San Francisco Giants: Success Comes From Good Team Chemistry
Keeping up with the Holiday’s we are going to do a San Francisco Giants themed “Twelve Days of Christmas.” This series will include everything from wishes, to reflections, historical remembrances. Enjoy!
“Play for each other not yourself, win each moment, win each inning, it’s all we have left.” These are the words of Hunter Pence moments before game three of the 2012 NLDS between the San Francisco Giants, and the Cincinnati Reds. Attempting to avoid elimination, Pence decided to give a pregame speech to pumped up his teammates. As we all know, the Giants prevailed and won their second championship in three years.
It takes a little bit of luck to win championships. Clutch hitting, dominate pitching, lucky breaks but, most importantly believing in each other. What Hunter Pence said in that speech really defined just what type of organization the Giants are. This an unselfish team. Doesn’t matter if you are a rookie or a superstar, you are this team for a reason, which is to win.
A great example of this can be found in Matt Duffy‘s “The New Kid” from The Players’ Tribune. He explains when he entered the San Francisco clubhouse for the first time and meeting Hunter Pence, “I was 23 and just up from Double-A. Nobody had ever heard of me. But Hunter Pence had just come up to me and said, “We need you” — and the “we” was the San Francisco Giants. That seemed crazy to me.”
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Having the same amount of confidence in a rookie as a veteran builds the team chemistry. With confidence in one another it can create unlikely heroes who want to win for each other. The Giants have had a fair share of unlikely heroes in all their recent postseason runs. From Cody Ross and Marco Scutaro to Travis Ishikawa and Connor Gillaspie. These players are not all-stars but, they all bought in to the Giants’ way “25 guys one common goal: win today.”
What does it mean to be A San Francisco Giant? The San Francisco Giants are a team that believes in each other no matter who the player is. Whether it be veterans like Madison Bumgarner and Buster Posey or players like Connor Gillaspie and Ty Blach, These players know when they get their chance to play their teammates are behind them rooting them on.
On the 10th day of Christmas, the Giants gave to me a team to be proud of because whether times are good or bad, they will always believe in each other.
Stay tuned with Around the Foghorn as we keep you updated on all the Giants rumblings this offseason!
