Jesse Winker 10/02/2024

My first Giants game last season came on April 8th. I was super excited because Blake Snell, the largest acquisition of the offseason, was debuting. He had a horrible game, and the Giants got blown out by seven runs.

The best part of that day came before the game, during batting practice. As I normally do, I was trying (and failing) to catch balls in left field. At some point, one of the outfielders, Jesse Winker, came up to the warning track and asked in my general direction: "Did they change the foul grounds recently?" I knew the answer! Back in 2020, the Giants made some renovations, expanding the video board, shutting the holes in left field to prevent windflow, and moving the bullpens from foul grounds to the outfield. I didn't answer because of a combination of shock and spite: I rarely saw opposing players interact with fans, especially me, and as loyal fan, I would never do something that could possibly hurt my beloved Giants (of course this is dumb, but I will always be a dumb sports fan). Instead, somebody standing next to me answered the question. He could probably have asked a coach or a fellow teammate, but he took the time to kindly interact with the fans, and I still think about that interaction once in a while.

I was on the bus coming back from my dermatology appointment today, and I saw on my phone that the Mets were leading the Brewers by one run after eight innings in game three of a three game wild card series. I opened up the game on my phone, I recognized the hitter who was up to bat: it was Winker! He got hit by a pitch, and he advanced to first base with two outs. He hit his head hard while stealing second, and the Milwaukee crowd booed him for taking his time to stand up. Winker had been hit by two pitches that game, and that combined with getting booed made him visually agitated. He scored a few pitches later on a Sterling Marte double. As he crossed home plate, he slammed his helmet down, breaking it into pieces. The image of Winker slamming his helmet while screaming at his teammates is pretty awesome.

Winker scoring that run seemed to kill any energy the Brewers had left in them for a late comeback, and the Mets went on to win and advance. I think it's really cool that a player that I interacted with (if you can call it that) had a big impact on a playoff game. After doing some research, Winker was traded from the Nationals to the Mets in the middle of this season, and he also had a huge triple in game one of this Wild Card series. While he was sprinting, he yelled "fuck you" at one the Brewers players, and the player told him "meet me in the parking lot." Looking at his history that includes fights and effort issues, he doesn't seem like the best teammate, but I'll choose to judge him off my one experience with him, where he came off as cordial.

All the best for Jesse Winker.