John Shea

I’m thrilled – as is Willie Mays -- that “24” has risen to No. 3 on the nonfiction bestseller list in the Bay Area and Northern California. It had reached No. 13 on the New York Times bestseller list and is in the company of many fabulous baseball books listed on Amazon.

Another opener, another shutout: The Giants’ anemic offense can’t solve the Yankees sfstandard.com/2026/03/27/ton…

Giants starter Robbie Ray threw five scoreless innings before the Yankees erupted in the sixth. Catcher Patrick Bailey said “best I’ve seen him since he’s been a Giant. His fastball has been good since he’s been here, but the slider’s different this year. He believes in it.”

@moto_JJ Good call

@JohnSheaHey Pretty good pre-game. Liked that they included Maz in the memorandum

Giants coaches introduced along third-base line. The two who received the biggest cheers: Ron Washington, Ron Wotus. Of course.

Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton monster homers to left field off Robbie Ray, Jose Butto, 405 feet, 414 feet. Bronx Bombers lead 3-0 in the sixth. Giants? One hit on the day, four in the series.

That was the first ABS challenge in a Giants game that was actually captured on a broadcast. There was an ABS challenge Wednesday, but I think you know how that one was covered.

Jeff Kent tosses ceremonial first pitch to Dusty Baker. Hall of Fame stuff.

Giants cautious w/Rafael Devers playing first base, coming off hammy. Tony Vitello said Devers could play first if necessary. “Still little bit of a feeling in there.” Meantime, Casey Schmitt is at 1B again. Vitello said Schmitt little better there defensively than Encarnacion.

40,856 showed up at Oracle Park Wednesday night to serve as extras in a global Opening Day production hosted by Netflix. The early reviews were not good, as the Giants struggled and lost to the Yankees. 📝: @johnsheahey sfstandard.com/2026/03/25/sf-…

To celebrate opening day, we’ll let Willie remind you that anything is possible! The mindset of the Say Hey Kid still inspires generations to dream big, work hard, and believe in themselves. #SayHeyFoundation #WillieMays #WillieSays #SayHeyKid #OpeningDay #YouthOpportunity

We had plenty of practice with this in the Bay Area, Bill. Candlestick and the Coliseum tried many name changes/sponsorships over the years, but for the true locals, they were always Candlestick and the Coliseum. Always Dodger Stadium.

The Tony Vitello era opens with a dud in the Giants’ Netflix nightmare sfstandard.com/2026/03/25/sf-…

If Logan Webb sounded like he was carrying a huge burden after losing Game 1 of 2026, it's because he definitely is. It's an earned responsibility. "They did a good job. I did a bad job.” sfstandard.com/2026/03/26/log…

Some news here … Tony Vitello is bringing Ron Wotus back to the Giants’ dugout this season. The longtime coach will provide another voice for all home games: sfstandard.com/2026/03/25/ron…

Speaking of must reads:

@Sullivan_Ranger Good to hear from you, you proud Don

@JohnSheaHey Big deal. I once skipped an Economics mid-term exam at the University of San Francisco to attend Opening Day for the Giants in 1981. Not that it was the only reason I got a D in that class. Or the only time I skipped the class that year. But still....

Just for the heck of it, doing the math, this is my 40th straight Giants opener that I covered. More than anything, it is an honor to do this Counting my years covering the Padres and later covering both Giants and A’s, with two openers each year. this is opener No. 72. Yikes.

@bamf2510 You’re too kind, sir.

@JohnSheaHey Nothing like having a veteran high quality writer and person covering my team. Been reading you for years, man.

@RealPKSasski351 Amazing to hear that. Thank you.

@JohnSheaHey I’ve been reading you since I was a child in the 80’s & 90’s. Thank you for your years of service sir