A few franchise generations ago, as Barry Bonds’ career wound down and the Giants lagged out of contention, Brian Sabean assessed the situation, stared into the distance and used a phrase that still sticks with me.
The Giants, at that point, had a beautiful new stadium that was consistently sold out but also generated a $20 million annual debt service payment. They had seats they had to keep filling. They had an aging superstar. They hadn’t won in a few years and weren’t sure when they were going to win again.
So Sabean, the Giants’ long-time general manager, was dead serious when he told me back in 2005 that the financial predicament potentially was “a black hole” the franchise had to face with eyes wide open. The implication: The Giants either needed a new superstar or a winning team or preferably both to sustain this. That what they had established with the new ballpark was great, but fragile.
