One benefit of Joc Pederson signing with the Giants after spending a majority of his nine-year MLB career with the Los Angeles Dodgers is that his brother, Champ Pederson, no longer will have to pick a side in the rivalry.
The Pedersons grew up in the Bay Area as Giants fans, so they are relishing in Joc finally getting to play for his hometown team – especially Champ, whose inspirational journey after being born with Down syndrome has made him just as big a celebrity as his big leaguer brother.
In a spring training interview with NBC Sports Bay Area’s Laura Britt, Joc said Champ and his entire family are excited to see him play at home. Champ previously worked for the Warriors and made sure the Pederson household rooted for the Giants while he was growing up.
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“Obviously grew up a Giants fan when they won three [World Series] in five years,” Joc said of Champ. “Brought a lot of excitement around our younger ages about the Giants. He’s definitely a huge fan, and he’s going to be at a lot of games.”
And while Champ received an honorary World Series ring from the Dodgers in 2020, the Giants presented Joc’s brother with a surprise welcome gift in spring training this year: his own jersey and locker at Scottsdale Stadium.
Joc called the Giants' gesture “very thoughtful” and said it caught him by surprise.
“The first day you walk into a new team, a new locker room, it’s kind of like the first day of school,” Joc said. “You look around and see where your locker is. I saw 23 and Champ before I saw 23 and Pederson, so it kind of caught me by surprise. It was really cool.”
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Joc credited Abe Silvestri, the Giants' director of team travel and clubhouse operations, who got to know Champ when he was in charge of the visiting clubhouse and the Dodgers would play in San Francisco.
“Abe would take care of him there,” Joc said. “I did not put two and two together that the first day, he would have a locker and a jersey ready to go. I took a picture and sent it on a family group chat. He was super pumped, and he’ll probably wear it every game.”