For the first time in three years, Madison Bumgarner attended KNBR/Giants FanFest on Saturday.
Sitting on a stage with teammates Brandon Belt and Brandon Crawford, and KNBR’s Murph & Mac, Bumgarner was asked why he decided to attend this season, and what he’s usually doing that keeps him away.
“It’s just important for me to be here,” Bumgarner said. “I mean it always is, but as you guys know I’m usually driving out about this time, so I got some other people to do that for me, and I wanted to make a point to be here this year. I’m excited to see everybody out here and get started.”
“We’ll usually pull a wagon with our horses and it takes quite some time to get here.”
How many horses?
“Two pulling the wagon.”
Bumgarner is referring to a cross-country trip he typically takes with his horse trailer to Scottsdale, AZ for Spring Training. After a 98-loss season last year, Bumgarner felt it was important to attend FanFest this year, especially with all the new faces in the clubhouse.
“I’m excited,” Bumgarner said. “I feel good myself, really excited about the group of guys that we’ve put together and going to run out there everyday. We’ve got a really good chance to compete and win a lot of games.”
Bumgarner also commented on the idea of a pitch clock.
“I think a lot of people want to put their finger print on the game,” Bumgarner said. “That’s really it. We’re changing stuff everyday now, I think it’s a joke. I like the way the game used to be played. I don’t like replay. I like the human element. This stupid computerized strike zone, c’mon, what are we doing?”
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Bumgarner on FanFest, start from the beginning.