The story behind the Giants’ new futuristic-looking helmets
The story behind the Giants’ new futuristic-looking helmets
MILWAUKEE - Fans watching the season opener Monday surely noticed the Giants are wearing a new style of helmet this year.
The Giants chose the new helmets because they look cool.
Rawlings, the Major League Baseball helmet supplier, traditionally had one style with a shiny paint.
Alan Lee, the Giants' major-league equipment manager, said he polled several players last year on which helmet to buy for 2016 and it was no contest.
The clubhouse staff made sure to ask the higher-ups before ordering the new helmets, what with the Giants' love for tradition, and got the go-ahead.
The players wore the old shiny helmets during spring training because the Giants had so many left in stock.
The staff also thought they would be fun to introduce on Opening Day.
On Monday afternoon, general manager Bobby Evans watched the Giants clobber the Brewers 12-3 in the season opener.
At night, sitting in his room at the Pfister Hotel, while FaceTiming his son, he watched North Carolina lose to Villanova in the NCAA Tournament finals on Kris Jenkins' buzzer-beating 3-pointer.
"The staff, we surrounded the Pfister lobby to catch Bobby if he jumped," manager Bruce Bochy said.
Evans was euphoric when Tar Heel Marcus Paige hit his off-balance three with 4.7 seconds left, seemingly for the title.
To win the ACC regular season, the ACC Tournament and have the NCAA final come down to one basket, wow.
Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
The Giants on Monday became the third team to hit three consecutive homers on Opening Day, joining the ‘48 Red Sox and ‘97 Padres.