The seven-time N.L. MVP still hasn’t resumed baseball activities in his rehab for his surgically repaired right knee.

“When you’ve got the excitement I’ve created – my home runs are a lottery ticket – then you’ve got a city that’s excited,” Bonds said. “It’s just like a down time. … If you win, you’re going to create excitement, but you’ve got to win games. You can’t not win and expect people to come to baseball games – 81 games is a lot of (home) games. It’s not like football where you only have eight games.”

The other Barry in town, Oakland ace Barry Zito, is the only remaining member of the broken-up Big Three after the A’s traded starting pitchers Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder in a three-day span in December.

While everybody around the organization expected some hard times with a young rotation, general manager Billy Beane had to figure the team would at least be in the chase.

“It’s unusual to have both of them really struggling,” said Mets outfielder Mike Cameron, who spent four seasons with the Seattle Mariners. “I know the transformation project is going on (in Oakland), but you wouldn’t expect it on the San Francisco side.”

The A’s still might make a run if they keep playing this well. They have won eight of nine, 11 of 14 and five straight series, but still sit at 35-40 for third place in the division.

They had two eight-game losing streaks in May.

“May was not a representation of this team. I never felt like it was,” Beane said. “We were struggling because we were hurt. It wasn’t an excuse. It was a fact. … We still have a long way to go.”

The last time both the A’s and Giants finished below .500 was in 1996. They both missed the playoffs in the final weekend last fall.

Beane realizes some fans might have already given up.

“We’re responsible for creating that perception, and we’re responsible for changing that,” he said. “It’s a natural reaction the way both teams have been struggling.”

It’s been a bad year for most of the area’s sports teams.

Barely a month after selecting Utah quarterback Alex Smith with the top pick in the NFL draft, the 49ers made a major public flop.

Former public relations director Kirk Reynolds produced an in-house training video meant to prepare players for dealing with the media, but it landed in the hands of the media instead.

The 15-minute film featured racist jokes, lesbian soft-core porn and topless women – and even a scene of Reynolds impersonating San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom in the mayor’s office. The team has since held meetings all over the city trying to repair the damage.

The Oakland Raiders finished their second straight disappointing season at 5-11, while the Niners matched the worst record in their storied history at 2-14.

“The fans aren’t spoiled by us,” Bonds said. “If they’re spoiled, they’re spoiled by the 49ers. The Giants haven’t won a World Series. We need to win a World Series – a franchise with all those Hall of Famers.”