Recently, a close friend prodded me to confess that deep down in my heart, under a blinding coat of Dodger blue, there's a hint of love for the Giants.  Yes, I have a smidgen, a splash--just a splash--of affection for our mortal enemies.  Maybe it was that veteran squad last year that had the talent to take the Division, that band of old guys that would have defied all odds. But it just wasn't to be.  But just the same, the love is there, like a splinter in my soul.

Go ahead, call me a traitor.  But my good Karma helped them destroy the Padres in  2006. The only time I didn't root for the Giants was when they'd venture into Dodger Stadium.  But here's the real clincher: part of that Karmic vision has me hoping that Barry Bonds can find a way to put history first, for once, and cap his career with the Home Run record...in San Francisco.

Let's get a couple of givens out of the way first:

1) In Barry's eyes, his entire career has been 'All About Barry'

2) Unless he lands in jail, he is a lock for First Ballot, so personally he has nothing to prove with respect to his ability to carry a team and "get his".

3) EVERYONE who he has torqued-off and offended during the course of his entire career is simply DYING to see him fail.

He could squash all the nay-saying, obliterate two-decades of vitriol in one fell swoop. How?  Take $10-15 million, stay in San Francisco, lose the diva-esque demands and solidify his place in baseball history by catching and passing Hammerin' Hank.

Let's face it: Barry has been an insufferable jerk for much of his career. The media has shared in the venom with respect to its dealings with Bonds, so the ire and it's repercussions have been mutually attained. And there is much that Barry could have done in the past to defuse this tenuous relationship.  Now that his status for next season appears to be on the ropes, folks are salivating at the mere hint that Barry will be in his living room on Opening Day 2007.  Not likely, but they can dream, can't they? 

Barry can shut the entire press corps down by putting his ego second--for once--taking the pay and incentives cut and do it for the Baseball history books.  He would probably say that the game only has love for him if he can produce, and that he's going to "get his" no matter what, and to hell with some "record".

But hey, I can dream, can't I?