It’s the 2-year anniversary of the first time Kelby Tomlinson started in left field.

It’s important to remember history not just because there’s a chance that in forgetting it we’ll repeat it but because we celebrating the good times can remind us during the bad times that this is all just temporary.

All that said, I’m not sure where Kelby Tomlinson, starting Left Fielder, falls on the good-bad scale for each and every one of you, but it’s important to remember occasions like this in Giants history because 1) he’s still on the team 2) it’s the internet era, and we have a better chance of remembering little moments like this far longer than in previous eras (this will come up as a search result when you google “Kelby Tomlinson outfielder”) 3) it reminds us that Bruce Bochy can get super slutty when it comes to playing guys out of position and 4) we have a mental bookmark this season for when/if Tomlinson makes a key play in left field that gets the Giants into the playoffs in 2018.

This was a home game against the Cubs that saw Matt Cain get his first major league win in over a year and it was the first time since middle school that Kelby Tomlinson played the outfield. This first appearance was a good one for him, because it led to subsequent headlines like these (in addition to 11 more appearances in left):

Kelby Tomlinson’s play in left field helps Giants sweep Padres

Kelby Tomlinson is going to try center field in the minors

My feeling is that the Giants tried really hard to make The Kelbster into a super utility player solely because of his glasses. Glasses scream utility and I can believe that the Giants’ coaches internalized this image until they had dreams and, finally, conscious thoughts that demanded to be addressed.

Once again, Major League Baseball does not have sufficient technology to allow me to embed a highlight, so, you’ll just have to click the link to watch Kelby make a sliding catch in the first inning of this game.

Here’s the main play from that day:

History.

UPDATE: As dedicated Giants historian DrunkSeawolf points out in the comments below, the anniversary of this move sets up the anniversary of Kelby Tomlinson throwing out Yangervis Solarte at home plate on a 98 mph throw from left field.

If you don’t remember this (I did not remember this), here is your visual reminder:

Thank you, DrunkSeawolf.