By Ann Killion
September 3, 2018
Andrew McCutchen #26 of the New York Yankees scores beating the throw to Jonathan Lucroy #21 of the Oakland Athletics in the top of the first inning at Oakland Alameda Coliseum on September 3, 2018 in Oakland, California.(Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images North America)
Andrew McCutchen was back in the Bay Area on Monday after a whirlwind three days that included a trade from the Giants to the Yankees, a beard-shaving session with his son Steel, a cross-country flight, two appearances in pinstripes at Yankee Stadium and a flight back to the Bay Area.
“I’ve just got to get acclimated,” McCutchen said before Monday’s game at the Coliseum. “Getting to know names, learning it all in a very short period of time. But everyone’s pumped. Excited.”
What’s not to be excited about? McCutchen finds himself in a postseason race with the most storied franchise in baseball history.
Finding his way onto a contender was what McCutchen hoped for when the Giants traded for him in January. That was the first time in his career, after nine seasons as the face of the Pirates, that he had to walk into a new clubhouse and learn new names and faces and routines.
He had hopes then of reaching the postseason. But, though he was one of the team’s most consistent players, it became clear that wasn’t going to happen in San Francisco.
“That’s always what you want, but we just weren’t able to make that push,” he said.
But from his vantage point, he doesn’t think the Giants need to tear down anything and start over. To him, injuries were the tale of the season.
“We didn’t have our horses,” he said. “We had all our guys together for maybe three weeks.”
He thinks the young Giants players got valuable experience and that the fans that he loved playing in front of wouldn’t tolerate a massive rebuild. He believes the team is going to be fine, and he fully enjoyed his experience there.
Now he’s clean-shaven for the first time in a long time, wearing No. 26 and batting leadoff. He shaved — in order to adhere to the Yankees’ “facial hair” policy — while holding his young son Steel because McCutchen was worried he would be unrecognizable; but all is good, Steel still knows dad without the whiskers.
In Monday’s 6-3 loss to the A’s, McCutchen went 1-for-4. He had a stolen base and scored the game’s first run.
After McCutchen was traded, he posted a heartfelt message on social media thanking the Giants and their fans. It was accompanied by a photo of the huge poster of him that hung over one of the entrances of AT&T Park, along with the words, “To see this every day I came to the stadium was surreal and it gave me chills every time!”
When McCutchen left San Francisco, the sign was still up. It no longer is.
“I didn’t see it coming down,” he said. “I probably would have cried.”
Ann Killion is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. Email: akillion@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @annkillion
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