The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Tribune Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

ANTOAN Richardson’s San Francisco Giants are once again expected to battle for a National League postseason spot and the club’s first base coach detailed his decision to accept the post in addition to the appeal of the Giants organisation in his recent media availability.

“I think it’s everybody’s desire to work together for a common goal. We see it on a daly basis and it really feels like a family,” he said.

“From the clubhouse to the baseball ops to the entire organisation. I really appreciate the family aspect. I always talk about the Bahamas being a community and that’s the part I enjoy about the Giants.”

The Giants are currently 27-21 on the season, third in the NL West.

They open a three-game set against Jazz Chisholm and the Miami Marlins tonight at 6:40pm local time.

The franchise’s first base coach is currently serving in his second year in the role.

“It’s a lot of reminding them of game situation, I think my job is just to be a reminder,” he said.

“They know what to do, and it’s just a matter of nudging them a bit to remember ‘hey if this happens we’re going to look do this’ remember to pick up [Mark Hallberg] at third base’ and let’s just find a way to help our team by getting to the next base.”

Richardson has also been privy to several moments this season where he had an opportunity to witness players record their first major league hits.

“It’s pretty cool, what I try to do in those moments is encourage the player to take it in because you don’t get to experience it again,” he said.

“I know sometimes as a young player you get excited and move on to the next play but I just like to remind them to take a moment, embrace it and try to hold on to the moment because it’s not going to happen again.”

Last year, the Giants concluded the regular season 107-55 on the year and earned the team’s first division title since 2012. They advanced to the postseason for the first time since 2016 when they advanced to the NLDS before an elimination at the hands of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The 107 wins for the Giants established a new franchise record and also clinched the home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The previous record was 106 wins in the 1904 season. The 2021 season represented a complete turnaround for the Giants who missed the postseason a year ago in the 2020 regular season finale.

Richardson previously served as an outfield coordinator before he joined the major league club at first base.

“When I was done playing I thought I was done with the sport but I had a passion for coaching youth. I was in The Bahamas, got involved, started a non non-profit to give back. During that time I got a few calls about getting back into the game, but the thing I dreaded the most was being away from my family. I had done it since I was 14. It wasn’t a hard transition in the sense that I love working with people. I’m still learning, I’m still growing, we have an awesome coaching staff I get to learn from daily so it’s just been a really cool experience,” Richardson said.

“I just wanted to be in a position to help the organisation so at the time when I took this role here I was still a field coordinator in the minor leagues. It was a tough decision, I remember going back and Kyle Haynes our farm director and trying to get some assistance with that process. At that time the move was the best for the organisation.”

As he prepares for another series against Chisholm and the Marlins, he discusses the role the group of professional players currently serve as ambassadors of the country and the game.

“We’re a close knit community, we’re just really rooting for each other and trying to push the sport forward,” he said. “Over the past 5-10 years it has grown a lot in the Bahamas and from a youth standpoint we have a booming youth baseball programme now so I’m excited to see where we grow over the next couple of years.”

Despite recording his first career hit against Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw and scoring a run on Derek Jeter’s final RBI, Richardson said his most memorable moment on the field was the opportunity to share the field with other Bahamians. “In 2016 I got an opportunity to play in the World Baseball Classic Qualifiers with a lot of other Bahamian professional baseball players,” he said. “Got to take the field with Jazz and some of the other prospects we see coming through the system now, that was one of the moments I really cherish and I haven’t forgotten about that one.”