Giants: Barry who?

Let the back-tracking begin in San Francisco.

There looks to be some revisionist thinking going on this season in the Giants organization. The only team that actually embraced the (allegedly) tainted home run record of Barry Bonds isn't in as celebratory mood this spring.

AT&T Park was practically a Bonds shrine last season when he broke Hank Aaron's record, with signs and countdown scoreboards and banners all over the place. Now it's a ballpark without even one reminder of what took place there on Aug. 7, 2007.

Maybe there's a little embarrassment?

As San Francisco Chronicle columnist Scott Ostler wrote:

“I asked team president Peter Magowan if management considered some kind of visible tribute to Bonds and his record.

'No,' Magowan said, eloquently.

A team official quickly noted that there would be something - a painted seat? - to mark the spot in the bleachers where Bonds' No. 756 was caught.

For the past several years, the Giants have been the enablers of Bonds' bad habits - ignoring evidence that his trainer was a 'roids guy, allowing him to operate on his own wavelength. Because he sold tickets.

And now all they can do is (maybe) paint a seat?"

And Bonds is not coming back, either. It's time for the Giants to rebuild and move on, and Bonds would only get in the way. This team could bring back Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Ted Williams in their primes and probably wouldn't win in one of baseball's toughest divisions.

Other Giants storylines:

• The Giants are dedicating this season to their fans. Translation: They're going to really be bad, and need to entice people to the ballpark in some way. Bring on the pomegranate margaritas and Irish quesadillas!
• The cupboard isn't totally bare by the Bay. The starting rotation isn't half-bad, and Fred Lewis is among the players who could adequately fill the void left by Bonds down the line.
• The first big-league game Aaron Rowand saw in person was in San Francisco, and now he's their center fielder.

Photo: A fan of Barry Bonds takes a picture outside of AT&T Park before a game last September. All of the signs commemorating Bonds' home run record have been removed this spring. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

30 teams in 30 days: San Francisco Giants preview.