Pitcher Sergio Romo (40), who won the World Series three times with the San Francisco Giants, bid a beautiful farewell to the place where he dedicated his youth.
On the 28th (hereinafter Korean time), Romo pitched in relief in the 7th inning of the final exhibition game against the Oakland Athletics held at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California, USA. The crowd cheered as Romo emerged from the outfield bullpen.
This day was Romo’s announced retirement match. Romo, who was a free agent, signed a minor league contract with San Francisco on the 19th. Nine days later, he played his last game as a player, in front of his San Francisco players and fans.
Romo, who got a last chance to say goodbye amidst the consideration of the San Francisco club, gave up a walk to lead batter Conor Capel and committed a wild pitch. He conceded a run after a timely left-handed hit by Carlos Perez on the 1st and 3rd bases, which was followed by a left-handed hit by Ryan Noda.
He didn’t catch a single out count, but winning or losing didn’t matter. For Romo’s end, former outfielder Hunter Pence, who had been with San Francisco in his heyday, took the pitching coach’s place on the mound. Seeing Hunter’s appearance, Romo smiled.
Pence waved both arms at the crowd, eliciting applause. After sharing a hug with Pence, Romo took off the mound to a standing ovation from the players and spectators and responded by taking off his hat. He hugged fellow players, including San Francisco coach Gabe Kapler, in the dugout, then came out in front of the dugout again and thanked the crowd with a curtain call.
According to ‘MLB.com’, Romo said, “Thank you for everything. He was deeply moved. Many people say I deserve this treatment. It’s amazing. It was truly for me, and it was very suitable as the end of a fairytale-like career,” he said. “I poured everything I had at every moment throughout my career. Regardless of the result, I never bowed my head because I did my best every time.” 먹튀검증
“Romo deserves the honor of walking this field as a Giants player,” Kapler said. He has made a tremendous contribution to the history of this franchise.” In the 2005 draft, Romo, who was nominated in the lower order with the 852nd overall pick in the 28th round, played nine years in San Francisco from his debut in 2008 until 2016, sharing meaningful moments.
During this period, he had a career high of 515 games (439⅔ innings) with 32 wins, 26 losses, 84 saves, an average ERA of 2.58 and 498 strikeouts. He was also a member of the winning World Series in 2010, 2012 and 2014. In particular, in 2012, he decorated the winning moment by saving three consecutive games in the 2nd to 4th games of the World Series. In 2013, he recorded a personal record of 38 saves and was also named an All-Star for the only time in his career.
Since 2017, Romo, who has spent his ‘Journeyman’ life going back and forth between the Los Angeles Dodgers, Tampa Bay Rays, Miami Marlins, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays last year, finished at home in San Francisco, where he had his heyday. His career performance in 15 major league seasons was 42 wins, 36 losses, 137 saves, 204 holds, 3.21 earned run average and 789 strikeouts in 821 games (722⅔ innings).