Bonds Update: Kayak Rentals, Rubber Chicken Sales Down

An article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal notes how sales of rubber chickens, and kayak rentals have been affected in and around AT&T Park in Barry Bonds's absence. The rubber chickens that were oh-so-popular while Bonds was setting records for intentional walks don't draw much interest from fans these days; Bengie Molina just isn't getting intentionally walked that much.

Ballpark vendor Bob Rosenthal says rubber-chicken sales used to account for as much as 20% of his booth's sales. Vendor William Kopcyk says he used to sell 25 or so a day at $10 a pop, contributing as much as 10% of his booth's sales. Now demand is so low neither of those booths stock them. At one souvenir store in the ballpark, an entire bin of the birds has sat almost untouched since the start of the season.

As for those kayaks that fans used to park themselves in, hoping to catch a Bonds home run that landed McCovey Cove - those aren't as much of a presence either.

That's bad news for Ted Choi, a 44-year-old Korean immigrant who has rented kayaks to baseball fans for five years here. Game-related rentals used to account for as much as a third of his business, persuading a stable of advertisers to pay roughly $20,000 each to put their brands on his kayaks. This year, he has just two advertisers, and game rentals are scarce most days. "I will be happy if I can break even," he says.

Fred Lewis did knock one in the Cove this past weekend, so maybe the tide is turning.