Matt Cain was called up in August, 2005. He was just 20 years old and one of the 13 best prospects in the game, sandwiched between Dallas McPherson and Jeff Francoeur. You know what he did with the Giants and his importance to the overall success of the franchise. What I want to remind you of today, though, is the awful burden he carried on the behalf of disappointed fans everywhere. The Giants were old, and they were incapable of developing starting pitchers. Cain was supposed to fight both demons at once.
The Giants were just seven games out of first place in 2005 when Cain was brought up, but that was only because the NL West was a sloppy mess that year.