For the first time since 2016, the San Francisco Giants are going to the postseason.
The Giants demolished the Padres last night 9-1, en route to their eighth straight victory. San Francisco is the first team in all of baseball to clinch a postseason berth, a feat not accomplished since 1987, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
“I’m really proud of this group,” said Buster Posey. “I think you know, at the start of Spring Training, to ourselves, we set out, obviously, to make the postseason. And we had another goal in mind which is still out there for the rest of the year. We know we’ve got our work cut out for us with the division, but I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished.”
Indeed, the Giants have their sights set on winning the division. But they’ll certainly take this for the time being.
“Going into Spring Training obviously the goal is to make the postseason, so you know, we hit that step and now the goal is to win the division,” said Brandon Crawford. “We’re celebrating because it is an accomplishment to get to the postseason. I think young guys who maybe haven’t been in this position before can kind of look to myself, Buster, and Belt, and just kind of see that relaxed, calm attitude that a lot of us bring and maybe it’ll help them.”
After four straight losing seasons, nobody expected much from the Giants in 2021, even after some savvy moves by president of baseball operations Farman Zaidi. All they did was bust out of the gates with the best record in all of baseball and dominate almost everyone in their path.
“I think there was a pretty strong belief that Farman and Scott and Kap, they have a really good track record of building good teams that know how to win and make the postseason,” said Evan Longoria. “The belief was there, but sometimes you’ve got to go out and prove it. I think early in the season, there were some question marks, maybe from within the clubhouse and from the outside, especially. But as we went out and performed, there was no doubt that this group was talented and we had as good a chance as anybody.”
It certainly took a while for people to know whether or not the Giants were legitimate, but San Francisco has proven they’re just that, and then some.
The magic number to clinch the division sits at 16. The Giants will continue their four-game set with the Padres tonight, before the Braves come into town.
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