The San Francisco Giants will host an on-field, 10-year reunion of their 2012 World Series championship team before Saturday night’s game against the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates.
The hosts should be in a celebratory mood after opening a seven-game homestand with a 5-3 triumph over the Pirates on Friday.
Giants right-hander Logan Webb (10-5, 3.17 ERA) is expected to throw the first pitch following the reunion.
Pirates right-hander Tyler Beede (1-1, 3.57) hopes to have a happy homecoming of his own after previously being cut by San Francisco. He was picked up by Pittsburgh in May.
Former manager Bruce Bochy and 2012 standouts Matt Cain, Barry Zito and Hunter Pence are among the confirmed invitees as the Giants honor the guys who helped the franchise win the second of three championships over a five-year stretch.
“When you look at this club, the terms ‘teamwork,’ ‘team play,’ ‘play as a team’ — that’s used loosely, but these guys truly did,” Bochy said. “They set aside their own agenda and asked what’s best for the club.”
Among those reportedly who have returned regrets are Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey and fan favorite Tim Lincecum, whose wife, Cristin Coleman, an elementary school principal in the San Francisco Bay Area, died of cancer on June 27 at the age of 38.
Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt are the only current members of the Giants or Pirates who were on San Francisco’s 2012 team, although Evan Longoria and Alex Cobb also were in the majors at the time, both with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton was with Longoria and Cobb in Tampa Bay in 2012 as the Rays’ hitting coach.
If someone crashes the party, it likely would be Pirates bench coach Don Kelly, who was a reserve utilityman for the Tigers in 2012. He was one of three batters struck out by Sergio Romo in the bottom of the 10th inning of the Giants’ clinching Game 7 win in Detroit.
Beede will try to make it a happy night for Kelly and the rest of the Pirates. The former first-round pick went 5-11 with a 5.39 ERA in 3 1/2 seasons in San Francisco.
The 29-year-old has made two starts, both in an opener-type role, since joining the Pirates. He allowed a combined four runs and seven hits in five innings to the Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks.
“Just keeping the bullpen mentality that I’ve had, a one-inning approach at a time,” Beede said. “Not trying to count outs or go a certain length, but just keeping an attack mentality. That’s what I’ve learned coming out of the ‘pen and transitioning that into whatever it was, an opening/starting thing.”
Beede has yet to pitch against the Giants in his career.
Webb is coming off a strong effort against the Oakland Athletics that snapped a personal two-game losing streak. He limited the A’s to two runs on four hits in seven innings to pick up the win on Sunday.
The 25-year-old has started just once in his career against Pittsburgh and was tagged for four runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings at home in his fifth major-league game on Sept. 11, 2019. The Giants lost 6-3.
–Field Level Media
