The Perfecto: A first-hand account of Matt Cain's perfect game from the stands at AT&T Park

By Dallas McMurry
Edited by Joey McMurry of The Flury

Wednesday night I had the opportunity to go see my favorite team play for the only time all year long. I was pretty happy to go to the game seeing as how I wouldn’t be able to make any trips to AT&T all year long due to school in San Diego. I figured the day would go as most Giants games I attend: I’d go there, root hard, and watch my team play a game against the Astros, nothing too special, as the Astros have no real star power. The most exciting thing for me going into the game was “hey, I’ve never seen Matt Cain pitch in person, so I’m excited to see him, and the Giants better not bench Posey tonight.” Strange I had never seen Matt Cain pitch, I’ve seen Livan Hernadez, Russ Ortiz, Jason Schmidt, Lincecum, Zito, Bumgarner, Todd Wellemeyer, and Jonathan Sanchez, over my travels to San Francisco, but never Matt Cain.  Cain was always my favorite Giant pitcher since he was called up Yes, Lincecum was “the Freak”, but Cain came up in a year where the giants really needed to find a new pitcher, and his personality was one that makes you think he’s just a normal guy who just wants to win games.

            However, my thought process for this game was that it’d be one of those close games where the Giants can’t hit a lick, and Matt Cain had to do everything for the team. I love my Giants but I think you can’t be a real Giant fan unless you’re a skeptic, good stuff isn’t supposed to happen to us. Maybe that’s all changed since 2010, but I doubted I’d ever be able to shake my doubts.

            Anyway, as I arrived to the game my first mission was to buy a new Giants hat at the Dugout store. The last time I bought a hat there was 2010, and the Giants won the world series that year, so being a superstitious baseball geek I figured I needed to do this again in order to give the Giants any kind of chance this year. I got my hat, a Posey shirt to replace the Wilson tee I was currently wearing  and made my way to my seats. I got to my seats where I watched the Astros take BP and went to grab some food before the first pitch.

            Game time, it was 7:15  and Matt Cain throws a first pitch strike to start the game (his first of 19 on the night). Cain pitches a great inning and gets out of it 1-2-3 with two K’s and the Giants are due up. Since Cain was pitching tonight I just figured Giants would do something dumb, start game with 2 guys on and hit into a double play or something like that. However, I was gladly wrong. The game becomes  the most fun Giants game I’ve ever been to once Cabrera steps up to the plate. I can hear this guy next to me yelling to his friend “dude you’ve got to check this out there is a guy in the cove on a JETPACK! It’s crazy!” The guy replies, “whatever man, hold on I wanna see Melky hit.” I’m thinking, “nice this guy’s a true fan next to me. There is a dude in the cove on a jetpack and he doesn’t even care.” Neither did I, however I wanted Cabrera do something. First pitch and boom, two run homerun. I’m thinking “sweet! That’s the ball game we’ve got Cain a two run lead already , this is over,” then I take a quick glance to the Cove, and sure enough there is jetpack dude, just flying in the bay, no big deal.  Two more outs and inning over, Cain gets ready to take the mound.

            Inning two  starts and again Cain goes 1-2-3 with a K. At this point Cain already looks dialed in, he’s hitting every single spot and gets the Giants back to the plate. For the second straight game Belt goes yard and the Giants get a total of three runs in the bottom of the second , I text some friends, “This is the most UnMatt Cain game ever, 5-0 in the third?” Again Cain goes 1-2-3  with two more K’s,  and I’m pretty into the game at this point; the Giants are hitting, Cain is dealing - looks like it’ll be a blowout. Jokingly I think only a no hitter is going to keep all these fans here tonight. Who knew?

So once Cain takes the mound in the fourth I get the first real thought of a perfect game,  I wondered if Cain had given a hit up yet and then look to the scoreboard see a 0 in the Astros hit column and think, “cool I can root for a perfect game now,” still Jokingly, but now it’s at least on my mind, but it wasn’t until the fifth inning until I had concern about the perfecto.

In the bottom of the fifth Cain hits a single between shortstop and third base and I’m thinking, “oh great Cain is going to have to run the bases now and get tired, we need to get him off soon.” Sure enough next batter is Blanco, and he drives it for a home run, getting Cain off base and letting him rest. It’s now a full-on blowout 10-0 after the fifth with Cain in complete control.

As the sixth inning starts I’m thinking “I may actually be witnessing the best pitching performance in Giants history tonight.” And not just me, but everyone else at the park knew that Cain had a shot at this perfecto as well; every out was electric after the fifth inning. Then in the sixth I thought it was all over. Snyder hit a ball off Cain that looked like a no-doubt home run, but Melky just kept running I was thinking “ here it is, he’s going to  rob the homer for that one play every no-hitter needs.” But the ball just somehow died, and fell right at the warning track for a rather routine fly ball. 42,000 people let out a big sigh of relief, then one giant cheer. After that I looked at my dad and we both knew the situation, but neither of us said a word, just “Cain’s pitching pretty good, 11 K’s already” trying to follow the golden rule of no-hitters by not jinxing it.

            From the seventh inning on the entire crowd was filled with energy on every pitch, by far the loudest I’ve ever heard at a baseball game. The seventh inning is where just about anyone will be able to tell you they knew Cain was going to get the perfect game and it came right after the amazing catch by Blanco. I don’t think I’ve ever been so into a game  like this. As soon as that ball was hit  I’m yelling “crap there it is, it’s over…wait Blanco is still running like he’s going to catch it,  no way he’s actually going to get there.” He then makes the greatest catch I’ve ever seen in person and the crowd just goes nuts. 

I’m talking you would have thought we just won the world series again. Everyone is jumping up and down, high fiving people who they don’t even know. After that play it felt like it was destined. That was it, the one play that needs to happen to make a perfect game. Was it by sheer luck that the Giants had just changed their outfield to shift left? Nope, it was the baseball gods repaying Matt Cain. That had to be the only explanation, here I am in San Francisco watching what could be the greatest pitching performance in the history of baseball, I couldn’t think of anything else. As the seventh inning ended I’m  just hoping the Giants at bats go quickly, I just want to see Cain back on the mound.

At this point I’m doing anything I can to not jinx the game and I mean anything. It was so cold outside but I hadn’t had my sweatshirt on all night, so I couldn’t put it on, my belt felt so awkward and needed to be fixed, but it had been that way all night so why change it now? I couldn’t do anything to mess with the karma of the game. That’s what makes these situations so great, the suspense of every single pitch. Cain knows he has the perfect game. You can tell he’s trying to stay calm but you can see his nerves as he skips one to the plate as it hits the backstop for a ball. Still Cain strikes out one more batter in the eighth and ends the inning, still perfect.

I can’t sit down at this point I’m too excited, it seems another 40,000+ felt the same way as then everyone stood and waited for the giants to get to the top of the ninth, thankfully the Giants went 1-2-3 and Cain walked out to the mound. I look at my dad and we just say “this is it, Giants can get a win here, Cain’s at 14K’s this game, pretty impressive.”  Not a single word about the perfecto, no way is this going to be my fault for talking about it. All game I’ve told myself he can do it, but he won’t, it can’t happen because I’m at the game, this is still the Giants, I’m trying to make myself not believe its going to happen. But I couldn’t help it when Cain takes the mound and the entire place erupts. I can’t help but yell as loud as I can either, taking in the moment. “Screw it this IS going to happen it’s MATT CAIN.” First batter and a fly ball to Melky that’s just foul but caught.

Out number one.

Everyone is as loud as they possibly could be as Cain takes on batter number two, it’s Snyder again and he already had a nicely hit ball that Cabrera caught at the wall so I’m pretty nervous. Snyder ends up getting out in front and under a ball and hits a fly ball to Melky again.

Out number two.

At this point I’ve never been more excited. Not the 2010 world series win even, maybe it was the fact I was at the ballpark, one of 42,000 in the entire world, and history of the Giants to ever witness this game. That’s when Castro came to the plate as a pinch  hitter. Great, this Stanford alum is going to ruin everything, he probably has family at the game, he has every reason in the world to want to stop this perfect game. Cain was at 124 pitches with a 1-2 count he steps off the mound and takes a look around the park, soaking in the moment and the crowd somehow gets even louder as Cain gets back to the mound and then throws pitch 125. It’s a well hit ball to Arias, the kind that you can just beat out for a hit, but Arias fields it perfectly as everyone holds their breath and then fires a bullet to Belt at first, beating Castro to the bag by at least two steps.

Out number three. Out number twenty-seven.

That was it, I just witnessed the greatest pitching performance in Giants history, I must have been yelling for a good 10 minutes non-stop. I couldn’t believe it. I high fived my dad a couple of times  as we couldn’t hold in the emotions, it was crazy every single fan was jumping up and down as if we had just hit a walk-off homerun in Game 7 of the world series. 128 years and no Giant has ever done it and I was there to witness it. It was no doubt the greatest game of my life, and something that I’ll be able to talk about for years. As the crowd started to calm Amy G  began to interview  Cain, after just being mobbed by the whole team he went on to talk about the best game of his life. As they interviewed him I was starting to think, it had to be Matt Cain.  It had to be him to accomplish this feat.  I don’t think there is a guy who deserves it more than him.  The only way to describe Matt Cain is that he is Matt Cain. That’s it there’s no one like him. A great personality and a better pitcher, and there will only ever be one Matt Cain. 

LeBron James: The Monster We Made

Everyone who has any type of connection to the sports world can debate about LeBron James til the day they die (fingers crossed Skip Bayless is the first). First we loved him, then we hated him and now we really don't know what to make of him. But one thing is for sure, he is the most polarizing athlete in sports right now and possibly for this generation. Not only is he the most talented basketball player we have probably ever seen, but he is also a giant enigma. How can a guy single handedly carry a team to the finals one year, then completely disappear as the favorite to win it all in another year? It's fascinating because he has proven time and time again that he can dominate whenever he wants to, but than why doesn't he always want to? We can guess, maybe it's the pressure of being the next Jordan, maybe he cares about playing with his friends more than winning, or maybe he just enjoys getting Stephen A. and Skip Bayless riled up. Regardless of the reasons why we watch him, we all do, we all get sucked into his game, his off the court issues, his immaturity and then the possibility of him growing up. And you know what? It's our fault. We created this sports media monster, we are the ones who drove him to proclaim himself the King, heck we are the ones who drove him to Miami. 

Think about it, how old was LeBron James when he graced the cover of "Sports Illustrated" for the first time? 17 years old. Not only was he on the cover but he was emphatically proclaimed "The Chosen One". Think about what that kind of fame would do to a 17 year old Junior in High School. At 17 my biggest worry was passing my AP Tests, LeBron was trying to deal with being the successor to the greatest basketball player to ever play the game. Did he embrace it? Sure. Did he make sure all his friends and family got a copy? Most likely. But what would you expect from a kid who was just told he was God's gift to basketball? 

So LeBron comes into the NBA with the weight of the world on his shoulders and now the even higher expectations of saving the entire ensemble of Cleveland sports, and he just kills it, living up to everyone's expectations. Winning ROY and becoming only the third rookie in NBA History to average at least 20 points 5 rebounds and 5 assists. It was clear right away that LeBron was no bust, so we all got behind him and bought into the hype. We cheered and rooted for him as he rose from a potential star to a super star. His lust for entertaining was continually encouraged by us the fans, ESPN and most of all Nike. Does that mean LeBron handled everything properly? Absolutely not, but you have to have some perspective on his situation before ripping the guy. Picture a screaming child in the store wanting a candy bar, if that child's parent gives in and gives their kid that candy, the kid learns that they can get whatever they want by yelling and screaming, it's called positive 
                                         reinforcement. In a sense, isn't that exactly what we did to James? 

I am by no means giving him a free pass, at some point you have to take ownership of who you are and the actions you take. But after first thinking "Man, that kid is a brat" isn't your next thought "That parent is going to create a monster who will struggle in life"? Now imagine that kid in highschool, mom and dad suddenly don't know how to deal with the tyrant they have created and soon resent their kid. The kid becomes defiant, because all of a sudden his actions that have always been encouraged, are no longer tolerated. So he puts up a wall, he pushes his family away and he does things his way. 

Now we look at LeBron, who we have constantly adored, and fed his incessant ego over and over. He decides that he no longer wants to live in Cleveland, and let's be honest, we can't really blame him for that. But what we really hate about the whole thing is how he did it. He put his decision on national TV in a one hour long ESPN special and we just rip him for it. But think about it, haven't we always asked that of him? Haven't we jacked up TV ratings for every game he plays, bought his shoes, made his jersey number one in sales, mimicked his powder toss and begged him to entertain us night in and night out? LeBron was only doing what we have encouraged him to do throughout his whole career. 

Another thing we hate about LeBron is that he teamed up with a fellow superstar, something that Magic, Jordan or Bird would never do, it's the thing that bothers me most about all of this because he decided to defer. But again, at age 17 we dubbed him "The Chosen One" the heir to Jordan's throne, but to do that he needed to win championships (plural). I believe he could have won in Cleveland, but on paper winning with D-Wade looks a whole lot more plausible than winning with Anderson Varejao, and all we kept driving into him was "He needs to win now, he needs to win now, he'll never be Jordan without multiple rings." So what did he do? He made, in my mind, a panic move because we drove him to that point. Wherever he went, he would be tied down for at least 6 years and he bought into the need to win now. The argument to win on your own was never even a question so why would he think of it as a negative, he had been the man his whole life and why would joining Wade's team change that in his mind? The most important thing in his mind, and in ours was that LeBron simply needed to win and win a lot. 

Again, this is looking at this from LeBron's perspective but would teaming up with Wade and Bosh still be a big deal if they won? Magic had Kareem, Kobe had Shaq, Jordan had Pippen, Boston had the Big 3 and nobody questioned the greatness of any of those players so what would make LeBron think that his legacy would be tarnished by going to Miami? But then of course we hated that a championship level parade was thrown for his and Bosh's arrival. Which of course we would never support, and always judge any athlete who would ever be a part of something like that. Unless I'm forgetting something..... oh ya, Miami did this in 2004 with Shaq and from what I remember, we all "dug it". Everybody was behind Shaq in Miami, mainly because everybody hated Kobe at that time. So it's not like LeBron was doing anything that other stars hadn't done before, at that point, we just wanted to find any ammunition we could to use against him. Don't get me wrong, I still believe he deserves a lot of the criticism he has received because he never handled these tough situations with the right perspective, but more importantly is, neither did we. 

We have to acknowledge that the things we hate the most about LeBron are the things we drove him to become. It doesn't excuse him from his actions because at the end of the day you have to take responsibility for yourself. LeBron's biggest mistake is that he allows us to manipulate him, he's cared too much of our view and love for him, but what we have forgotten is that everyone makes mistakes. It's much like the penal system, many of the criminals that are incarcerated have had disturbing pasts that drove them to the people that they have become. Do we let them off for those reasons? No, they still do their time, but there is often opportunity for retribution. I believe LeBron has done his time for his mistakes. I personally will never cheer for him, I will never support him, and I will always try to dunk on him in NBA 2K12. But I will give him the opportunity to earn my respect, he deserves that. If Kobe was able to change our perspective on him and his career, LeBron can do the same. He's done a great job so far this post season but, to me, it's all for nothing unless he finishes the job and wins his first ring. You have two weeks LeBron, it's your time.


- Adam Baldwin

On a San Francisco High

The first week of June has been outstanding for the San Francisco Giants. They have won six of their last seven games, and becoming the first team in the National League to have two, seven win pitchers, Madison Bumgarner and Matt Cain.

The Giants are now one of the top five pitching staffs within the National League thanks to everyone on the mound except 2x Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, who has the second worst record in the NL (2-6) and the second highest ERA in the NL (5.83). Lincecum went 0-4 for the month of May and received a no decision in his last start against the San Diego Padres.

Thankfully the other four starters top the National League in almost every category. Ryan Vogelsong is tied for fifth in the NL with a career low 2.38 ERA, and ranks in the top 30 in most pitching categories. Barry Zito has finally started to perform this year with an ERA under 3, and 5 wins, giving him his highest winning percentage since 2002. Madison Bumgarner also ranks within the top 30 for every category in the national league with a 3.26 ERA (26th), 1.15 WHIP (22nd), 62 SO (25th) and 7 wins (tied for 5th). They alone would be a great pitching staff, but there is one more that stands above the rest in “The City.”

Matt Cain has proved his dominance and has become one of the top five pitchers within the National league this year. Cain leads the National League with a 0.94 WHIP, he ranks third with 82 SO, and his worst statistic is his 2.41 ERA, which is seventh in the league.

The Giants would be leading the majors with a 2.76 ERA and possibly lead the NL West if they did not have Lincecum in the line up. Lincecum had a 13-14 record last year mainly because of no run support, but despite his record he finished the season with an ERA below 2.75 and 200 plus strikeouts. There is no word on Lincecum’s future with the Giants. His contract ends in 2013 and if he cannot get it together he will have to accept much less than the 40 million dollars he will receive for this year and the next or go to the open market and test the waters of free agency.

Lincecum has reached a career high seven straight games without a win. After the Padres game on 6/5 he said, “As a starter, you've got to put your team in a position to win, I haven't been doing that up until now. That's got to be my focus point with however many months we have left. That's what everybody's goal is when they show up: Put any issue aside and win. That's what we're here for.” He did not go into what is bothering him off the field, maybe Lincecum is focusing too much on the numbers and not seeing the big picture, which he stated, is winning games.

If Timmy can turn it around, and the rest of the team continues to perform as they have been, than this pitching staff can arguably be one of the best staffs in Giants history.


- Taylor Corzine

May Recap: San Francisco Giants

May was a busy month for the San Francisco Giants, playing 29 out of the 31 days. The Giants entered May 12-11 and exited the month 27-24 gradually climbing the ladder of the National League West with surprising line driving hitter Gregor Blanco, and the astonishing “Melk Man.” The Giants have shown in the past month they are a contender in the National League and a possible team for the newly added fifth playoff spot this year.

The Good:

The Giants entered May with a great lose when Pablo Sandoval their power hitting third baseman went on the DL with a broken wrist. Sandoval who lead the team in offense left a huge void. Luckily Melky Cabrera who was acquired from the Kansas City Royals in the off-season displayed why he is now a vital key to San Francisco’s offense on and off the field. Melky, also known as the “Melk Man”, led the entire league in batting average and hits for the month of May. Cabrera ended the month with 51 hits, the most ever by a Giants player, beating Willie Mays’ record of 49 set in 1958. The “Melk Man” will continue to hit third, while Pablo will be in the five spot with his return in June. 


The Bad:

“The City”, despite having the best hitter in the show, has had trouble at the plate during the month of May. The Giants are in the bottom five teams of walks, and lead the league for swinging at the first pitch. For whatever reason, these basic fundamental tools have been lacking from the Giants offense. In spite of that they have been able to still get on base through out the month helping them stay just above .500 being 15-14 for the month.

The Ugly:

Tim Lincecum is a 4x All Star, 2x NL Cy Young Award Winner, and World Series Champion Pitcher, but during the month of May he was 0-4 with a disgraceful 5.88 ERA. For some reason his velocity has dropped substantially, along with his control and stamina, pitching on average only less than six innings. As the month ended he started pitching better and lost games due to errors late in the game, not himself. But by no means is the "freak" San Francisco is used to seeing game in and game out.

What Comes Next:

The month of June looks great for the San Francisco Giants. They will be playing in California for the next 19 of 22 games and have the capability to win 20 of the games they will play in June. The Giants ended May only 4 games behind the Dodgers and have the potential to lead the NL West with Matt Kemp returning to the DL again. For the Giants to continue winning they need to have consistency within the lineup. Bruce Bochy continually switched up players in different positions through out May, but it did not work well in the end. Buster Posey is best at catcher, along with Hector Sanchez playing behind him, and Brandon Belt is the most dependable first baseman, even though he cannot hit the long ball like Brett Pill. If the players can become comfortable in their position, and get consistent playing time, it will create a better atmosphere within the clubhouse and on the field. If the management remains stanch on the lineup and the Bullpen can close at home, the Giants will be more than just a .500 team, but a top competitor regardless of the problems they face. 


- Taylor Corzine

May Recap: Oakland Athletics

The month of May was a rollercoaster for the Oakland A’s. They started the month with a series win against Boston, which lead them back to .500. The A’s would continue to rally against teams like Tampa Bay and Detroit to stay positive, but with major injuries and a weak offense the team would finish may 11-16, and 22-29 overall.

The Good:

Even though the month of May was hard for the A’s, the clubhouse learned valuable information that hopefully will help them through out the rest of the season. The first major surprise in May was Brandon Inge. Inge was traded to the A’s April 30^th from Detroit with no expectations, or so we all thought. Inge hit four home runs, had 17 RBI’s, and two grand slams all within his first 10 games. Brandon became the first player to have four, four+ RBI games in a five game span since Lou Gehrig in 1931. Inge credits his success to being happy with his transition to Oakland where he gets to start and plays through the entire game.

Another trade the A’s made was for Josh Reddick in the offseason from the Boston Red Sox. Reddick’s trade was overshadowed by the A’s signing of rookie superstar Yoenis Cespedes. Cespedes shined in the month of April, but hurt his hand and was out for almost the entire month of May. Once Cespedes went to the DL, Reddick saw the opportunity to rise up and become the leader Oakland needed. During the month of May Reddick hit 10 HR’s, and 18 RBI’s leading the team in all offensive categories.

The Bad:

There are certain things you cannot control in the game of baseball, the most treacherous one being injuries. During May, Yoenis Cespedes was on the DL with a hurt hand, and Brandon Inge after the greatest ten games of his life went on the DL because of groin pain. This hurt the A’s substantially on and off the field. With two of the best players on the team hurt, Reddick stepped up, but couldn’t do it all by himself. These injuries lead the A’s to a season high of eight straight losses to end the month of May.

The Ugly:

The most heartbreaking aspect for Oaktown during the month of May is their batting statistics. They are dead last in batting average and slugging percentage, along with being second to last for runs and on base percentage for the majors. Along with being the worst offensive team behind the plate, they are also the worst team in the American League West. Half way into May they were only four games behind the red-hot Texas Rangers, but with eight straight losses and a sweep by the Minnesota Twins to end May, the month of May got really ugly really quick for the A’s.

What comes next:

The A’s are better than what we have seen during the last two weeks of May. I believe in the month of June the A’s will pick things up and start moving back to being a .500 team with a few modifications. Now that Brandon Inge is back along with Yeonis Cespedes the team will pick up some much needed offense to help Oakland bring in runs through out all nine innings. There also needs to be some consistency within the bullpen. They do not have a solid closer. The A’s need a man they can look to in the ninth, who is reliable game after game, and ensure wins. Balfour was unstoppable in April, but unpredictable during May; hopefully he can take the pitching staff in Oakland from good to great. The last thing the A’s need to figure out is how to win at home. Out of the 12 games played at home, Oakland only won four games. If the city of Oakland can rally together despite all the controversy over where the franchise will be playing in the next few years and support their “Swinging A’s”, I believe that will be more helpful than anything. The A’s are at the bottom and have nowhere else to go but up which they will if they can make these crucial changes.


- Taylor Corzine