Minor leaguers usually don’t ride buses long enough to hit 291 home runs and surpass 1,100 RBIs. Not many stick around looking for their first extended stay in the major leagues at age 36.

But that’s the long road taken by Scott McClain, who hit another 71 longballs during a career detour to Japan a few years ago. He began his 10th Triple-A campaign this spring, despite accumulating just 45 big league at-bats in brief stints with the Rays, Cubs and Giants since he began playing pro ball in 1990.

In 2008, McClain generated a .300-29-108 season in 134 games for San Francisco’s Triple-A affiliate in Fresno. That’s a pretty typical year for the right-handed slugger. In his last seven Triple-A seasons over the last 11 years, he has averaged 29 home runs and 101 RBIs in 130 games.

McClain was recalled by the Giants for a second straight September at the start of the month. That’s a milestone by itself, but the big payoff of his 19th season of pro ball took place two days later in Colorado. On Sept. 3, in his first 2008 start with the Giants, McClain collected three hits and drove in three runs in a 9-2 win over the Rockies. Oh, and did I mention he also stroked his first major league home run? It had been a long wait for the journeyman, who’s showing some gray in his thinning hair.

"I would've liked to slow it down to walk, so I could remember every step," McClain told Mark Kiszla of The Denver Post.

McClain became the oldest player to hit his first major league home run since Bob Thurman, at age 37, connected on his first for the Reds in 1955. It took nearly as long for McClain, who was given the silent treatment by teammates when he reached the dugout. It’s a common dugout prank, one that McClain has been part of many times, and now it's part of his lifelong memory.

Talk about perseverance. In his chat with Kiszla, McClain called it “hardheadedness,” although he wasn’t always certain he would stick around long enough to homer in a major league game.

“The last three or four years, I’ve said this is my last season going in, but for some reason I end up putting up fairly decent numbers, and it makes it worth it to come back,” said McClain.

For good measure, he drilled home run No. 2 on Saturday, capping a five-run rally in the seventh inning of San Francisco’s 7-6 come-from-behind win over Pittsburgh.

After batting just .133 with a single RBI in his first 45 big league at-bats, McClain is hitting .316 (6-for-19) and slugging .632 this September. His performance might be worth taking home to stay, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if McClain returns for his 20th pro season next spring.