Historic memorabilia split between Cain, Cooperstown

SAN FRANCISCO -- Matt Cain has a long time to wait before knowing if hislikeness will be etched into bronze for a plaque in Cooperstown.But whether Cain becomes a Hall of Famer or not, his historic performanceWednesday at AT&T Park ensures at least some of his equipment will find ahome in upstate New York.The Giants sent Cains hat and cleats from Major League Baseballs 22ndperfect game to the Hall of Fame, which long-time equipment manager Mike Murphysaid was hard for Cain to do. Murphy told Cain, Youll be enshrined in the Hall of Famefor the rest of your life, when the right-hander hesitated to give up the samegear hes been using all season. Cain decided to keep his uniform and a dozen baseballs fromhis outing, according to Murphy, and both the pitching rubber and home platewill be on display at AT&T Park for fans to view on the club level as soonas the next homestand.Murphy said that the ball Gregor Blanco caught to preserveperfection, which the speedy outfielder wrote in his blog that hed like back,was put back in play. Blanco said that he also didnt know what happened to it,but was planning on asking Cain to sign another game-used ball for hiscollection.Murphy, who has been with the Giants organization since 1958, said that he keptonly a ball from the momentous and magical evening.Ive seen enough, Murphy said. Now I can go to heaven having seen it all.