Thank God! J.T. Snow Will Retire As a Giant!

A couple of weeks ago, Eric Young retired as a member of the Colorado Rockies. Now J.T. Snow is retiring as a San Francisco Giant:

The team signed Snow to a one-day contract so he can wear No. 6 a final time and retire as a Giant, providing the closure that eluded him as his career ended quietly with Boston in 2006 . . . It is a real contract, not ceremonial, that will pay him about $2,100, a one-day portion of the big-league minimum.

General manager Brian Sabean said he informed the commissioner's office of the Giants' plan for Snow and the rest of the team to take the field a few minutes early Saturday. Snow then would be replaced before the game begins.

What's up with this? We've seen this "retire-as-a-whatever" meme in the NFL for several years now, but why in baseball, and why with these guys? Did Sam Beckett from "Quantum Leap" show up and determine that having slightly above-average roster fodder like Young and Snow retire with undesirable teams throw history so out-of-whack that the wrongs needed to be righted? If we still sleep well at night with Babe Ruth the Brave, Willie Mays the Met, and Henry Aaron the Brewer, why must the J.T. Snows and Eric Youngs of the world be returned to whatever team it is they consider to be their spiritual home?

But I suppose that's just nit-picking on my part when, in fact, this particular move poses an actual serious risk. I mean, given that this is Brian Sabean pulling the strings, Giants fans shouldn't be too sure that Snow won't start the remaining four games this season and be extended through 2010.