We have our first Major League Baseball record-tying moment and Opening Day has barely just begun.
This weird bit of history comes courtesy of the San Francisco Giants, who rolled out their first lineup of the year with a new left fielder for the 19th consecutive year — tying a record set by the St. Louis Browns from 1937-1955.
Heliot Ramos got the star in left on Thursday, and while he’s hoping he’ll end the streak before it gets to 20, it’s hard to be too upset at being included on a list that features Barry Bonds and Hunter Pence.
Here’s the full list of the Giants’ Opening Day left fielder since 2007:
- 2007- Barry Bonds
- 2008 – Dave Roberts
- 2009 – Fred Lewis
- 2010 – Mark Derosa
- 2011 – Pat Burrell
- 2012 – Aubrey Huff
- 2013 – Andres Torres
- 2014 – Mike Morse
- 2015 – Nori Aoki
- 2016 – Angel Pagan
- 2017 – Jarrett Parker
- 2018 – Hunter Pence
- 2019 – Connor Joe
- 2020 – Alex Dickerson
- 2021 – Austin Slater
- 2022 – Joc Pederson
- 2023 – Blake Sabol
- 2024 – Michael Conforto
- 2025 – Heliot Ramos
The amazing thing here is that a few names on the list played multiple years for San Francisco. Angel Pagan spent five years in the bay, Pence was there for eight and plenty others had at least two seasons with the Giants. Whoever does end the streak will not only be a great piece of baseball trivia, but bookend a list started by the greatest home run hitter the sport has ever seen.
Considering Ramos hit a fourth-inning dinger on Thursday, he may just be a perfect fit.