One of baseball’s most intriguing oddities is the potential for unusual streaks, and a remarkable one is coming to a possible close.
It’s not uncommon to see a player start on Opening Day for a team year after year. But what about the opposite scenario – a team using a different player at a position for consecutive Opening Days?
The San Francisco Giants have featured a different starting left fielder on Opening Day for 19 straight seasons, equaling the streak set by the St. Louis Cardinals/Baltimore Orioles from 1937 to 1955, also in left field, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. This marks the longest such run in baseball since 1900.
Although, that streak could end this season. Puerto Rican outfielder Heliot Ramos started in left field for the Giants on Opening Day last year, and manager Tony Vitello has confirmed Ramos will again be the starting left fielder on Opening Night against the Yankees on Wednesday. This would give San Francisco a level of consistency at the position it hasn’t seen since 2007, the final year of Barry Bonds’s Major League career. Here’s a look at the players who have started in left field for the Giants on Opening Day since then:
Giants Opening Day Left Fielders Since 2007
2007: Barry Bonds
2008: Dave Roberts
2009: Fred Lewis
2010: Mark DeRosa
2011: Pat Burrell
2012: Aubrey Huff
2013: Andres Torres
2014: Mike Morse
2015: Nori Aoki
2016: Ángel Pagán
2017: Jarrett Parker
2018: Hunter Pence
2019: Connor Joe
2020: Alex Dickerson
2021: Austin Slater
2022: Joc Pederson
2023: Blake Sabol
2024: Michael Conforto
2025: Heliot Ramos
In 2024, the Bay Area team broke a tie with the San Diego Padres (2005-2021), also in left field, for the second-longest streak of its kind.
(To clarify, this record applies to any position, but it’s notable that the top three longest streaks are all in left field)
