The Giants Have a Handshake for Every Homer

In a magical season, San Francisco is leading the majors in wins and round-trippers. Third base coach Ron Wotus has had to get creative to give the players customized greetings.

The San Francisco Giants are the best team in baseball. Not widely considered a preseason favorite to contend for the playoffs, they were the first team to get to 80 wins this season and, through Friday, they were on pace to win 105 games. They have accomplished this with a diverse cast of characters, from key contributors in their mid-30s (such as catcher Buster Posey and shortstop Brandon Crawford) to lesser known players enjoying career seasons (Kevin Gausman and Tyler Rogers) to younger ones breaking through (the utility man LaMonte Wade Jr. and starting pitcher Logan Webb). A huge part of their success has come in a fairly typical way, with the Giants leading the majors in home runs. But even that is something of a peculiar accomplishment, not just because their home stadium, Oracle Park, has traditionally been one of the hardest in which to hit balls over the wall, but also because they have only one player with 20 home runs (outfielder Mike Yastrzemski).