Pretty sure the Giants have cornered the market on middle infielders with fabulous hair, no?

I’ve also posted these photos and a bunch more over in my Zenfolio gallery. I’m going to at least two more games this week, so if the Giants would like to consider winning those, too, that would be fantastic. Maybe some time I’ll even get to work on posting photos from some of the other games that the Giants didn’t win. Baseball photos are still fun, right? Right.

Of course I took a ton of pictures throughout the day.

Want more photos? I’ve posted more photos from the game over at my Zenfolio account.

The Giants were still pretty terrible even after Matt Cain’s arrival, but his starts gave me something to look forward to, even when they inevitably ended in pain as the bullpen blew the lead or he received absolutely no run support. Through it all though, Cain never complained, even though he would have been fully justified in doing so. He was just steady, dependable Matt Cain, and he was awesome. He easily became my favorite Giant. And so it was extra satisfying watching him dominate in the postseason in 2010, finally getting the kind of attention he so deserved.

As the Giants talked about “Rainy Day Funds” this offseason, I tried to get myself accustomed to the idea that Matt Cain might leave after this season. I know that’s how baseball works.  It’s a business. Players leave. But the talk of Cain potentially wearing a Yankee or Dodger uniform made me feel sick. And so it thrilled me this morning when I heard the news that Matt Cain had agreed on a contract extension with the Giants. He’ll be donning the orange and black through at least 2017. Is it a lot of money? Sure.  But Matt Cain is Matt Cain. (And hey, it’s not my money. Heh.) Yeah, I know I’m talking from emotion here, but if there’s anyone who deserves that money, it’s Matt Cain.

I look forward to cheering Matt Cain when he’s announced as the starting pitcher on the 13th, and I definitely look forward to many more years of Matt Cain starts here in San Francisco.

Now, if you’ll indulge me, here are way too many photos that I’ve taken of Cain over the years.

In honor of pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training today (FINALLY!), I thought I’d post something I drew for fun a couple of months ago. I’m pretty sure I’ve never posted it anywhere except for a small version on Instagram (I’m gidget over there by the way, if you’re into the Instagram thing). Not sure why I never posted it, but today seems like as appropriate time as any to share it with the world.

I’d done a vector illustration of Willie Mays a few months ago, mainly for fun and because I was experiencing severe baseball withdrawal. Once I finished the drawing, I decided it would be fun to draw another Giant. Tim Lincecum was obviously the first Giant who came to mind, because of his awesome hair. After I finished the Lincecum illustration, I decided to keep going and draw two of my other favorite Giants, Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner, as well. I debated about drawing Bumgarner with his FFFFFF face, but maybe another time.

I’m super happy to have a Twitter timeline full of baseball news and photos again. Now I anxiously await the first spring training game and the return of Jon Miller and Dave Flemming (and of course Kruk and Kuip) to the radio. Soon. SOON.

I’ve been going to FanFest for the last six years or so. The first year I went just happened to be the last year the Giants held FanFest inside Pier 48. Last year, after arriving at the ballpark before it opened to the general public (aka people like me) and finding a line that already snaked all the way around Lot A, I found myself getting nostalgic for the old FanFests at Pier 48, where you could navigate the whole thing freely without crowds and the audience at the Q&A stage consisted of a few people sitting on a small setup of bleachers. The nostalgia only got stronger as I waited in the never ending line, only to cross the Lefty O’Doul Bridge and discover that the line I’d been waiting in for hours didn’t actually go anywhere. By that point, I walked up to the crowd at Willie Mays Plaza, only to find out that they weren’t letting people into the park. Those of us outside could keep waiting, but there was no way to know if or when they’d let us inside. At this point, FanFest was already half over. Feeling just a wee bit disappointed in how the whole crowd situation was handled, I decided to leave.

My 2011 FanFest experience consisted of waiting in line for hours and taking one picture of the Willie Mays statue. Ever since I began going to FanFest, I’ve looked forward to the event, because being able to go to the ballpark and see all of the players reminds me that baseball is finally coming back after a long winter. I didn’t have that last year, and the Giants had a terribly disappointing season filled with injuries. Coincidence?  Well, yeah, probably, but I’m still happy that my FanFest experience went a whole lot more smoothly this year.

My favorite parts of FanFest every year have always been the Q&A sessions on the club level, so as soon as I got inside of the ballpark, I headed up there. When I arrived at the Q&A stage, the crowd was still pretty small, so I found myself a spot to stand with a good view of the stage as I listened to Giants broadcasters, Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper, and Jon Miller. I’ve missed these guys.

The next session after the Giants broadcasters (minus David B. Flemming, who was “on assignment”) was Jeremy Affeldt, Nate Schierholtz, and Javier Lopez. Be sure to check out Javier Lopez’s snazzy new hairdo.

By this point, the crowd had gotten pretty big, and since I still had a good spot, I decided to stay where I was. Not that I could have moved if I wanted to. With Tim Lincecum and Buster Posey heading in with Aubrey Huff and Brian Sabean (who wondered out loud why he’d been put on stage with the other guys), people were packed in around the stage. It’s here that I have to give props to KNBR’s Kate Scott for handling the crowd and dealing with the shrieking teenage girls who kept interrupting people while they were talking. My ears thank her.

Freddy Sanchez and Ryan Vogelsong were on the next panel.

After sitting, or well, standing through four panels, I decided I really couldn’t skip the last one. MATT. CAIN. And Sergio Romo and Brandon Crawford. I couldn’t miss that.

All in all, it was a fun day at the yard (much better than last year, since I was able to get into the ballpark and all), and I can’t wait to go back in April for the home opener.

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted any photos. While I work on processing all of the photos I took at last Saturday’s FanFest, here’s a photo of Brandon Belt, who I hope gets freed this season and finally gets regular playing time. (And by regular playing time, I don’t mean hanging out on the bench to gain valuable major league experience.)

When Will Clark left the Giants, I was crushed. Devastated. It didn’t help that the Giants had also just won 103 games and missed the playoffs by one game. Watching the season end in a heartbreaking fashion while knowing it was probably the last time I’d see Will Clark play for the team crushed me. It was then that I learned that as fun as it can be to follow a baseball team, it’s not so fun when you get attached to a particular player and they leave the team. Now that I’m older, I understand that it’s a part of baseball, but that still doesn’t make it any easier to see your favorite player play for another team.

I’ll always have a sentimental attachment to all of the players from the 2010 team (except for you, Jose Guillen), because that’s the Giants team that finally won the World Series here in San Francisco. I’ll always remember all of them (again, except you, Jose Guillen) fondly and wish them well wherever they end up. I have to admit that watching members of the 2010 team leave the Giants this offseason is making me somewhat sad and extremely sentimental. (As an unrelated, but sort of related side note, if Matt Cain ever leaves the Giants, I will be crushed in that same way I was when Will Clark left. Please don’t ever leave, Matt.)

One of my favorite players from that team will always be Andres Torres. I admit to expressing surprise (in a “who the hell is this guy?” kind of way) when Torres came out of nowhere and made the team in 2009. I’m pretty sure if you search the ol’ internet, you might even find proof of these comments. (I apologize, Andres. I didn’t know how awesome you could be.) And then Torres had his amazing breakout season in 2010, taking over as the starting centerfielder after Aaron Rowand was injured. In true superhuman fashion, Torres also had an appendectomy in September of 2010 and came back to the team two weeks later.

Torres became a fan favorite due in large part to his backstory and his incredibly friendly personality. I loved hearing stories about him saying hi to every single person every single day and seeing his smile in the dugout.  You couldn’t help but like and root for Torres. I know he had a disappointing 2011, but I still think he had some value to the team, especially defensively. I’m definitely going to miss watching him play, and I wish him the best of luck in New York. He’ll always be one of my favorites.

“We won the World Series. How would I ever forget the Giants, the fans, all the people? I’ll always respect them and always thank them for everything. I always said I’ll put some part of the Giants in my heart.” – Andres Torres

This week’s Illustration Friday topic is “round.” For me, the first thing that came to mind was a ball, specifically, because I’m baseball obsessed (and currently baseball deprived), a baseball. I drew a baseball, as you see on the left, but then decided to take things a step further. When I think baseball, I tend to think of the Giants first (because I’m biased), and when I think of the Giants or Giants players, the guy that usually comes to mind first is the one and only Willie Mays. So for this week’s Illustration Friday, it’s a double illustration with a baseball and the Say Hey Kid.

Now, how many days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training?

And now that I’m posting this photo, I realize that I never actually wrote a post with photos from opening night and the ring ceremony. Well, there’s something to do this offseason.

This was a fun night.

I kind of love the dreamy retro feel the Diana Mini gives photos. I look forward to playing with it a little more, especially now that I have a fresh bottle of HC110 to develop with.