The Hall Of Fame Wanted Madison Bumgarner's Bat From Opening Day When He Smashed Two Homers, But He's Not Giving It Up

San Francisco Giants v Arizona Diamondbacks

Madison Bumgarner is one of the baddest motherfuckers on the planet. Let’s just get that out of the way right up front.

While some guys take a little time to ramp up during the first weeks of the season, MadBum just strolls into 2017 and smashes two absolute bombs, becoming the first pitcher ever to homer twice on Opening Day, and then punches out 11 batters to top off his evening like it’s no big deal. Being that no pitcher had ever done that before, Cooperstown came calling for a little piece of history, but Bumgarner wasn’t having it.

The Hall of Fame asked Madison Bumgarner to donate the bat he used to crack two home runs on opening day. They’re getting his helmet, instead. Bumgarner said he isn’t much for memorabilia, but he’s keeping the piece of lumber he used to hit home runs off the Diamondbacks’ Zack Greinke and Andrew Chafin in Sunday’s opener at Chase Field. He’s not going to put it back in the rack. He’s said he’s taking it out of commission, fearing it might disappear if he doesn’t put it in a guarded place.

The article mentions above that Bumgarner isn’t a big memorabilia guy, and that he’s donated “hats he wore in Games 1, 5 and 7 of the 2014 World Series” from when he dominated his way to the World Series MVP award against the Royals. If I’m a pitcher in the MLB, and I’m not big into keeping memorabilia, doesn’t that seem a little backwards? Like, if you were to make an exception to your no memorabilia preference, and you pitched your balls off in the World Series, won a ring and were named MVP of the series, wouldn’t you want to keep that stuff over your bat from when you hit two homers on a random Opening Day?

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    I would’ve kept it all, to be honest, although I’m sure it’s pretty cool to say that your shit is in the Baseball Hall of Fame somewhere. Some guys lend their stuff, too. That’s what I’d probably do if I were MadBum. They’re always rotating their exhibits, anyway. I’d let Cooperstown have the bat for a year or whatever, and then ask for it back.

    The underlying message here is that Bumgarner definitely prides himself on his ability to hit the shit out of the ball, and I love that about a pitcher who actually can, because there aren’t many, if any, besides him. Like I wrote yesterday, those two homers by Bumgarner on Sunday were two of the hardest hit balls through the first two days of the season. I’d be shocked if another pitcher even comes close to those marks, unless, of course, it’s Bumgarner himself.