SAN FRANCISCO -- When Joc Pederson signed a one-year deal with the Giants in March, there was an important question to answer: Would the pearls be joining him?
Pederson famously wore a pearl necklace as the Atlanta Braves took off late in the year and stormed to a surprising World Series title, but he had not worn them in orange and black -- until Monday when the Giants played the Braves for the first time this season. Pederson had the white pearl necklace on before the game and wore it as he received his World Series ring in a pregame ceremony.
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"This is the first day that I'm wearing them since that run," Pederson told reporters at Truist Park. "It just felt right to wear them and I think it goes with the whole story of why I started wearing them, is it just felt right and I wanted to wear them and Atlanta embraced them and took it to another level. I didn't really want to wear them again until we were here."
Pederson was traded from the Chicago Cubs to the Braves last July and was instrumental in their run to the title. He hit seven homers after the trade and then three more in the postseason, and he was a key behind-the-scenes figure as the Braves coalesced at the right time.
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The title was the second in two years for Pederson, who won with the Dodgers the previous year and now is the leading hitter for a Giants team that enters this series three games out of first place. He leads the Giants with 14 homers.
San Francisco Giants
The Giants and Braves currently are two of the three Wild Card teams in the NL, but before what should be a good series, Braves fans took a moment to honor an opponent. Pederson was given his ring and proudly flashed it, the pearls hanging from his neck. It was not the same necklace he wore in October, though. Pederson said that one has been sent to the Hall of Fame and his jeweler made him another set.