How They Got Here: The San Francisco Giants is a one-by-one look at how each member of the 2012 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants found their way to the squad. We'll look at all of the players on the roster, as well as notable players who did not make the postseason roster for whatever reason and the coaching staff and general manager. First up is a non-postseason roster player, Brett Pill.
Brett Pill was born on September 9th, 1984, in San Dimas California. He attended Covina High School in Covina, California, and then extended his education at California State University, Fullerton, in Fullerton, California. In college, he hit for a high average, hitting no lower than .313 in his freshman year. He also amassed sixteen home runs and 114 runs batted in between 2004 and 2006 at college. He was drafted for the first time in 2005 by the New York Yankees, but did not sign. He was again drafted in the 2006 draft by the San Francisco Giants, with whom he signed. For the next five years, he worked his way through the Giants' farm system. He began with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the Short-Season Class A Northwest League. He struggled a bit at this level, hitting only .220 with five home runs and thirty-five runs batted in sixty games. The next year, 2007, he played with the Class A Augusta GreenJackets in Augusta, Georgia, where he turned in a .269 average, along with ten home runs and ninety-one runs batted in over the course of 137 games. By 2008, he had stepped up to the Class A-Advanced level and played for thee San Jose Giants. His production here mirrored the levels he had with the GreenJackets, posting a .266 average with nine home runs and sixty-five runs batted in. He made another step up in 2009, advancing to the Connecticut Defenders in the AA-level Eastern League. This was that team's last season in Connecticut, and they moved along to Richmond under the name Richmond Flying Squirrels. Pill's production here also proved to be a step up, as he finished with a .298 average, nineteen home runs, and 109 runs batted in over 139 games. For the 2010 and 2011 seasons, Pill played with the AAA Fresno Grizzlies. Over that span, he hit .294 with forty-one home runs and 191 runs batted in. He led the Pacific Coast League on August 21, 2011 with 101 runs batted in for the season. Ten days later, he was called up to the major league Giants. He did not get an at-bat until September 6, 2011, and he made the most of it, hitting a home run off of San Diego Padres pitcher Wade LeBlanc. The last Giant to accomplish that feat was Will Clark. The next day, he entered himself into another piece of history, as he homered in his second major league game as well, becoming the 22nd player since 1919 to do so. John Bowker is the only other Giant to accomplish that feat. His short audition with the Giants in 2011 brought him a .300 average with two home runs and nine runs batted in over fifteen games. He struggled in 2012, and on June 9, 2012, he was optioned back to the Fresno Grizzlies. He returned to the big-league squad on July 31, 2012, and appeared in twelve more games for the Giants this season. He hit only .210, with four home runs and eleven runs batted in for the 2012 season, but he spent enough time with the team to earn the title World Series Champion, and his marginal role earned him the first featured spot on my How They Got Here series.
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