SF Giants’ Romo prepares for emotional night at Oracle Park: ‘It’s just my time’

OAKLAND — It’s been a while since Sergio Romo felt butterflies in his stomach before a baseball game. But they’ll be there tonight at Oracle Park in San Francisco. He knows they will.

“I can’t tell you the last time I was nervous about doing something baseball-wise and especially getting on the mound and being able to compete,” Romo said Sunday in the visitors’ clubhouse at the Coliseum. “But I’m nervous. More nervous about walking off the mound.”

Romo will pitch in a big-league park – and appear in a game for the Giants – for the final time Monday when the San Francisco finishes off a two-game exhibition series with the Oakland A’s. He’ll retire after the game, ending a 15-year MLB career that included nine seasons and three World Series championships with the Giants.

“I can’t really recall this opportunity happening to others, so I understand how special this is,” Romo said. “I have to admit, as hard as it was for me to come to the decision that that’s it, I think this is going to be very helpful for my psyche also, for my mental well-being, to be able to really find some closure in walking away.

“I can’t be any more grateful for this opportunity.”

“It’s very exciting for the fans to get to have some closure with Sergio, somebody that I’ve known for a really long time in various capacities and think the world of,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “It’s going to be exciting to give him an opportunity to pitch in one more game for the Giants.”

The chance kind of came out of nowhere for Romo. There had been talks in recent months about him signing a one-day contract with the Giants and wearing the jersey one more time.

Things evolved from there. Romo said Farhan Zaidi, the Giants’ president of baseball operations, got in touch with his agent and they “cooked up this idea” to have him pitch one more inning for the team. The Giants on March 16 then signed Romo to a minor-league deal with an invitation to big-league camp.

Romo, who turned 40 on March 4, hasn’t thrown in a big league game since July 14 last year. At Rogers Centre, he got the final out in the top of the ninth inning for the Toronto Blue Jays, inducing a ground out from Sebastian Rivero.

Two days later, Romo was designated for assignment. He then cleared waivers and elected free agency, and later played two games for Acereros de Monclova of the Mexican League in August.

Romo said he had been tossing baseballs back and forth with his sons, but, “there’s a difference between throwing and tossing.”

“They say, ‘hey, you’re not too far removed from playing, it’s only been six months.’ Yeah, six months of not doing anything baseball-wise. That’s quite a long time,” Romo said. “But, thankfully, Farhan, Kapler, and even my teammates nowadays, still think that I can compete, even if it’s just for one more inning to pitch in a big league setting, the same setting in which I started.”

Romo is fifth all-time in franchise history in games played with 515. His most iconic moment came in 2012 when he recorded the final three outs in the 10th inning of Game 4 of the World Series against the Detroit Tigers. Romo was almost untouchable that postseason, allowing one earned run and four hits over 9 2/3 innings, collecting a win and three saves.

In the Giants’ three championship runs, Romo, in 25 games, had a 2.11 ERA, allowing five earned runs in 21 1/3 innings.

“We probably don’t win (those titles) without him and some of those core bullpen guys that were around for all three championships,” Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford said. “Setting up a lot of saves for Brian Wilson in 2010 or getting that final out in the 2012 World Series, being a huge part of our bullpen in 2014, also. He gave you everything he had every time he went out there.”

El 28 de octubre de 2012, San Francisco se coronó campeón de #SerieMundial

Sergio Romo salvó el juego y le dio el título a su equipo en extrainning en Detroit.

Romo salvó tres juegos en la serie frente a @tigers. pic.twitter.com/F7H72vhnPT

— Aldair Miranda (@AldairMiranda) October 29, 2019

That’s part of the reason why Romo, a 28th-round draft pick by the Giants in 2005, was able to have the career he did. He didn’t have an overpowering fastball, but he was smart, and crafty, and had a slider that, for a while, was among the best in baseball.

“One thing that helped me come to this decision was being able to look myself in the mirror and respect the work that I’m putting out, being able to do it at a certain level,” Romo said. “I hope this doesn’t come off in the wrong way, but I don’t think I’ve ever been average, and it was starting to feel that I had to work two, three times as hard just to be my average. It’s a tough pill to swallow, and I think that’s kind of where I’m at.

“But I also looked around my household and I see my five boys and I see how much they really care to have their dad around, so I’m dedicating more time to them. Rhere are times they’re already better than me. I just want to keep them going in that direction. Although it’s been hard to walk away, I don’t see it as a sacrifice. The decisions I’ve made in the past to be away from them to pursue greatness, and so it’s just my time to go sit on the couch.”

Kapler said Romo will be an ambassador for the Giants for their series next month in Mexico City, and added the two have discussed different ways in which Romo might be able to mentor young players, “but nothing is definitive or concrete.”

For now, Romo’s sons, Rilan, 17, Rex, 11, Rhys, 7, Mateo, 4, and Lucas, 2, will all be at Oracle Park tonight to see their dad pitch one more time.

The pitch selection won’t be hard to predict.

“Depending on how many pitchers I end up throwing, all sliders,” Romo said. “I’ve never been a hard thrower but let’s just say without the preparation and the work, not having gained the arm strength required to pitch a full season, I will definitely not be lighting up the radar gun.”

As exciting as it will be for Romo to get on the mound tonight, it might be difficult for him, in a small way, to walk off of it for the final time.

“Sweet emotions, but also, not so sweet emotions, more so for the fact that this is really it,” he said. “I’ve been doing this for a long time and blessed to be able to say to call myself a Major League Baseball player for at least 15 straight seasons.

“This is all coming out of left field a little bit because I didn’t know (the Giants) would be giving me this opportunity. I wasn’t asking for this opportunity. But there’s an organization, there’s a fan base that feels that I deserve this, and to me, that’s one of the most humbling parts about all of this. I don’t want it to end but, as they say, all things come to an end, even the good ones. So, it’s just my time.”