SAN DIEGO — The GiantsFollowing Wednesday’s 8-1 victory, Petco Park saw a handshake line formed on the infield. After players had finished getting ready for winter, they were given hugs and handshakes in the clubhouse. Each season is a bonding experience. Team photos are like snowflakes. Even those players who will be able to move into a Scottsdale locker next spring know that they will not be back in the same group. Even if goals are not achieved, the physical breaking down of these bonds can lead to bittersweet reflection.
This group of players became the first team in Giants history to finish 81-81, which doesn’t qualify as an achievement unless you give them credit for this: no team in 97 years had gotten to .500 when they were eight games under with 16 to go. The Giants had quite the finishing kick while winning 12 of their last 16, and while there was plenty of dissent within the clubhouse this season, their effort in Wednesday’s finale — another clean bullpen game and a two-homer afternoon from rookie David Villar — did not indicate a team that had tumbled into dissension.
The Giants became the fifth major league team and the first since 2012 Phillies to not post a winning record for a full season after having won 100+ games. That’s not the kind of distinction they envisioned when the 99-day lockout ended in mid-March. The goal of reaching.500 by the end of the season was to make the best of an unfortunate situation.
Despite the shaky notes, Giants manager Gabe Kapler doesn’t take this coda as a given.
