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New York Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Matt Chapman's walk-off homer sends Giants to a fourth consecutive one-run victory
SAN FRANCISCO — Major league clubhouses undergo renovations so often that HGTV could make an episodic series out of it. Teams are forever juggling office space, making room for new technology, seeking to inspire a new vibe, responding to the whims and preferences of a new front office or coaching staff. They've even been known to consult a feng shui expert or two. Advertisement It was no different for the Giants after Buster Posey took over as president of baseball operations this past October. The previous administration gradually mothballed most of the signage and emblems that commemorated the franchise's three World Series championships from 2010 to 2014. Perhaps there was a constructive thought behind the conscious decision to mute clubhouse reminders of that decade-old dynastic run. When nostalgia becomes a narcotic, it might blur your purpose in the present day. Or maybe it got awkward to see daily reminders of a gloried past that you had nothing to do with. Posey, of course, had everything to do with those three World Series championships. And he appreciates the power of nostalgia, in its proper dosage, to the mind of a major league player. So after barely a month on the job, Posey expressed a resolve to redecorate the clubhouse — beginning with the office space adjacent to the front door that had been converted to a hub for the analytics staff. 'It'll change,' Posey said in November. 'I want to be clear: They're a valuable piece to the entire picture. But trying to figure out where they can be available for the coaches and the players where maybe it's not right when you walk in the door? That's going to be a good thing.' The office shuffling was not meant to be punitive. It was meant to reestablish a primacy of purpose: competing to win, no matter how it was arrived at or what it looked like or how a computer modeled it. Now when you enter the Giants clubhouse, look to your left and you'll find a mini lounge with a chessboard and a Golden Tee arcade console. And in the hallway, you won't merely find a framed photo or tacked-up replica pennants to commemorate the three World Series titles. The Giants spent some money, kicked up some gypsum dust and installed three recessed and backlit display cases. The shiny circle-of-flags trophies are the first things that players see when they walk into the clubhouse and the last things they see when they head to the field. Advertisement Nostalgia doesn't have to be an escape from reality. Not when it can help to model the present. The Giants were down to their final out in yet another one-run game on Saturday when Matt Chapman's two-run home run sent them to an exhilarating, 3-2 victory over the Atlanta Braves. See if any of these postgame comments sound familiar: 'They all come down to the last pitch,' Giants manager Bob Melvin said. 'Seems like every game does.' 'I wouldn't love to play them every single day, but, yeah, it's going to serve us because we know how to play those games,' Chapman said. 'We know what it takes to come out on top. When the pressure is on, you got to make a play or take a good at-bat. Everything's heightened in those moments.' 'Yeah, torture,' Logan Webb said. 'It's torture baseball here.' You cannot reincarnate a World Series championship season like 2010, when the Giants eked and squeaked their way to so many nail-biters that announcer Duane Kuiper made on-air appeals to the Geneva Convention. You cannot define every contour of a season, either, when 98 games remain on the schedule. But this current team continues to groove to a tune that includes some heavy sampling from its past. The Giants played their sixth consecutive one-run game on Saturday — their longest streak since an eight-game run in 2014, when they won their last World Series championship. Their 27 one-run games this season are tied with the Braves for the most in the major leagues. The difference is that the Braves are 9-18 in those games, and by now, conditioned for calamity. The Giants, after winning four consecutive one-run games, are 15-12 in them and perhaps beginning to develop a muscle memory for coming out ahead. 'But it seems like we've played them for three weeks straight,' Chapman said. 'So I think everybody would prefer to score some more runs.' Advertisement That's what the players said in 2010, too. All the way to a dogpile on the mound in Texas. 'That's why you keep playing, keep fighting,' said Melvin, after managing his 13th consecutive game that was decided by two runs or fewer. 'One swing can do it. We've seen it happen many times. What is that, our eighth walkoff? So we're used to these types of games. It feels like with as many as we've had like this, we're battle-tested to the end. And until the last out, we have a chance.' They only have that chance because their bullpen leads the major leagues with the lowest ERA (2.30 entering Saturday) as well as baserunners per inning (1.07). Their frontline trio of Camilo Doval, Randy Rodriguez and Tyler Rogers has been both effective and efficient, which is important because it's kept them on the table for Melvin to use without multiple days off. Those frontline relievers have been needed so often because the Giants rotation seldom pitches the team out of a game. Their starters rank seventh in the majors with a 3.50 ERA, Robbie Ray is coming off Pitcher of the Month honors for May, and Webb, who was already a perennial presence on Cy Young ballots, is discovering ways to become even better on the mound. Webb continued to assert his reinvention as a strikeout pitcher on Saturday while delivering another dominant home start. He struck out 10 in six innings; of his 11 career double-digit strikeout games, four have come this season. It was Webb's fifth career start with double-digit strikeouts and no walks. He's one of three pitchers in franchise history to meet those qualifications at least five times. (If you're looking for more 2010 parallels, the other two are Tim Lincecum (5) and Madison Bumgarner (12).) 'He doesn't need a double play at times,' Melvin said of Webb, who also drastically addressed past issues holding runners and has had one base stolen against him all season. 'Instead of getting a ground ball, he gets a couple punchouts. He's just a better pitcher now.' Webb would pledge every spring to boost his strikeout rate and embellish the effectiveness of his grounder-inducing sinker. But who could've seen this coming? A third of the way into the season, Webb already has struck out 101 batters. The only pitchers with more are the Nationals' Mackenzie Gore and the Tigers' Tarik Skubal. Advertisement What's the difference now? It's not like Webb's velocity is spiking through the roof. So is it the cutter he added to the mix? Throwing more two-strike four-seam fastballs at the top of the zone? Recapturing a changeup that faded in all the wrong respects at times over the past two seasons? Maybe it's all of the above. Mostly, it's getting consistently ahead in counts and giving Webb a chance to sharpen his knives. 'There's the scouting part of it, throwing the right pitches at the right time, setting guys up,' Webb said. 'As a collection, we've done a really good job of that.' Webb credited catcher Patrick Bailey, pitching coach J.P. Martinez and assistant pitching coach Garvin Alston with those enhanced scouting reports and game preparation. Webb also credited two unofficial coaches who are former Cy Young Award winners — teammates Ray and Justin Verlander — for helping him hone his strikeout mentality. 'I'm not necessarily trying to strike everybody out. I just think I'm setting people up better for it,' Webb said. 'I always think about what Greg Maddux says about getting to 0-2. You get one chance to strike them out and then you go back to just trying to get them out. That's always been part of my mindset.' The team's mindset and mood were different following Webb's previous start against the San Diego Padres when they lost 1-0 and their lack of offensive production was threatening to drag down their season. Then changes were made. Perhaps it's more than a coincidence that the Giants haven't lost in four games since replacing LaMonte Wade Jr. with Dom Smith at first base in addition to adding backup catcher Andrew Knizner and outfielder Daniel Johnson. Smith has made the most noticeable impact with his situational at-bats as well as his defensive contributions at first base. He caught a foul pop against the netting in Friday's extra-inning victory over the Braves. On Saturday, he helped to snuff out a potentially troublesome ninth inning behind Tyler Rogers when he made a diving attempt at a ground ball and somehow recovered in time to take a throw from second baseman Casey Schmitt. That defensive effort helped the Giants maintain a one-run deficit. They only managed three hits, including a home run from Wilmer Flores, in eight innings against Braves right-hander Bryce Elder. But Atlanta stayed away from closer Raisel Iglesias, who had a 6.75 ERA after blowing the last of a six-run lead to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday. Instead, the Braves handed the assignment to right-handed curveball specialist Pierce Johnson, who had thrown a game-ending wild pitch the previous night. Advertisement Johnson gave up a one-out single to Heliot Ramos and retired Flores to bring the Giants to their last gasp. Then Johnson did worse than bounce another curveball. With a 1-1 count to Chapman, he hung one. 'His go-to is that curveball,' said Chapman, whose drive landed in the third row of the left field bleachers. 'I had a feeling that's what he was going to lean on in that situation.' Chapman circled the bases to a cacophony of cheers, then arrived home to a water-splashing, jersey-ripping pile of bodies. It was his first walk-off hit as a Giant and his third career walk-off home run. He'd hit a pair of them for Melvin with the Oakland A's over a six-week span in 2019. 'I think Chappy's going to hit a home run any time,' Webb said. 'I thought Flo was going to do it, too. But I guess it was Chapman's day.' Chapman was asked for his thoughts about the Giants' winning streak coming on the heels of a mini roster overhaul. Did those moves stir a sense of urgency in the clubhouse? 'It's funny, you know?' Chapman said. 'How things can change super quickly.' (Top Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
New York Times
5 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Several Giants seize late-night opportunities in stirring comeback win over Padres
Heliot Ramos sent a text message as soon as he heard the news. I appreciate your friendship. I appreciate the type of person you are and the support you always gave me. It's God's plan. So keep battling. The words were directed to LaMonte Wade Jr., whom the Giants designated for assignment after Tuesday night's stunning, 10-inning loss to the San Diego Padres. Wade had the misfortune of hitting .167 amid a lineup that was beginning to squeeze bat handles like turnips. Something had to be done before a talented pitching staff blew a gasket or before the team gave back the last remnants of their fast and frolicking April. So club president Buster Posey met face-to-face with a friend and former teammate and effectively fired him. Advertisement 'Yeah, it was a difficult decision,' Posey said. 'I think one of the trickier things for me is there's still guys on the team that I played with, so (I) had a different relationship with them as a player than I do now. I still consider LaMonte a buddy, you know. It wasn't an easy thing to do. But we've got to get some offense going.' The Giants ended the tenure of a Willie Mac Award winner whose unexpected, late-inning heroics in 2021 stood out as a particular inspiration on a team that achieved a franchise-record 107 victories. No, the Giants did not win a World Series in that charmed season. But one could argue that the breadth of their achievement was even more difficult and just as impressive. In clinching that National League West championship, they did what no other major league team had accomplished. They reduced a 106-win team, the Los Angeles Dodgers, to runner-up status. They needed every one of their 107 wins to capture the division. And so many of those implausible wins were hand-delivered by the unheralded son of two longtime U.S. Postal Service workers. 'Late Night LaMonte' had kicked around the Minnesota Twins system for a half decade before coming to the Giants in an agate-typeface trade and receiving his first meaningful chance in the major leagues. He responded by making a win probability graph as useless as a compass at the North Pole. Wade flipped the game script over and over in 2021 while collecting 13 hits in 23 at-bats in the ninth inning that season. He memorably splashed a home run into McCovey Cove and over the head of his mother, Emily, while she was taking a stroll on the arcade. On a team with Posey, Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt, Wade was the player you most wanted at the plate with the game on the line. And when Wade batted in the ninth inning of the fifth game of the Giants' NL Division Series against those same Dodgers, he came within a fraction of an inch of hitting a walk-off home run that would have equaled Bobby Thomson's celebrated place in baseball lore. If only Wade had connected with Max Scherzer's pitch just an inch or two deeper, his swing could have resulted in something so much more than a cove-splashing foul fly ball. Advertisement If only 'Late Night LaMonte' hadn't been a fraction of a second too early. Instead, the Giants' season ended that night on the shores of McCovey Cove. We'd later learn that Posey's playing career ended that night, too. Everything about Posey the major leaguer was so exceptional, right down to this: the decision to walk away wasn't made for him but by him. That is not how it works for the vast majority of players. It's not how it worked for Wade on Tuesday. Posey made that decision, too. Asked prior to Wednesday's game how he would reflect on Wade's time as a Giant, Posey said he was struck by 'watching his progression as a major-league player. I think he came up as a guy that didn't necessarily believe in his talent level, and then he grew into believing in it, and he believed that he could be that guy late in games that would get big hits, and he provided many of those for us.' Several hours later, Ramos provided one more big hit. He batted in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and the fans on their feet and lashed a slider from San Diego Padres right-hander Jason Adam into the left field corner for a two-run double that completed the Giants' comeback from a five-run deficit. Jung Hoo Lee followed with a sacrifice fly and the Giants' tenuous advantage survived over the final six shaky outs in a 6-5 victory at 24 Willie Mays Plaza. A team that hadn't scored more than four runs in 16 consecutive games was able to erase a 5-0 deficit. Ramos delivered the loudest message of the night, standing on second base after his tying double, looking wide-eyed into the home dugout and screaming the same three words a half-dozen times. An amateur lip reader might decipher them as 'Let's vacuum go!' In play, run(s) 😎 — SFGiants (@SFGiants) June 5, 2025 'I just felt we needed this for the team,' Ramos said. 'It was an emotional game. We're down 5-0 so quick, we were grinding, we have been grinding. It's a mental battle for everybody. The game (Tuesday) night, we're winning the whole way before they turned it around. It's a buildup. We've been grinding and nothing goes our way. So it was super emotional that we got to get back in the winner's column and stay in it.' Advertisement Posey described watching Wade's growing sense of belief in 2021. Something similar might be happening with Ramos now. 'I wanted that chance,' Ramos said. 'To me, there's nothing better. When the fans get loud like that, basically you cannot hear anything. So for me, there's not a more quiet moment than that moment I was feeling today. It's me and the pitcher. Get my pitch. That's it. The fans are just there to pump me up. But I feel like my heartbeat and my mind were clear. I was locked into the moment. I'm embracing it.' Ramos has been the Giants' best hitter this season. He is making a case for his second consecutive All-Star selection. All of this was unthinkable a little more than a year ago, when Ramos was among the first players cut in spring training and only resurfaced on the major-league roster when a wave of injuries subsumed half the Giants' position player core. When his window opened, he was ready to jump through it. So was right-hander Sean Hjelle, who by all rights pitched his way into incumbent status when he tossed 80 2/3 reliable innings over 58 appearances last season. When he was a surprising omission from the opening day roster at the end of March, he had every reason to seethe with entitlement. Instead, he took the baseball at Triple-A Sacramento, posted a 2.97 ERA over 18 mostly multi-inning appearances, and waited for his turn. It arrived in the fifth inning Wednesday when Kyle Harrison walked off the mound with a contused left elbow after a one-hopper that deflected off him and into shallow right field for a two-run single and a 5-0 deficit. Hjelle made certain that deficit did not grow. He needed just 28 pitches while retiring eight of the nine hitters he faced, and Matt Chapman's two-run home run in the sixth inning made the concept of a comeback seem possible. When Hjelle finally received his precious chance, he was ready for it. Daniel Johnson's opportunity might have felt even more precious to him. The Vallejo, Calif., native had run out of chances with major-league affiliates this offseason, so he signed with Durango of the Mexican League before the Giants offered him a minor-league contract May 5. Johnson had played in 35 games for Cleveland over 2020-21 but his only major-league action since then had been a sliver of one game in 2024 with the Baltimore Orioles, who found themselves thin in the outfield after Cedric Mullins collided with Austin Slater. Johnson hustled to Camden Yards, pinch ran in the ninth inning, played right field in the 10th and grounded out to end a home loss to the Detroit Tigers. The next day, when Mullins reported to the ballpark with minimal neck pain, Baltimore returned Johnson to Triple A. Advertisement 'I was a filler for a day,' Johnson said. There is no guarantee that Johnson's stay with the Giants will be much longer than that. But he filled his debut Wednesday with memories while playing in the ballpark where he once stood on the seats in the upper deck so he could see over the adults who were imploring Barry Bonds to hit a home run. Johnson singled twice, scored two runs, showed no hesitation to steal a base even with the Giants down by five, and might have made the game-saving play when he combined a perfect read and route to take an extra-base hit away from Luis Arraez in the ninth inning. No triples allowed by Daniel Johnson 🚫 — SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) June 5, 2025 Off the bat, Arraez's drive had an expected batting average of .520. A missed attempt by Johnson would've allowed Fernando Tatis Jr. to jog the rest of the way home from first base with the tying run. Instead, Johnson's sprinting, lunging catch behind right-hander Ryan Walker provided the Giants with an opportunity to escape the inning. Then reliever Randy Rodriguez entered and continued his near-flawless season, retiring two left-handed batters to record his first career save. Johnson's catch represented a save of sorts, too. It was all the more impressive considering he was playing the first game of his life in one of the league's trickiest right fields. 'I made it my business to get fly balls (in batting practice) because it was my first day,' Johnson said. 'After that, you trust your instincts. Obviously, there's elements, wind, weird dimensions. But you trust your instincts and go get it. 'We were playing kind of (shallow) and I was like, 'I have to run. I have to go.' That was the only thing in my mind: get to the ball.' Johnson's description of his urgency in right field was a near-perfect echo of Posey's pregame description of his urgency to give the roster an offensive jolt. Advertisement 'It's time to go,' Posey said. 'I think we all believe we're better than we've been with the bats the last 2 1/2 or three weeks. It's time to go.' The Giants will go forth without a player who had been one of their most inspirational. Giants manager Bob Melvin addressed Wade's departure with hitters in a pregame meeting. 'He (Melvin) always tries to keep it very simple,' Ramos said. 'He basically said, 'I know it's a lot of moves, but we're bringing in some guys who are swinging a hot bat.' He said it plain and simple. Nobody likes to see this with LaMonte. He's a friend; he's a good player. Things weren't going his way. Hitting, it's tough. You know how baseball is.' You know how it is. Nobody knows how it will go. On the day that the organization cut ties with 'Late Night LaMonte,' perhaps there was no more fitting tribute to him than this: the Giants were on the wrong end of a steep win probability graph. Then they rendered it useless. They made the needle spin. (Top photo of Heliot Ramos: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
New York Times
5 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Giants designate LaMonte Wade Jr., sign Dominic Smith as Buster Posey seeks to jolt offense
As a cornerstone catcher on three World Series championship teams, Buster Posey was as renowned for his level-headed perspective as he was for his clutch hitting and receiving skills. But patience does not always equal indecisiveness. The San Francisco Giants' first-year president of baseball operations made a series of bold roster changes Wednesday morning to jolt a slumbering offense, designating struggling first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. for assignment and replacing him with Dominic Smith, who had opted out of his Triple-A contract with the New York Yankees earlier in the week. Advertisement The Giants made two other changes to address an underperforming bench, designating backup catcher Sam Huff and optioning infielder Christian Koss to Triple-A Sacramento. They will be replaced by catcher Andrew Knizner and lefty-hitting outfielder Daniel Johnson, neither of whom were in spring training with the club but had joined Triple-A Sacramento on minor league contracts last month. The most significant and likely the most difficult move involved saying goodbye to Wade, who achieved folk hero status as 'Late Night LaMonte' for his uncanny run of clutch hits in the late innings on the 2021 NL West championship team that won a franchise-record 107 regular-season games. Wade received only 381 plate appearances that season but finished sixth among NL players in Win Probability Added. And he emerged as a strike-zone savant to rival Juan Soto while posting on-base percentages of .373 and .380 over the past two seasons. But Wade's production fell off a cliff over the past two months while he hit .167/.275/.271 with one home run. The 31-year-old's window of opportunity with the club was closing as other options came online. Outfielder/first baseman Jerar Encarnacion, who fractured a finger in spring training, rejoined the team this week. Top prospect Bryce Eldridge hit his way into a promotion to Triple-A Sacramento on Tuesday, and veteran Wilmer Flores has proven to be much more productive than just a right-handed platoon partner. Wade's struggles were easier to cover up in April when the Giants got off to a hot start and scored consistently. But the club has scored just 32 runs over its last 16 games, putting considerable pressure on a pitching staff that ranks second in the major leagues with a 3.03 ERA. The Giants haven't scored more than four runs in any of their last 16 games, their longest since a 19-game stretch in 1965. And they are coming off two gut-wrenching home losses to the San Diego Padres, wasting Logan Webb's effort in a 1-0 defeat on Monday and then letting a 2-0 lead slip away in the ninth inning of a 3-2, 10-inning loss on Tuesday that probably had more to do with their inability to tack on runs than closer Camilo Doval's rare hiccup. Advertisement Before Tuesday's loss, Posey met with reporters and said the club was 'trying to exhaust all options' to jump-start an offense that hasn't received much from Wade, catcher Patrick Bailey, and most notably, $182 million free-agent shortstop Willy Adames. But the question has been floating out there ever since Posey took over the big chair from Farhan Zaidi in October: How would Posey handle the moment when he had to make difficult decisions about players who were among his former teammates? In a role that often requires callousness, how much would sentiment get in the way? Perhaps that question has been answered now. Posey, of course, was among Wade's teammates in that record-setting 2021 season. But that didn't make any difference on Wednesday. Not with the Giants' offensive challenges threatening to erode their early-season gains. Although Posey showed no signs of panic as a player, he also likely absorbed his share of lessons from former manager Bruce Bochy, including this oft-repeated line: 'If it isn't working, change something.' So the Giants will give at least a short-term look at Smith, a 29-year-old veteran of eight major league seasons with the New York Mets, Washington Nationals and Cincinnati Reds who didn't make the Yankees roster out of camp and was buried on the depth chart there. Smith hit .255/.333/.448 with eight home runs in 189 plate appearances at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and is expected to see time at first base and provide a little more left-handed power potential off the bench. Johnson is a lefty-hitting 29-year-old Vallejo native who appeared in one game for the Baltimore Orioles last year and 35 games for Cleveland over the 2020-21 seasons. He was playing for Durango in the Mexican League when the Giants signed him to a minor league contract on May 2; he hit .272/.312/.534 with six home runs and five stolen bases in 109 plate appearances for Sacramento. Advertisement Knizner, 30, has spent parts of six major league seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers and was released by mutual consent from his minor league deal with the Washington Nationals in mid-May. He combined for a .378 average and .512 on-base percentage between Triple-A Rochester and Sacramento and represents a contact-hitting upgrade over Huff, who had struck out 25 times in 53 at-bats. And what about Wade? It's unlikely he'd be scooped up on waivers because a claiming team would take on the remainder of his $5 million salary. But because he has more than five years of service time, he can reject an outright assignment to Sacramento and become a free agent. He's almost assuredly played his last game as a Giant. (Top photo of LaMonte Wade Jr.: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
New York Times
06-04-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘We like fun!': Matt Chapman, Jung Hoo Lee help Giants extend their win streak to 6 games
In San Diego, they call the second home game of the season Tony Gwynn Opening Day. The Padres legend respected the home opener, but the season didn't really start for him until the pomp and circumstance was gone. Anyone can get excited for opening day, the idea goes, but it takes a baseball nut to be just as excited the next day. To translate this into Giants-ese: The fans at the home opener know who Buster Posey is, but the fans at the second game know who Guillermo Quiroz is. Advertisement If this is a real phenomenon, that would mean Saturday night would give you a better sense of how Giants nuts are feeling. They watched their team defeat the Mariners 4-1 and extend their winning streak to six games, so spirits were obviously high. But it was a much calmer and more reasonable game than the home opener, which featured several obvious do-or-die moments, crossroads and pivot points. So in a more typical, garden variety win, what was going to get second-opener fans screaming the loudest? The short answer: They like it when the Giants are fun. But there's a little more to it than that. Before the game, fans lined up to get one of the 15,000 Matt Chapman bobbleheads given away to celebrate his fifth Gold Glove, which was presented to him before the game. An unofficial sampling of the jerseys in the crowd suggested a ratio of about one Chapman jersey for each bobblehead. It was his day, so it makes sense that the Chapman aficionados were going to represent. He didn't disappoint, with two doubles, two runs scored, two runs driven in, and a typically brilliant defensive play to get the last out of the game. It wasn't like every Chap-head ran out and bought a jersey when he signed a one-year deal with an opt-out before the 2024 season, though. Giants fans had seen that playbook before. If he had a typically Chapman-esque year, he was going to opt out and leave for a long-term contract somewhere else. There aren't nearly as many (or any) Carlos Rodón jerseys in the crowd for a typical game. The lines for the bobblehead, the jerseys and the pre-game cheers were all in celebration of a player who was going to be around for a while. There are suddenly a few of those, from Logan Webb to Heliot Ramos to Patrick Bailey, who was also presented with his Gold Glove before the game. Willy Adames jerseys will become more and more prevalent with every walk-off hit and standout moment. Chapman is a lot of things, with a lot of them having to do with being good at baseball, but he's the best representation of a sense of permanence that's been missing for the last couple of seasons. The second-opener fans appreciate good baseball, but they also appreciate stability. Advertisement So when Chapman hit a double in the fourth inning to drive in the first run of the game, it made sense that the crowd would go nuts and an impromptu cheer would ring out: Jung! Hoo! Lee! Jung! Hoo! Lee! That's right. It was a cheer for the runner who scored on the hit, which is a scenario I honestly can't remember happening before. It wasn't a cheer for the batter who drove in the run on his bobblehead night, shortly after he was presented one of baseball's most coveted awards. And that's not to take anything at all away from Chapman's night or the crowd's response to him. It was an organic appreciation for what led up to the moment. It was as simple as this: Jung Hoo Lee doubled on a liner down the line that had almost no chance of being a triple, except it looked for a minute that he was going to try for one. The crowd loved even the idea that there was a Giants player who could put that thought into their heads. Then Lee got a huge jump and stole third on the next pitch, and the crowd loved that even more. When Chapman drove him in, the chant came naturally, and it wasn't necessarily about feteing one player over the other, but roughly translated to: We like fun! We like fun! Eight games into the season, the Giants are playing fun baseball. The 107-win Giants of 2021 were impressive and exciting, but in a way that felt like a marvel of engineering. That team was an elegant invention being displayed at the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago, with gears and pulleys that hinted at a new era. It was a team that said, 'Behold! We simply place Darin Ruf in to pinch hit against this left-handed pitcher, and … voilà!' It was fun as heck in its own way, but it was a celebration of the process as much as the execution. That wasn't a team, though, that made you think, 'Maybe this guy will steal third base and make something happen,' right before a guy steals third and makes something happen. That's not to suggest there's a 'lesser' way to win, or that the Giants are playing purer baseball than they ever have, or some such nonsense. If the over-under is 106.5 wins for this season's team, you can comfortably bet your retirement fund on the under. Let us not besmirch the great Giants teams of the past. Advertisement Even as the 2014 Giants were about to win the World Series, though, it was possible to look over at the Royals and think, dang, that looks like fun. Again, the season is eight games old, so it's irresponsible to compare any team favorably to pennant winners, championship winners and the team that won the most games in franchise history. But as a snapshot of the sugar plums dancing in the heads of second-opener Giants nuts, it works. This is the only franchise with a 600-homer guy and a 700-homer guy. They have championships and records and Hall of Famers for days. They've watched a long-haired little fella pitch his heart out for them. They watched a homegrown pitcher throw a perfect game, and they watched another one get a five-inning save in Game 7 of the World Series a couple of days after a shutout. You know what they haven't seen yet, though? A dude who can slap the ball all over the place and make things happen. And you know what they haven't seen in a while? A team that has a chance to stick together for a long time. We'll see what the next 154 games will bring, and it's entirely possible that this sentiment will age like a slice of avocado. As a window into the secret desires of the Tony Gwynn-approved baseball nut, though, Saturday night's game was a revelation. Fun, continuity and winning. It's not a new formula, but it feels like it for Giants fans. The team might be … fun? In a new way? Until the shine of the 7-1 record fades — and it almost certainly will, to some degree — every win suddenly feels like proof that it doesn't have to ever stop. Matt Chapman received his 2024 Gold Glove Award before today's game. For the 27th out of tonight's game, he did this … — SFGiants (@SFGiants) April 6, 2025 (Top photo of Matt Chapman hitting an RBI double to score Jung Hoo Lee: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
How clubhouse remodel will give Giants extra motivation in 2025
How clubhouse remodel will give Giants extra motivation in 2025 originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area SAN FRANCISCO — When the Giants return home Friday, they will unveil upgrades to their famous Coca-Cola bottle and the concessions at the field level. Fans can try new items like an elote hot dog, miso ramen and bacon ranch buffalo pretzel. The light shows have been sharpened in year two with that technology, and on Tuesday, the Giants will wear their new City Connect jerseys for the first time. Advertisement The most eye-popping change, though, will come in an area that most in the public will never have access to. The organization is putting the finishing touches on the entryway to the home clubhouse, which now includes a case for the three World Series trophies. When players walk through the front door every day, they will get a reminder of the best stretch in franchise history, and eventually the wall will be covered with photos of past Giants stars and notable moments. 'I just want them to understand the history of the Giants, and even beyond those three World Series trophies, just the type of players that have come through and what the San Francisco Giants mean to the city of San Francisco,' new president of baseball operations Buster Posey said last week. 'We're planning to have some pictures behind the trophies of parade celebrations or what have you. I just think it's important. This is a storied franchise and those were obviously a big part of it.' Advertisement The addition of the trophies was first brought up by Brad Grems, the organization's senior manager for the home clubhouse and Major League equipment. Last year, that wall was home to a mural and a television that showed still photos from games, but as the new regime thought about changes in the offseason, Grems couldn't help but think about what it's like to walk into the clubhouse at Dodger Stadium. When Dodgers get out of their elevator, they stroll down a long hallway filled not only with World Series trophies, but also Cy Young Awards, MVP trophies, Rookie of the Year trophies, Gold Gloves and more. That's common in a lot of MLB ballparks. Nobody spends more time around the actual Giants jerseys than Grems, and he wanted players to know what it has always meant to wear orange and black. 'There needs to be a sense of pride when these guys walk from the parking lot through that hallway,' he said. 'It's setting an expectation of what it means to be a Giant and what it means to put that uniform on. It brings back that allure and legacy.' When the previous regime was in charge, many in the organization noticed that there seemed to almost be a targeted effort to shy away from anything that had to do with the dynasty. This spring, the Giants made subtle changes to return to their roots, putting up some new photos at Scottsdale Stadium and inviting a huge crowd of former Giants standouts to come to camp as guest instructors. Advertisement Grems mentioned the trophies in a meeting about two weeks after Posey was hired and the new boss was immediately on board. Players haven't seen the full remodel yet, but they were excited by the presence of the trophies — the Giants have two sets, and still will keep the other one on the concourse for fan photos — when they hosted a two-game exhibition series at the end of the spring. 'I think it's awesome. You should celebrate winning and your history,' Matt Chapman said. 'When I was with the Blue Jays they had the two World Series trophies right in the entrance to the clubhouse and I thought it was cool, so I'm glad we're doing it. That's Giants baseball right there. I think it just sets the tone.' The Giants also plan to spend all season celebrating 25 years at Oracle Park, starting today, with a ceremony that will include Barry Bonds, Rich Aurilia and other members of the 2000 team. Posey didn't hesitate when asked which moment stands out from his own career. In 2012, he caught Matt Cain's perfect game, the only one in franchise history. 'I don't know how many times I've watched Arias make that last play at third and I still get nervous when he falls backwards,' he said, smiling. 'That's just the epitome of a team game to me. A seemingly meaningless game, I don't know what the score was, but the electricity in the stands was like nothing else other than a playoff game and that was in June.' Advertisement Cain's massive fist pump after the 27th out surely will be represented on that wall of photos in the clubhouse, and you can bet there will be a Gregor Blanco reference, too. It's the first phase in a remodel that so far has also included new lighting to make the entrance to the clubhouse feel cooler in general. Grems was especially proud that the lighting includes the words 'Mike Murphy's clubhouse.' Murph's office used to be the first thing anyone saw when they walked into the clubhouse, but for the past half decade that space was used by analysts, who now have been moved elsewhere. The room at the front of the clubhouse now will belong to members of the front office. The real stars of that hallway, though, are the three trophies. 'I didn't know that was happening, but I absolutely loved it,' Logan Webb said. 'The first time I saw it I was walking by with someone and we were like, 'Let's make sure there's space for another one.'' Download and follow the Giants Talk Podcast
