WHAT A MADBUMMER
Franchise’s World Series hero won’t be on mound for final game of Bochy’s career
SAN FRANCISCO >> On the final day of the season, Giants manager Bruce Bochy will take center stage.
For much of September, the Giants hoped ace Madison Bumgarner would join him in the spotlight, but that’s no longer possible. Bochy announced the team has adjusted its rotation so that Dereck Rodríguez will start the team’s season finale instead of Bumgarner.
“He’s been out there every start, and he’s pitched enough,” Bochy said Saturday. “The game is not going to determine anything. He’s got a lot of baseball left, and I just like to take care of him.”
The Giants kept Bumgarner on regular rest throughout the month so that he would be available to start the last game of his career, but discussions between the left-hander and his manager led to a last-minute change of plans.
“We’ve had a great career together,” Bumgarner said. “My time here has been special. We went through a lot of amazing things, and (today) is not going to change any way of that one way or another by no means. Not even close.”
Bumgarner has made 286 regular-season starts with the Giants, and it’s entirely possible the game he pitched on Tuesday against the Rockies will be his last for the orange and black. The Giants are expected to be among the teams interested in signing Bumgarner this offseason, but the 30-year-old is preparing to bring an open mind into free agency this winter.
“Who knows what the future holds, but I’ve got a long career ahead of myself and I’m excited about free agency,” Bumgarner said. “I’m sure I’ll find my way
back here one way or another, whether it’s back in this uniform or not eventually.”
Bumgarner will not start, but Bochy went as far as saying he won’t pitch which would preclude him from appearing out of the bullpen, but the Giants have considered the idea of sending Bumgarner to the plate as a pinch hitter.
Bochy didn’t provide any specifics regarding Bumgarner’s possible role in today’s game, but he did hint at one last surprise for fans who purchased tickets in anticipation of giving Bumgarner one last ovation.
“He’s going to be out here, he’s going to be watching the game, and he’ll have his spikes on, I’ll put it that way,” Bochy said.
• The San Francisco Giants honor their past as well as any franchise in sports. On Saturday morning outside Oracle Park, the Giants thanked late owner Peter Magowan for showing them how to celebrate history.
Magowan, the Giants’ longtime managing general partner who died on Jan. 27, 2019, became the first nonplayer to have a plaque unveiled on the Giants’ Wall of Fame.
“Can there be a more fitting tribute to Peter?” CEO Larry Baer asked.
A New York City native who followed the franchise closely when it played at the Polo Grounds, Magowan belonged to a group of Bay Area investors who purchased the Giants in 1993 and prevented the club from leaving the city.
He’s credited as one of the catalysts for keeping the Giants from moving to Tampa Bay and is considered the mastermind behind the privately funded ballpark in China Basin.
“Because of Peter’s vision, this ballpark will stand the test of time, much like a Fenway Park or Wrigley Field,” former Giants pitcher and Wall of Fame honoree Shawn Estes said.
During a ceremony to unveil Magowan’s plaque on Saturday, Baer said Magowan was determined to find a way to pay tribute to the franchise’s most influential figures. It was Magowan who established the original criteria for Wall of Fame honorees as the wall honors players who spent nine consecutive seasons with the Giants or players who made at least one Allstar team during a five-plus year tenure.
To date, the Giants have honored 52 players on the Wall of Fame and will eventually honor several more including current players who have met the criteria in Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt.
• In their penultimate meeting of the regular season, the Dodgers and lefthander Hyun-jin Ryu silenced the Giants and an underachieving offense in a 2-0 loss for San Francisco. The Giants had two runners reach base to open the bottom of the ninth against Los Angeles closer Kenley Jansen, but failed to advance them in their 16th shutout loss of the year.
The defeat moved Bochy a game under .500 in his 13year career with the franchise as he’ll need the Giants to send him out with a victory in today’s farewell game to finish at 1,053-1,053 in orange and black.
A Giants offense having one of the worst statistical months in the organization’s history was blanked over seven innings by Ryu, who outmatched Giants rookie Logan Webb during Saturday’s matinee.
Webb pitched six innings of two-run ball to wrap up his first full month in the majors with back-to-back quality starts against playoff-bound clubs. After limiting Atlanta to one run in six innings in his final road outing, Webb showed impressive poise in his last start of the season on Saturday against the Dodgers.