Great detectives, we are on the Giants beat.

Bruce Bochy had said he had a "start in mind" for Tim Hudson, and we all assumed he meant Tuesday night in Arizona. Hudson did start, pitched beautifully, hit a home run and won his 222nd game, most among active pitchers.

That wasn't the game you meant, was it, Bruce?

Hudson is retiring after the season. Bochy says the 40-year-old is staying in the rotation. If that rotation does not change, Hudson will get to pitch one final time on the mound where it all started for him in 1999.

At the Coliseum in Oakland.

Hudson's turn would come Saturday, Sept. 26 in the middle of a three-game interleague series.

Perfect.

One more chance for Hudson and the diehards in Oakland to say farewell. Maybe his farewell to the game.

Only one thing would make it better

If Hudson could face Barry Zito, his former Big Three running mate (along with Mark Mulder), the triumvirate that did more than "Moneyball" scouting and signing to lead the A's to great things in the early 2000s.

Zito might have thrown his final pitch ever last week for the Triple-A Nashville Sounds. Oakland has used 28 pitchers this season without giving Zito a shot. As the left-hander told my colleague Susan Slusser on Saturday, he assumes he won't be No. 29.

"I got word that isn't going to happen," Zito said.

Come on, Billy Beane, make it happen. Even if Zito throws just an inning or two. (He was out with a shoulder injury before throwing once more for Nashville.)

Zito versus Hudson, one more time in the East Bay sunshine, teammates from 2000 through 2004, memories to last a lifetime.

I'm sure the A's GM has his reasons for not promoting Zito. I also know Beane would have to find an open 40-man spot that he might not be willing to create, hurting a prospect in the processs.

But if there's a way . . .

Henry Schulman is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: hschulman@sfchronicle.com