The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

Antoan Richardson and the San Francisco Giants were excluded from the MLB 2020 playoffs following a heartbreaking loss in the regular season finale, but left nothing to chance this season as they became the first team to clinch a postseason berth for the 2021 postseason.

The Giants have been one of the surprising teams of 2021 and with a 9-1 win over the San Diego Padres on Monday night at Oracle Park, achieved the earliest postseason, by calendar date, in franchise history.

In a complete turnaround from last year’s 29-31 pandemic shortened season, San Francisco is now 95-50 to lead the National League West and was the first team this season to reach the 50, 60, 70, and 80 win plateau.

The win also gave them a three game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the division with 17 games remaining in the regular season. Eight of those 17 games will be against the Padres, third in the division at 74-70.

As a player, Richardson was drafted by the Giants in the 35th round of the 2005 MLB Draft. Following his retirement on the field, he rejoined the Giants in his role as an Outfield Coordinator in February 2019, when he was tasked with overseeing on-field development throughout the organisation.

Giants Manager Gabe Kapler brought Richardson on as a full time member of the staff as a first base coach for the 2020 season.

Kapler’s staff included Richardson, the first Bahamian MLB coach, and Alyssa Nakken, the first woman MLB coach. The Mercury News detailed how the success of the young staff and this Giants team may lead to new opportunities.

“At the time Kapler finalised his 13-person major league staff in early 2020, the Giants were criticised for having too many inexperienced coaches and too many coaches who didn’t possess major league playing experience,” Kerry Crowley said, “Over the past two years, the staff has forced everyone to reconsider those evaluations and try to learn more about the coaching techniques that have helped lead to on-field success.”

In July 2020, Richardson joined several players and staff that knelt during the national anthem in protest before the Giants’ 6-2 exhibition victory against the Oakland Athletics.

The group included right fielder Jaylin Davis, who is African American and appeared in 17 games for the Giants. Davis said he leaned on Richardson for support as one of the few minorities in a leadership position within the game.

Another milestone came this season in a historic weekend for Bahamian baseball when Jazz Chisholm Jr’s Miami Marlins hosted Richardson’s San Francisco Giants for a three game series in April.

It marked the first time a Bahamian player and a Bahamian coach shared the same field in a Major League Baseball game.

The Giants have now won nine consecutive games and will return to the postseason for the first time since 2016 when they advanced to the NL Divisional Series.

“We have to be ready,” Richardson said, “The plan right now is to go out there and keep winning baseball games and win our division. After that, when we get to the playoffs we want to go as far as we can into October.”