james hetfieldkirk hammettmetallica
16:55 Wednesday, 25 May 2022
Metallica's long running partnership with the San Francisco Giants baseball team continued Tuesday night (May 24) with Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield kicking off "Metallica Night" by playing the "National Anthem."
As noted in a tweet, both musicians were decked out in "City Connect" Giants jerseys and had special "City Connect" guitars for the occasion. "City Connect" has been something that both Major League Baseball and the NBA have participated in within recent years, shaking up their uniforms with a design that expresses the personality of the home city.
Metallica first partnered with the Giants in 2013 and each year (minus two COVID-affected seasons) they've put their stamp on one special game each year. Once constant through it all has been the "National Anthem" performance with Hammett and Hetfield delivering their blistering version of the song.
"It's a tradition that we've missed the last two seasons, so we're really excited for the return of Metallica Night at Oracle Park with our hometown baseball team, the San Francisco Giants. This year marks the eighth time we'll take the field for the National Anthem, first pitch, and a few other pre-game shenanigans," stated the group upon this year's game announcement.
But as with previous years, the band's participation doesn't stop after the last pitch has been thrown (and what a game it was as the Giants beat the Mets 13-12). Metallica are now giving fans a chance to win Hetfield's Signature Series ESPN Snakebyte Guitar or the Kirk Hammett Signature Series ESP KH-2 Guitar that were both used to play the "National Anthem" prior to the game.
The band is teaming up with Fandiem to provide fans with a chance to own the instruments that will be autographed by all four of the band's musicians. All funds raised by this Fandiem sweepstakes will go to World Central Kitchen’s #ChefsForUkraine fund. Donation options begin as low as $10, plus there is a free entry method. The sweepstakes ends on Thursday, June 30, 2022 at 11:59PM PT. Go ahead and enter here, and check out both the performance and photos from the San Francisco Giants' Metallica Night below.