This past weekend, 37-year-old Scott Kazmir made a triumphant return to MLB tossing his first pitch in the big leagues since 2016 for the San Francisco Giants. After a five-year absence from the Majors, a 6-3 loss for the Giants was a huge win for Scott Kazmir after throwing four innings of one-run ball.
Welcome to San Francisco, Scott Kazmir. #SFGiants pic.twitter.com/49er65tJw5 — SFGiants (@SFGiants) May 22, 2021
Kazmir got the call up last week from his former teammate, now Giants manager Gabe Kapler and after the game, Kapler sat down with a few dozen writers and shared a few thoughts on his friend’s return.
“Through the phone, I could tell that he was smiling,” Kapler told reporters. “It’s been a long journey for him, and I’m really kind of proud. Obviously, he and I were teammates a long time ago, and I know that the journey hasn’t been the easiest one for him. It’s a pretty cool story.”
A long, familiar road back
After the 2015 season, Kazmir signed a three-year, $48 million dollar deal to pitch for the Dodgers (his opponent on Sunday), and almost immediately after he inked the 36-month commitment injuries and ineffectiveness started to haunt the then 32-year-old lefty. Our hero didn’t make an appearance in 2017 and in short order, the Dodgers dealt him to the Atlanta Braves, who in short order released him in March of 2018.
Kazimir had little to no eyes on him during the 2018 and 2019 seasons but wanted back into MLB and for the second time in his life took the independent league yellow brick road back to the bigs. In 2012 he played for the Sugarland Skeeters and Gigantes de Carolina in Puerto Rico before getting a deal with the Indians in 2013.
Scott Kazmir's first major league strikeout vs his most recent one, separated by 16 years and 9 months pic.twitter.com/ucBNT5IitP — Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) May 23, 2021
You can come home again
Some guys just can’t sit on the sofa and Scott Kazmir is one of those guys. Even though he was still being paid eight million a year through 2021 by the Dodgers he couldn’t sit still, he wouldn’t let his dreams die on the couch, refusing to live in the past.
The Dodgers are paying $8 million to Giants pitcher Scott Kazmir this year 🤯 pic.twitter.com/L2LJBhysnW — FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) May 23, 2021
He signed a minor-league deal with the San Francisco Giants this past offseason and on Saturday started living the dream again. All I can say is hats off Scotty. Go have a day son.
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