John Shea: Summing up a career in an afternoon

As Matt Cain mowed down Padres hitters inning after inning in his career swan song on Saturday, a sense of nostalgia reigned over AT&T Park, or SBC Park, as it was called when Cain broke into the majors in 2005.

It was hard not to reminisce on this day about a team icon, about the finer moments of a 13-year career that ended in a game that meant nothing in the standings, but everything for 40,000 fans and certainly Cain himself.

“I think we were all going through that, guys who’d been here with him,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “Just great memories with Matty, unbelievable memories. Winning champi-

onships, he helped lead us through it.”

For example: His perfect game. His three one-hitters. His scorelessinnings streak in the 2010 postseason, 211⁄3 in all. His three close-out starts in the 2012 postseason. His All-Star Game start. All his losses and no-decisions that could have been wins — getting “Cained,” in Giants vernacular.

And the one that will rank with the others in the memory banks. The last one.

Did Cain’s career flash before his eyes? Did he stroll down Memory Lane with everyone else? Was there time for relishing the past between innings, between pitches, between hugs?

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around today,” Cain said after pitching five scoreless innings in his 331st and final start, more than any San Francisco pitcher except Juan Marichal.

“Being in so many amazing games has fulfilled everything I could think of in a career. I think I got put in almost every spot imaginable and got to see a ton of stuff from the bench. I enjoyed every bit of it. I don’t think there’s any part of my career that I don’t own and don’t enjoy. It’s been special for me, and I love it.”

Everyone came equipped with a Cain story or three, and many memories were shared among teammates, among fans, among those who were around from the moment the then-20year-old Cain threw his first major-league pitch on Aug. 29, 2005.

Former A’s pitcher Dallas Braden was in the house, the only other person present with a perfect game to his name, and told the story of a poster he signed in jest for Cain. Retired outfielder Cody Ross also was there and told the story of his first day as a Giant and how Cain hilariously mentioned Ross’ homer off him a month earlier, and bat flip.

Then there was Dave Righetti, Cain’s only bigleague pitching coach. Righetti reminisced about a meeting early in Cain’s second season that altered the pitcher’s career and put him and the team on a path that led to three World Series titles.

Cain was struggling to keep his job, with a 6.69 ERA and possible trip to Triple-A Fresno in his near future. Then-general manager Brian Sabean held a meeting with other decision-makers that included Cain, keeping everything up front and honest.

There was talk of demoting Cain. Or making him a closer. Fortunately for the Giants, neither happened. Sabean told Cain he was sticking around, that the organization had faith in him.

“It was just a feeling Brian had about Cain,” Righetti said, “that he was going to learn more about getting better here with us than going back to the minors again.”

In Cain’s next start, he threw a one-hit shutout in Oakland, and the momentum carried him through the next six seasons, during which he averaged 33 starts and 217 innings with a 3.18 ERA.

“You’re always worried players don’t know how they’re being seen, viewed, accepted,” Sabean said from his suite seconds before Cain’s first pitch Saturday. “In that case, we were in transition, much like staffs built in the past. Years ago, when the Braves were building their staff, all their young guns went through some tough times. Matt was kind of in the same position. It wasn’t a lack of talent or effort. Remember, he got up here so young.

“Whether it’s him or anybody else, it’s important sometimes for a player to know everybody’s all in.”

And the talk of turning him into a closer?

“He’s throwing 96, 97 (mph) as a starter,” Sabean said. “Not many starters did that then.”

Righetti and Co. went to work with Cain, who at one time was mostly a fastball-curve guy. He eventually lost some velocity and developed a changeup and slider. Righetti called Cain’s early delivery “awkward.” That evolved, too, into picture-perfect mechanics.

After Saturday’s game, an emotional Cain took time to recall the meeting.

“I remember sitting down with Sabes in his office and him just talking to me,” Cain said. “‘You’ve

got tremendous stuff. We don’t want to send you down. You gotta stay up here.’ That vote of confidence from management did a lot. It gave me that trust and confidence and helped me relax.”

Braden said he was at the game to pay homage to “the end of an illustrious career.”

His memory: “I sent over a poster from my perfect game and wrote, ‘Aside from the $100 million contract, multiple World Series championships, the All-Star appearances and you being right-handed and throwing harder, we’re pretty much the same guy. So I know where you’re coming from. Congratulations.’ He kind of laughed at it.”

Ross, a Giants special assistant, homered off Cain not long before joining the Giants in 2010.

His memory: “My first

day, I walk around the clubhouse, and guys are patting me on the back and saying they’re glad I’m here. I get to Cain, who’s sitting in his chair. He looks up and says, ‘Did you really have to flip your bat that far?’ I kind of chuckle, and he doesn’t really laugh that much. Then he kind of giggles a little bit. Ever since, we’ve been good buddies.”

Cain’s Giants chapter ended when he walked off the mound a final time and embraced Bochy, Buster Posey and everyone he could reach in the dugout. The Giants lost the game 3-2, but that hardly mattered. Cain ranked this game with his most memorable.

The career is over, but the memories remain and the stories will continue to be told.