It’s the 6th anniversary of Matt Cain’s perfect game and given its prominence in Giants franchise history, it feels like something that should be celebrated every day. The Warriors celebrate a championship, and then the next day we celebrate Matt Cain’s perfect day. Feels right to me.
It’s not nostalgia, either. The Giants have had only one perfect game in the entire history of the franchise. It’s a celebration.
You probably have your own special memory from the game, but if you don’t or just want to relive some other aspects of it (but don’t have time to rewatch the game, which you can do here, by the way), definitely reread Grant’s 50 Awesome Things About Matt Cain’s Perfect Game post.
A quick review of the box score stirs up strong reactions. The Astros were in year 2 of tanksgiving. Jose Altuve was in is second season. J.D. Martinez had yet to be released and remade into an elite hitter by the Tigers and Jed Lowrie had yet to leave for Oakland only to return to Houston before going back to the A’s again.
Most of their starting lineup doesn’t play in the majors anymore. Starting pitcher J.A. Happ left and managed to find some success and is now at the tale end of his career.
A lot of the Giants from 2012 are still kicking around, which goes to show how much the team’s run of success was built on the quality of young players they were able to develop in the post-Bonds years. We know what Buster Posey, Brandon Belt, Pablo Sandoval, and Gregor Blanco are up to these days, but I wonder what Matt Cain’s life is like right now.
I’d like to think that Matt Cain has fully shifted into dad mode and goes around town or his own house doing something like this:
But why use my imagination about off the field shenanigans when I can just use my eyes to watch this cool angle of the final out?