A giant farewell for Sergio Romo at Oracle Park
SF Giants' Sergio Romo retires after 15 seasons pitching for MLB
Fans from all over the Bay Area and beyond attended the SF Giants' final spring training game against the Oakland A's at Oracle Park on Monday. KTVU's Amber Lee spoke with many fans who drove a long way to see Sergio Romo play one last time before he retires.
San Francisco - It was an emotional night for Giants fans Monday as they celebrated relief pitcher Sergio Romo's return to San Francisco to put on a Giants jersey and pitch one last time before retiring.
More than 30,000 people attended the game against the Oakland A's at Oracle Park.
Giants fans expressed enthusiasm, loyalty and love Romo during the final exhibition game.
"We needed to be here for Romo today," said Erica Quistian, a fan from Hollister.
Romo was back for one final time in a Giants uniform to pitch in the 7th inning.
After nine seasons with the Giants, he went on to play for seven other teams including rival Dodgers.
"I was a tiny bit bitter after the Dodger thing. But he's back and he'll always be a Giant," Quistian said.
Fans said it's only fitting that he ended his 15-year major league career with the Giants after winning three World Series championships together.
"I'm coming from San Juan Bautista. My sister called me last night and she said Romo's retiring tomorrow and let's go. I said okay let's go," said fan Tina Jimenez.
On social media, Romo posted a photo of himself and wrote "Thank you SF Giants for this opportunity to go out where I started."
"It's exciting. I miss him. I miss seeing him play," said fan Melissa Hernandez,
She and her husband drove from Visalia to see Romo play. They wore custom-made hats. Hers bears Romo's name.
They said they're impressed by how he treats fans.
"It's about the people. It's about the fans. It's not about himself. I really appreciated that, how he interacted with all ages. He became one of my favorite players," said Hernandez.
Romo penned a letter online to fans about how his father's love for playing baseball was passed onto him. He said in part,"It's the one thing in life that always made me feel visible."
In the 7th inning, Romo lit up the ballpark when he came to the mound and excited fans.
Among them: his extended family who came from all over the Bay Area and as far away as Utah to show their support.
"If he retired anywhere else, it wouldn't be perfect," said his cousin Fabian Romo.
Family members cheered him on with, "Congrats Romo!"
Fans said this is the perfect way for Romo to close out his career.
His 27 postseason games pitched with the Giants are the most in franchise history.
Amber Lee is a reporter with KTVU. Email Amber at Amber.Lee@Fox.com or text/leave message at 510-599-3922. Follow her on Facebook @AmberKTVU, Instagram @AmberKTVU or Twitter @Amber KTVU