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Buster Posey has experienced plenty of memorable moments at Oracle Park, many of which he orchestrated as a player. One stands out above the rest: Matt Cain’s perfect game in 2012.
“I don’t know how many times I’ve watched (Joaquin) Arias make that last play at third — and I still get nervous when he falls backwards,” Posey, now the Giants’ president of baseball operations, laughed on Opening Day last week in Cincinnati.
Friday’s home opener marks the 25th anniversary of the Giants’ debut in their downtown waterfront ballpark. The Giants’ home has been known by many names – Pac Bell Park, SBC Park, AT&T Park and, currently, Oracle Park.
Here is a look at 25 memorable moments on the shores of McCovey Cove.
April 11, 2000
After 39 seasons at Candlestick Park the Giants moved into their $319 million cathedral and the Dodgers’ Kevin Elster spoiled the party with a three-homer game – including the park’s first – in a 6-5 loss. Barry Bonds was the first Giant to homer – a solo shot in the third inning. He’d hit 159 more at the ballpark over the next seven seasons.
May 1, 2000
It only took nine games before Bonds, of course, provided the first “Splash Hit” home run over the right field wall and into McCovey Cove. It was a three-run shot off Mets left-hander Rich Rodriguez. Bonds hit 35 of the 168 “Splash Hit” homers in the park’s history.
Oct. 5, 2001 – Twenty-four hours after tying Mark McGwire in Houston, Bonds deposited his record-breaking 71st homer of the season just below the flag poles in right center off of the Dodgers’ Chan Ho Park. Bonds hit No. 72 two innings later and added No. 73 on the final day of the regular season.
Oct. 14, 2002
Kenny Lofton’s walk-off single scores David Bell, sending the Giants to their first World Series since the 1989 Bay Bridge Series.
Oct. 24, 2002
After scoring a run in Game 5 of the World Series against the Angels J.T. Snow scooped up Darren Baker, manager Dusty’s 3-year-old son and the Giants’ bat boy to avoid a home-plate collision.
April 16, 2004
Reigning Cy Young winner Eric Gagne and three-time reigning MVP Bonds engage in an epic power-vs.-power showdown. With the Giants trailing 3-0 in the ninth, Gagne threw seven pitches, six 100-mph fastballs, to Bonds, who won the battle with a two-run homer to center. But the Dodgers won the game and Gagne notched his 66th straight save – he’d go on to convert a league-record 84 in a row.
July 10, 2007
The Giants hosted their third All-Star Game since moving to San Francisco. Willie Mays was honored pregame and future Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki was MVP after hitting the first inside-the-park homer in All-Star Game history.
Aug. 7, 2007
Bonds did what for decades had been unthinkable, breaking Hank Aaron’s home run record with No. 756.
July 10, 2009
Back in the rotation to face the Padres after being demoted to the bullpen, Jonathan Sánchez pitched the franchise’s first no-hitter in 33 years.
Sept. 11, 2009
Buster Posey makes his major league debut, striking out as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the eighth inning of a 10-3 loss to the Dodgers. Posey was the NL Rookie of the Year in the following season and had a career batting average of exactly .300 in the only ballpark he ever called home.
Oct. 3, 2010
Jonathan Sánchez pitched five shutout innings and tripled and scored the first run of the game in a 3-0 win over the Padres to clinch the NL West on the final day of the regular season.
Oct. 7, 2010
In the Giants’ first playoff game in seven seasons, two-time reigning Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum struck out 14 in Game 1 of the 2010 NLDS against the Braves in a 1-0 win.
June 13, 2012
Matt Cain needed just 125 pitches to pitch the first perfect game in franchise history. Cain struck out 14 Astros and right fielder Gregor Blanco kept the perfecto alive with a diving catch in the seventh inning.
Oct. 22, 2012
The Giants capped their comeback from a 3-1 series deficit in the NLCS against the Cardinals with a 9-0 win in Game 7. The lasting image was of series MVP Marco Scutaro’s outstretched arms as rain fell during the ninth inning.
Oct. 24, 2012
In Game 1 of the World Series against the Tigers, Pablo Sandoval joined Reggie Jackson, Babe Ruth and Albert Pujols as the only players to hit three homers in a Series game. Panda did it in his first three at-bats and was the MVP in the Giants’ sweep.
May 25, 2013
Angel Pagan produced one of the Giants’ wildest finishes ever, hitting a liner off the right-field bricks, racing around the bases and diving home head first to complete a two-run, walk-off inside-the-park home run.
June 25, 2014
Two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum’s career was beginning to wind down, but The Freak no-hit the Padres for the second season in a row. He walked one and joined Christy Mathewson as the only Giants with two no-hitters for the franchise.
Oct. 16, 2014
Travis Ishikawa blasted a walk-off, three-run homer off the Cardinals’ Michael Wacha in Game 5 of the NLCS to send the Giants to the World Series for the third time in five years.
Oct. 26, 2014
In danger of returning to Kansas City down 3-2 in the World Series, Madison Bumgarner gave the Giants the advantage with a four-hit shutout. Three days later he recorded a five-inning save in Game 7, capping the most dominant pitching run in Series history.
Sept. 29, 2019
After 13 seasons and three World Series titles, Bruce Bochy’s final game with the Giants was a 9-0 loss to the Dodgers on the final day of the regular season.
June 25, 2021
Before a crowd of 36,928, the Giants beat the A’s 2-0 in the opening game of the most anticipated Bay Bridge Series since the 1989 World Series. It was the Bay Area’s first major sporting event since California’s COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.
Oct. 3, 2021
The Giants clinched the NL West for the first time since 2012 with their franchise-best 107th win on the final day of the season by blowing out the Padres. Logan Webb earned the win and his first career home run, the last regular-season home run by a pitcher since the universal DH arrived the following season.
Oct. 1, 2023
Brandon Crawford, a Bay Area native and the greatest shortstop in franchise history, makes his 1,654th and final appearance with the Giants.
July 8, 2024
Fans flood the ballpark on an off day for a celebration of life for Willie Mays. The Say Hey Kid died barely a month earlier at the age of 93.
Sept. 15, 2024
Heliot Ramos becomes the first right-handed hitter with a “Splash Hit” homer into McCovey Cove.
Staff writers Justice delos Santos, Laurence Miedema and Paul Rogers contributed to this report.
