Giants: Matt Cain says he will retire after Saturday’s start.
PHOENIX — Matt Cain, who will be remembered as one of the great pitchers in Giants history and a keystone to their championship era, announced Wednesday that he expects to retire after his farewell start against the San Diego Padres at AT&T Park on Saturday.
Cain solidified his plans Tuesday and held a brief clubhouse meeting before the Giants’ 4-3 loss to the Diamondbacks on Wednesday to inform his teammates that he plans to end his baseball career Saturday. He then made his decision public.
“Saturday will be the last time I put on a Giants uniform,” Cain said. “I can’t see myself going somewhere else to play for another team. This organization has meant so much to me, so much to my family. It’s something that’s dear to my heart.”
Cain declared his intentions now so he and his family, teammates and fans can enjoy his final start and weekend without the weight of an announcement interfering with the celebration.
“Unless something really unbelievable happens, it will be a retirement weekend,” Cain said.
In an interview with The Chronicle published this month, Cain hinted he would retire and declared how much it would mean to him to end his career with the team that drafted him in 2002, and with whom he won three World Series rings.
Cain will be one of four players with at least 10 years in the majors to have played his entire career with the San Francisco Giants, joining Jim Davenport, Scott Garrelts and Robby Thompson.
“Matt is truly one of the great Giants in our history,” chief executive officer Larry Baer said via text. “In today’s world, it’s a rare player who wears only one uniform, and even more rare to wear it with such distinction, accomplishment and joy.”
Cain’s clubhouse speech was emotional for him and his teammates, even if they knew what was coming.
“That’s not something that’s easy to do, to get up in front of your teammates and pour your heart out,” catcher Buster Posey said. “That’s exactly what he did. Everyone in here could tell it was heartfelt, definitely appreciated and something we’ll all remember.”
Posey said he will catch Cain on Saturday.
Madison Bumgarner still remembers meeting Cain for the first time in the Scottsdale Stadium clubhouse in 2009. (“I was going down, he was coming up.”)
Bumgarner struggled to find words when asked about Cain’s pending retirement.
“I’m not going to sit here and put everything he’s meant to me and this organization into a couple of sentences or a few minutes,” Bumgarner said. “It wouldn’t be right. He’s a special person, one of the better Giants ever to put on the uniform and one of my best friends.”
Cain, Bumgarner, Posey and Pablo Sandoval are the only current Giants players who were part of all three World Series championships. Cain acknowledged that the titles made his retirement decision easier.
“I do feel that maybe if we hadn’t done some things as a team, it could be harder,” he said. “I think we’ve been through the full gamut of everything. That is something that is satisfying and I know I’m able to hang my hat on at the end of the day. I put everything I could into this and I’ve experienced it all and enjoyed every bit of it.”
Cain made his major-league debut in 2005 and became the ace of the pitching staff, earning the nickname “Horse,” as he led a cadre of younger players into a new era of Giants baseball after the final, desultory years of the Barry Bonds era.
They reversed the fortunes of a team that had a losing record every year from 2005 through 2008.