Bruce Bochy sent out all-time Hangover Lineup after Giants' 2012 clincher

Share

Programming Note: Watch the re-air of the Giants' 2012 NL West-clinching win vs. the San Diego Padres on Saturday at 4 p.m. on NBC Sports Bay Area. 

At some point on Sept. 22, 2012, Bruce Bochy looked around a champagne-drenched clubhouse and asked himself a funny question: Which players in this room will be ready to take the field tomorrow at 1:05 p.m.?

One of the best parts of baseball is all the quirks you see during a 162-game season, and the Hangover Lineup is high on the list. The Giants have seen a few of them over the past decade, having made the postseason four times and also been in the other dugout multiple times as the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched. On the last road trip of 2017, they took advantage of "Hangover Lineups," twice beating teams that had clinched a night earlier. Those wins might have kept them from 100 losses. 

Bochy didn't have as many opportunities to script a Hangover Lineup as you might expect. The 2010 team clinched on the final day of the season and in 2014 the Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates were battling for home-field advantage in the Wild Card Game until the final day. Two years later, the final three teams in the Wild Card race were ultimately separated by one game.

But in 2012, the Giants won the NL West by eight games. They clinched with 10 to go, beating the San Diego Padres 8-4 in a game that will re-air on NBC Sports Bay Area at 4 p.m. on Saturday. The next day, the starters got to sit back, relax and chug Gatorade. Bochy sent out a hell of a Hangover Lineup:

Yusmeiro Petit, who would go on to be a postseason hero for the 2014 team, made his first appearance for the Giants this day, starting in place of Tim Lincecum, who had been sent home during Saturday night's game and couldn't get back to the ballpark for the celebration because there was so much traffic. 

This was the only start Joaquin Arias ever made in the No. 3 spot and it was the only time Xavier Nady hit cleanup for the Giants. Francisco Peguero, a powerful prospect, got his first big league hit -- an infield single. 

San Francisco Giants

Find the latest San Francisco Giants news, highlights, analysis and more with NBC Sports Bay Area and California.

What Giants' non-roster invitees, led by Eldridge, say about roster

Report: Giants agree to minor league deal with ex-Athletics reliever

The Giants were off Monday and went back to their normal lineup Tuesday because Bochy said he didn't want guys coasting to the finish line. You know how that season ended, of course, and hopefully this lineup and game provide a fun time capsule.

[RELATED: Why Anderson, Duggar were optioned as Giants hit pause]

Here are some more tweets from clinch night to remind you of what was going on back then ...

Contact Us