Sunday, Kris Bryant made his debut with the San Francisco Giants. He struck out in his first at-bat, but the second time around he'd make good on his first-impression game for the San Fran fans.
Bryant the Giant! That fits.
Bryant hit 160 homers in his seven seasons with the Cubs, that included a Rookie of the Year, MVP, four All-Star Games and a World Series ring. This shot was his 19th of the 2021 season.
Bryant spoke glowingly about getting to play for the Giants before the game, noting on a televised interview that he grew up in Las Vegas rooting for the Barry Bonds era Giants.
Kris Bryant is a Giant.
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) August 1, 2021
You could say that it was ... meant to be? pic.twitter.com/XwIGEPVvFF
The homer was also a historic shot. Within 24 hours, the Cubs traded away their championship core position players: Bryant along with Anthony Rizzo (to the Yankees) and Javier Bàez (to the Mets). All three homered in the first game with their new teams. They did so on consecutive days, too.
Due to logistics (Bryant, for example, was in Washington D.C. at 4 p.m. ET when he found out about the trade and the Giants had a day game in San Francisco on Saturday), Rizzo went deep in Miami for the Yankees on Friday, Bàez cracked a two-run shot in New York on Saturday night and then Bryant with the solo shot in San Francisco on Sunday.
This marked the first time in history three players started a season with the same team and then homered in their first game with three different teams, according to STATS. In a funny twist, Joc Pederson homered in his first start with the Braves after the Cubs traded him, though he was 0 for 1 in a pinch-hit appearance in his first game with the club. Plus, he's not synonymous with the Cubs championship core the way Bryant, Rizzo and Bàez are.
