Tagged: sfgiants
Giants held scoreless against A’s; commit 4 errors in field
Phoenix, Ariz. – The Giants lost to their cross-bay rival Athletics 6-0 in front of a sell-out crowd of 8,330 at Phoenix Municipal Stadium today. Madison Bumgarner started for the Giants and threw 3.0 innings while allowing 1 run (0 earned) on 2 hits to suffer his 2nd loss of the spring.
Giants Get an Early Start for Media Day
Earlier this morning the Giants held their annual media and photo day at 7 a.m. at Scottsdale Stadium. The Giants photography department, Associated Press, Comcast SportsNet Bay Area, Getty Images, MLB.com, Topps and Sports Illustrated for Kids were just a few of the companies that were in attendance to shoot photos and conduct brief interviews with all the players and coaches.
All 62 players in camp participated in the mandatory shoot, along with all the Major League coaches, training staff and a few minor league coaches that are helping out the first few weeks of spring.
Everyone was instructed to wear their white uniform pants and to bring their glove, spring jersey and hat. The coaches went first starting at 7:30, followed by players with the least amount of Major League service time (Gary Brown, Tommy Joseph, Juan Perez, etc.) to the players with the most (DeRosa, Rowand, Tejada, Zito, etc.).
12 different stations were set up inside and outside of the visitors clubhouse and Giants staffers barked instructions and ensured a smooth delivery of players and coaches to their appointments. It took roughly 25 minutes for each player to go through every station and after two hours photo day was done.
Check out some pics from the day.
News and Notes from Day 1 of the Winter Meetings
Pretty quiet day so far on the Giants front as far as trades/rumors go. We’ll see if anything picks up over the next couple of days.
Earlier today, Pat Gillick was elected to the Hall of Fame by the veterans committee, so congratulations to him.
Several members of the Giants organization, including Bruce Bochy, Brian Sabean, the baseball operations department, pr staff and top scouts, attended an awards luncheon today as Baseball America announced San Francisco as the Organization of the Year. It was nearly a two hour lunch with several awards being handed out, such as Scout of the Year, the best field and turf members at each minor league classification, Women of the Year, and finally the top minor league teams at each level.
Following the lunch manager Bruce Bochy did a one-hour media tour, speaking with local and national writers, XM Radio, cbssportsline.com, ESPN, MLB.com and then finally finishing with MLB Network.
Tonight, the Giants will host an organizational dinner in a ballroom at the Dolphin and Swan hotel with all their affiliates in attendance, including staff members from Fresno, Richmond, San Jose, Augusta and Salem-Keizer. It should be a fun night.
Inside the Baseball Winter Meetings
If you follow baseball closely, then you’ve probably heard of the annual baseball winter meetings. But, if you’ve never attended, do you actually know what’s going on?
The 109th annual Baseball Winter Meetings will be in Florida for the second time in five years. The annual gathering of baseball executives, player agents, managers, and occasionally players, will take place at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort near Orlando starting next Monday, Dec. 6 through Thursday, Dec. 9. More than 200 Major League and Minor League Baseball clubs, leagues and organizations attend these meetings.
The meetings are four days to plan for the 2011 season and to honor the achievements of the past year, but the biggest attention around these meetings centers on trades and signings by the MLB general managers. For Major and Minor League Baseball, league meetings for clubs and executives occur throughout the day behind closed doors. There are also other organizations that are affiliated with MLB and MiLB that hold meetings, including the BBWAA (Baseball Writers Association of America) which holds its annual meeting to determine which applicants may or may not gain inclusion into the Association.
The organized events surrounding the industry include the baseball Trade Show, Awards Luncheon banquet and the main social event, the Gala. The trade show attracts nearly 300 exhibitors and includes a lot of different items pertaining to baseball. Companies such as Rawlings or New Era show off what’s new or what’s hot and try to get baseball teams to upgrade and make purchases.
The events are covered by the media who usually hang in the hotel lobby waiting to report on the signings and trades that go down. MLB Network, ESPN Radio and Sirus XM Radio are also there reporting any breaking news.
Officially, the Baseball Winter Meetings are not open to the general public. To gain access to the media workroom where press conferences and announcements take place, you’ll need a credential from MLB. You’ll also need a separate credential from Minor League Baseball to gain access to the Trade Show, or you have to register to attend the Job Fair.
Stay tuned as next week I’ll write another blog post with updates/photos from Orlando. And for all Giants developments, make sure to follow us on Twitter @SFGIANTS.
GIANTS WINTER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM AT AT&T PARK
Dave Aardsma, Matt Cain, Kevin Correia, Jesse Foppert, Brad Hennessey, Travis Ishikawa, Fred Lewis, Noah Lowry, Pat Misch, Dan Ortmeier, Billy Sadler and Nate Schierholtz have all seen time at the Major League level for the Giants, but they also have another thing in common. They all took part in the Giants’ Winter Development Program in 2003, the first year that the Giants started a program that brings 25 of their best prospects that are fairly new to the organization (as selected by the Baseball Operations department) to San Francisco for a week.
Ever since then the Giants have held the Winter Development Program at AT&T Park. This year’s program started on Monday with prospects such as Gary Brown (24th overall pick in 2010), Jarret Parker (2nd round selection, 74th overall) and Carter Jurica (3rd round, 105th overall) getting a taste of what it’s like working out on a Major League baseball field.
The program starts every morning from around 8:30-9:00 a.m. with strength and conditioning drills, as conducted by organizational trainers and strength and conditioning coaches. This lasts until noon everyday and then the players receive a one hour break for lunch and showers. Then it’s time to hit the classroom from 1:00-2:30/3:00 p.m. each afternoon. The classes change somewhat on an annual basis, but there is always a central core. The owner (Bill Neukom) speaks and former and current Giants players get together as a panel and talk about how to be a good teammate as well as a good citizen, how to navigate the minors, attitudes, philosophies and work ethic. There is also a media afternoon with sports writers and broadcasters coming in and talking about their roles in the media. Giants public relations staff also informs the group on the organizational approach/perspective on the role of the media. Strength and conditioning coaches always do a segment on Supplementation and the players are informed about drug testing policies and procedures. Following the classes, the players are taken back to their hotels where they all have free nights to explore the City by the Bay.
Orange you glad to see me!
Let’s make the FINAL 6 Giants regular home games ROCK! We’re encouraging YOU to wear your orange ALL homestand long! Fear not, if you can’t make it to the games or you just want to show extra support, send us pictures of your orangest outfits! Let’s paint the town orange with your tux, shoes, top hats, prom dress, wet suit, skirt, socks, you know the drill. For successful completion of this operation you will be handsomely rewarded with bragging rights and the opportunity to have your picture featured on the Giants scoreboard. The mission is in your hands, it’s time to get creative fans, the Giants know you can deliver.
E-mail your pic’s to sfgiantscoop@sfgiants.com
On Field Photo Day. A Tradition
On Saturday, the Giants hosted their annual On Field Photo Day. What has become a tradition for Giants fans, is also an enjoyable experience for Giants players and coaches. 3,000 fans came to the park early for a chance to meet some of their favorite 2010 Giants as they line up in a circle in center field of AT&T Park. Players then make their way around the circle for a chance to interact with some of the Giants most passionate fans. And I mean PASSIONATE! Some were lined up before 8am.
I wish there was an On Field Photo Day back when I was a kid in the 80s, and seeing all of the young fans getting photos with their favorite Giants players is really cool. Of course, Lincecum is probably the most popular, and getting a photo with Tim is a prized possession. But Zito, Sandoval, Affeldt and Romo were also in high demand, and doing more talking than posing. Some fans didn’t even bring a camera, just wanted to be on the field and play catch.
I was truly impressed with some Giants who were literally pulled off the field, they were having as much fun as the fans. Barry Zito must have taken the most photos, and a night after going 4-0, he was in hot demand.
This is truly a special day, maybe not as popular as a Wearable Blanket or a bobblehead giveaway, but those who attend on field photo day go home with memories that will last a lifetime.
Were you one of the lucky fans on the field? Let us know your experience and share some of your photos.
SFGiantScoop 
