The story behind the Giants’ new futuristic-looking helmets

A batboy holds the new matted helmet A batboy holds the new matted helmet Photo: Henry Schulman Photo: Henry Schulman Image 1 of / 37 Caption Close The story behind the Giants’ new futuristic-looking helmets 1 / 37 Back to Gallery

MILWAUKEE — Fans watching the season opener Monday surely noticed that the Giants are wearing a new style of helmet this year.

Better protection against fastballs? A lighter feel?

Nope. The Giants chose the new helmets because they look cool.

Rawlings, the Major League Baseball helmet supplier, traditionally had one style with shiny paint. It then introduced one with a matte finish. It also has two grooves from front to back that each feature three small holes to let more air inside for comfort, with another hole just above the “SF” logo and one more in the back.

Alan Lee, the Giants' major-league equipment manager, said he polled several players last year on which helmet to buy for 2016 — and it was no contest.

“It was a slam dunk in favor of the matte black,” Lee said. “The players loved it. The feedback we got from them was they look really nice.”

The clubhouse staff made sure to ask the higher-ups before ordering the helmets, what with the Giants’ love for tradition, and got the go-ahead.

The players wore the old shiny helmets during spring training because the Giants had so many left in stock. The staff also thought the new ones would be fun to introduce on Opening Day.

Players get new helmets every season because they tend to crack and become gross from all the pine tar the players apply.

Evans’ loss: Talk about your good-news, bad-news days. On Monday afternoon, general manager Bobby Evans watched the Giants clobber the Brewers 12-3 in the season opener. At night, sitting in his room at the Pfister Hotel, while on FaceTime with his son, he watched North Carolina lose to Villanova in the NCAA Tournament final on Kris Jenkins’ buzzer-beating three-pointer.

Evans is a North Carolina grad, just as his dad was.

“The staff, we surrounded the Pfister lobby to catch Bobby if he jumped,” manager Bruce Bochy said.

“It’s all right,” Evans said. “I couldn’t get my window open.”

Evans was euphoric when UNC guard Marcus Paige hit his off-balance three with 4.7 seconds left, tying the score and seemingly sending the game to overtime. Then, despair. Asked if he was screaming in his room at those shots, Evans said, “I only screamed at the good one.”

“To win the ACC regular season, the ACC tournament and have the NCAA final come down to one basket, wow.”

Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

On deck

Wednesday

at Brewers

10:40 a.m. CSNBA

Samardzija (11-13) vs. Jungmann (9-8)

Thursday

vs. Dodgers

1:35 p.m. CSNBA

Wood (5-6) vs.

Peavy (8-6)

Friday

vs. Dodgers

7:15 p.m. Channel: 11

Stripling (0-0) vs. Cain (2-4)

Leading off

Power times three: The Giants on Monday became the third team to hit three consecutive homers on Opening Day, joining the 1948 Red Sox and the ’97 Padres.

— Henry Schulman