SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants pitchers who helped build a dynasty in San Francisco covered a wide range when it came to preparing for their starts.
Ryan Vogelsong was famously intense, locking in mentally about 24 hours before he took the ball. It was not uncommon to see Vogelsong leaning against the clubhouse wall and stewing the day before a big start.
Tim Lincecum, on the other hand, would talk to anyone and everyone before taking the mound. Once, before a start at Yankee Stadium, Lincecum sat in the visiting dugout during batting practice and spent an hour discussing San Francisco real estate with reporters before running off to prepare for a tough lineup.
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Matt Cain was somewhere in the middle, although he certainly tried to keep it intense before most of his starts. There was a notable exception, though, and it came before the best game of his career.
Ten years ago, Cain got to the ballpark and learned that a tee had been set up at home plate for a Taylor Made demonstration since the U.S. Open was starting at the Olympic Club the next day. Golfer Dustin Johnson was at Oracle Park, and Cain couldn’t help himself. He had a game in four hours, but how often do you get a chance to try and drive a golf ball into McCovey Cove?
"I was nervous about trying to do it because it was not part of the routine at all," Cain told NBC Sports Bay Area recently. "It was one of those things where I was like, this is once in a lifetime. How am I not going to try and at least take a swing? I was just happy that I hit one good. I flushed it, a nice little draw."
Cain crushed his drive into the water, joining Johnson, who spent several minutes taking aim at the East Bay, and fellow pitcher Clay Hensley. Johnson had a major tournament starting the next day, but Cain was the one who was really under pressure. He was a few hours from starting a big league game, but the drive ended up becoming part of the story on one of the best days in Giants history.
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It almost didn't happen, though.
Two months earlier, Cain had signed a contract extension that guaranteed him $127.5 million. The Giants, who would go on to win the title, had a lot invested in him, and Cain knew that trying to bomb a golf ball into McCovey Cove without properly warming up was maybe a bit risky.
"He asked me if it was alright if he teed one up and I said, well there's our boss there," Bruce Bochy recalled, laughing.
Brian Sabean, then the general manager, was sitting in the seats near the dugout. As he taped a Giants Talk special that aired Sunday on NBC Sports Bay Area, Cain explained how he went and looked for Sabean.
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"I turned around and looked at Sabes in the stands, and I was kind of gesturing like, 'Hey, I want to do this.'" Cain said. "He didn't give me a no, but he didn't really give me a yes. I just kind of took it as, 'Alright, just don't hurt yourself.'"
It all worked out, of course. Cain pitched his perfect game that night and ended up throwing nearly 220 innings during the season. He started the All-Star Game and every one of the clinchers that postseason. It was a season that truly had it all, including MLB's first and only 300-yard drive before a perfect game.
"He crushed it, he absolutely crushed it, which he could do off the tee," Bochy said. "I guess we should have brought Dustin Johnson out for his next start, too."