PROGRAMMING NOTE: NBC Sports Bay Area is looking back at the Giants' 60 Memorable Moments since the franchise moved from New York to San Francisco. Tune into SportsNet Central at 6pm to see the next two moments you can vote on! Then, after the Giants and Brewers conclude on Saturday, tune into Postgame Live to see which moment will move on.
1. Matt Cain's Perfect Game in 2012 (Eight-time winner -- Defeated Jonathan Sanchez's no-hitter against the Padres in 2009)
(From Matt Cain - Giants Pitcher from 2005 to 2017)
The Perfect Game was one of the most memorable nights of my playing career.
I had always dreamed of throwing a no-hitter. I had come so close so many times throughout my career and in my younger years, but never had one.
The ballpark was so electric that night. We had the TaylorMade guys out hitting golf balls. Dustin Johnson hitting monster drives into McCovey Cove, and I snuck one good swing in there as well.
Pretty surreal day. I still think back to all the plays and pitches during that game. To have every single player on the same wave length and all realizing what was unfolding is truly something special. Everyone likes to say I pitched a perfect game and I get the credit for it but I'm in debt to everyone of the guys who made a play behind me , one that still doesn't make sense in right center field, and I owe the most to the guy who called 125 perfect pitches behind the plate.
Sports
Thanks to all the fans that have come up to me and shared there story about that night. So fun to hear them all!!
VS.
2. Tim Lincecum's second no-hitter against the Padres
(From Alex Pavlovic)
If you would tell a baseball fan that Tim Lincecum is the only pitcher in San Francisco Giants history to throw two no-hitters, they probably wouldn't be surprised. The timing of the two certainly was shocking, though.
Lincecum did not make history in the midst of his two Cy Young Award runs. He did it as his Giants career was flying off the rails, giving fans two more memorable moments in a career filled with them. The second no-hitter, on June 25, 2014, came in front of the home fans. Lincecum struck out six and walked one while no-hitting the Padres for a second consecutive season. After throwing 148 pitches to complete a no-hitter in 2013, he needed just 113 for his second one. Just for good measure, Lincecum -- a light hitter -- added a pair of hits.
"It was the Tim Lincecum show," manager Bruce Bochy said afterward. "He had such great focus. He really was an artist out there. It's hard enough to do one (no-hitter). To do two, that puts you in a different class."
The no-hitter came at a time when Lincecum was just about finishing up his run as a pillar of the rotation. He had down years in 2012 and 2013, and a couple of months after the 2014 no-hitter, he was pitching out of the bullpen. Lincecum made just one appearance that postseason and the next season would be his final one as a Giant.
He always had a feel for the moment, though, and as Bochy said, he put himself in a different class by pulling brilliance from out of thin air in the middle of the 2014 season. Lincecum joined Christy Mathewson as the only players in franchise history with multiple no-hitters. Mathewson did it in 1901 and 1905, long before the franchise moved.
Lincecum also joined Sandy Koufax in becoming the only pitchers in MLB history with two World Series rings, two Cy Young awards and two no-hitters. He won his third ring a few months later.
VOTE HERE:
Which @SFGiants 60th Anniversary moment was more memorable?
The winning moment will move on to the next matchup.— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) July 27, 2018
