In a world with a normal baseball season, last Monday's game would have been a big one for the Giants. The day would have marked Madison Bumgarner's first trip to Oracle Park as a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and that matchup would have dominated the conversation leading up to the game.
But behind the scenes, some Giants officials had long had April 6 circled for a different reason.
Bumgarner's decision to sign with Arizona changed the focus of that game, but in the organization's business offices, it already was viewed as an experiment of sorts. The Giants planned to give out a Mike Yastrzemski bobblehead that night, trying something new in a bid to increase ticket sales during what was expected to be another down year on the field.