Watch: Giants' 'first punt' is courtesy of 49ers star

A general view from McCovey Cove before the game between the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres at Oracle Park. Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Watch: 49ers punter boots football into McCovey Cove to begin Giants home opener

By Adam Gretz | Last updated 4/5/24

The San Francisco Giants opened the home portion of their 2024 season on Friday afternoon, and they enlisted the help of San Francisco 49ers punter Mitch Wishnowsky to help kick off the festivities.

Literally kick them off.

While most baseball teams open games with a ceremonial first pitch, the Giants decided to have Wishnowsky take a football and punt into McCovey Cove beyond the right-field wall.

Because, well, we're not exactly sure why they did this, but it was still kind of funny to watch.

Mitch Wishnowsky boots the ceremonial first punt into McCovey Cove pic.twitter.com/YD5EJt5L8Q
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) April 5, 2024

That was one heck of a punt, but we really needed to see how our friend in the blue kayak ended up securing that football. If he even did.

Left-handed power hitters have been launching home runs into McCovey Cove ever since the stadium opened at the start of the 2000 season — with Barry Bonds depositing most of them — so it is not uncommon to see balls flying into the water for the kayakers and boaters to fight over. This might have been the first football to end up there.

Nothing wrong with a little cross-promotion among sports teams in the same city, and with the 49ers being one of the NFL's best teams, their popularity is massive right now. The Giants decided to play into that.

More must-reads: