Tweets by two former Giants on Twitter

Sometimes the transaction wire contains bad news. As expected, Ryan Vogelsong moves on to greener pastures. A great Giant, he will be sorely missed.

	KPIX 5 (@CBSSF)
12/18/15, 5:09 PM "Arrr!" Pittsburgh Pirates Sign Ryan Vogelsong To One-Year Contract >> cbsloc.al/1OcWDeB

The same could be said for Juan Perez. A great Giant. Understood his role and performed well when called upon. It seems hard enough to get Gregor Blanco enough AB's and playing time, except for injuries. Perez was just blocked here in SF, he serves a shot to show what he can do given more opportunities.

	Juan Carlos Perez (@juan_perez24)
12/20/15, 1:46 PM Thanks to every Giants fan for the memories and the support. I appreciate the love and every single reply!

Bumgarner nails it, as usual

San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner winds up to pitch during the second inning of Game 5 of baseball's World Series against the Kansas City Royals Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)


Madison Bumgarner is showing the baseball nation what Giants fans have known about him for many years. He is tough as nails. As we later found out, sadly he may have been the second toughest Giants on the field last night behind Juan Perez. 

from Yahoo Sports:
Bumgarner, Giants blank Royals for 3-2 Series lead - Yahoo Sports:

Hardly menacing on the mound, Bumgarner was simply untouchable — again. As "MVP! MVP!" chants broke out from each packed corner of AT&T Park, Bumgarner finished off the first World Series shutout in 11 years.

"You know what? For some reason, I keep getting really lucky this time of year, so I'll take it," Bumgarner said.

'via Blog this'

Lorenzo Cain could only watch Juan Perez's double hit off the wall. (USA Today)

from Yahoo Sports:
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/juan-perez-delivers-key-hit-after-learning-his-good-friend-oscar-taveras-died-074707879.html

SAN FRANCISCO – Juan Perez didn't believe it, didn't believe his friend was dead, so he ran back to the San Francisco Giants clubhouse and swiped his phone on. He saw the text messages, at least 20, more coming in, all with the horrible news that Oscar Taveras, fellow ballplayer, fellow Dominican, was gone. Then he saw a text with the picture that confirmed it: Taveras at the morgue, on a table, blood everywhere, a horrible image Perez couldn't shake.

He started to cry. Giants closer Santiago Casilla told Perez to shut his phone off, to stop looking at the photo. And Joaquin Arias implored him: "Stay strong. Stay strong." The Giants might need him. And Gregor Blanco said: "I know it's not easy. Let's just try to do it."

For Juan Perez, a 27-year-old utilityman playing in his first World Series, there was no time to grieve Sunday. This is an awful burden, inconceivable, the consequence of a show-must-go-on mentality pervasive in sports. Taveras, the 22-year-old St. Louis Cardinals outfielder, and his 18-year-old girlfriend died in a horrific car crash Sunday. Now one of his best friends saw the grisly result and was expected not just to ignore it but erase from his head the image, from his bones the emotions, from his soul the anguish and play baseball.

"I don't know how he played," Casilla said.

Giants Game 5 win comes with heavy heart, especially for Juan Perez - CBSSports.com

Rest in peace, Oscar Taveras. (USATSI)

Sad news. This kid had all the makings of a future super-star. Hearts and prayers go out to the taveras famil and the Cardinals family and fans. 

from CBSSports.com
Giants Game 5 win comes with heavy heart, especially for Juan Perez - CBSSports.com:

"It just breaks your heart," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "It's a shame that this has happened. The kid had a bright future ahead of him. He hit a big home run against us. It's a loss for his family, the Cardinals and baseball because this kid was a special talent. I know Juan Perez was good friends with him and I guess he heard during the game."

 This is true. A former winter ball teammate of Taveras, Juan Perez -- who has been friends with Taveras since 2009 -- learned of the news in the dugout during the game and began to cry. In fact, some Giants coaches said they found Perez in the clubhouse during the game in tears. He later entered the game and ended up with a two-RBI double late, giving the Giants what was an insurmountable 4-0 lead with the way Madison Bumgarner was dealing.

 After the game, Perez kept his composure when discussing the passing of his friend, though the sadness was evident.

 "It was tough," Perez said. "We were very close friends. My heart goes out to his family and to the Cardinals organization. I had a few innings to try and get over it and focus and do my job. I just had to try and put everything away and concentrate on the game."

And he did so with a little help from fellow Dominican (as was Taveras) Joaquin Arias.

"During the game, when I found out, at first I think I was thinking too much about it," recounted Perez. "Arias came over and said ‘stay strong, keep your mind strong and we can win this game.' "

'via Blog this'