SAN FRANCISCO -- When the Giants took the field for batting practice on Monday afternoon, Sergio Romo and one of his sons started out in left field, shagging fly balls and playing catch before walking over to the wall to sign autographs. Romo moved on to right field, where he spent about half an hour chatting with fans who were standing behind a rope on the warning track. He finished up in center field, and then kept hitting other parts of the ballpark once the game started.
Romo signed for fans behind the dugout, and when he headed out to the bullpen in the fourth inning, he spent much of the next hour signing for fans who were reaching over the wall with hats, balls and jerseys. But on this night, Romo's last in the big leagues, those autographs weren't the most meaningful ones.
Romo took the mound with a unique Giants hat, and after his final appearance, he revealed why it was so special. The bill was filled with signatures from young Giants fans who had asked Romo for autographs during his week ramping up at Scottsdale Stadium.
"I know I was only there for roughly a week, but I was trading autographs with kids," Romo explained. "They asked me, 'Hey, can you sign this?' I'm like, 'Well, can you sign mine first?' I figured if this was the last hat I was going to wear in the big leagues and be able to compete in, I figured it would be nice to not go in there alone."
Romo had 30,000 fans behind him while he faced three final batters, and players on both sides -- he played for the Athletics in 2021 -- joined the standing ovations. As he sat in the dugout after the game and digested it all, Romo thanked teammates and fans for their support throughout his 15-year career.
"Tonight was just another example of that type of support that I had," he said. "I was lucky to have that support and it never wavered. It never mattered which jersey I wore afterward running in here, it was almost like people were still pulling for me even though I was now playing against their team. I'm thankful for it all. I'm blown away. This is my end, this is my storybook ending."
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Romo had his jersey authenticated after he came out of the game and said he would cherish both items. The hat, which has nearly 50 signatures from Giants fans on it, is going up on his mantle.
"This is going to go up there as something that I will always remember," he said. "It's a treasure of mine now."
