For those of you who don't yet know me, I would just like to start off making it very clear that I am NOT a cleat chaser, or anything like that, but I am a real fan who knows a lot about baseball (well, not that much compared to everyone here, but a lot more than a casual fan) and I also happen to be a girl in her early 20's who enjoys interacting with players. I love getting to know them even just a little bit as people and not just as players, because it makes it a lot more fun for me to root for them. Since I have such a privilege of being able to go to so many games and interact with the players so much, I have decided to share my little stories so that you can get to know them a little bit, too!

At the beginning of the season, someone suggested I make my own FanPosts for these types of things, instead of just putting them in the comments in minor lines. Starting from today (if I have enough stories) I'll try to post like this, with "Adventures of a Minor League Fangirl" as the title for all of them.

Before the game:

• When Bobby Haney walked out to the "weight room" (more like weight bungalow) I said it was great to see him again and he said it was great to see me too. Then when he walked out again he signed for fans at the picnic tables next to the ones I was sitting at, and I was too lazy to get up and get anything signed or even say hi to him. But as he walked away toward the field he turned around and waved at me anyway :) And then later when he was walking back to the dugout after warming up on the field he came over and gave me a high five! This is why I adopted him, because he is so nice to me :) well, he is actually nice to everyone. And he is also hilarious. Oh yeah, I also told him I finally finished his book and he said he is going to write another one when he gets to San Francisco in like 3 years lol.
• When I said hi to Chris Lofton as he was signing on the field before warming up he came over and gave me a little half-hug over the fence :) I love Chris.
• After warming up, Luke Anders, Devin Harris, Jarrett Parker and Chris Lofton all got down on one knee, formed a little circle on the field, huddled together and prayed. (It looked like they were praying and I asked Jarrett and he said they were.) I've never seen that before.
• I can't remember if I ever mentioned the little story with Devin Harris' blue bug here before, so I'll tell it again - after the game on 4/14, as a couple of my friends (including chop!) and I waited for the players to leave, we saw Devin Harris, Bobby Haney, and Chris Lofton leaving in a blue volkswagen beetle, with flower-shaped taillights. As I saw them drive out I started laughing really hard, and about 10 seconds later I got a tweet from Chris that said "don't laugh lol". (um, have I mentioned how much I love Twitter?!) so I asked if that was Devin's bug and he said it was their host family's. A few days later, Bobby joked about it on Twitter (basically saying what a ridiculous sight it was to see 3 guys stuffing themselves in a blue bug). Devin hit a homer that night or a couple nights later and one of my friends started the hashtag #BlueBugPower for whenever Devin did something good. A couple weeks later, I told Devin that now whenever I see a blue bug anywhere it reminds me of him. He very excitedly and somewhat proudly told me that they didn't have to drive the bug anymore, because their host family had given them an SUV instead. Well, kdl went to the game on Sunday and saw them with the blue bug again, so last night I told him I heard the blue bug was back. He said they usually have the SUV but that one day they had to drive the bug and that it'll probably be back again. Yay #BlueBugPower! :)
• When Steve Kline came over to talk to us, my friend asked if he was related to the other Steve Kline who pitched in the 70's. He said he wasn't, that his dad's name was Ron Kline, and then proceeded to tell us all about how his dad used to play baseball, and was actually pretty good, but then had to go to war, and had 3 other brothers but the younger one got to stay back, and he doesn't like to talk about it that much now so Steve isn't sure if it was the Korean war or something else, and his dad is in his 70's now, and so on...lol just that one question had him talking to us for like a minute.
• My friend asked Jarrett Parker to sign after he finished warming up, and Jarrett did come over and sign but told my friend that it's generally better to ask them before they warm up instead of right when they're going in, because at that point they only have a few minutes before the game starts. That's kind of interesting because most of the time when people ask players to sign when they walk out to warm up, the players usually say, "I'll get you on my way in." So a lot of times we don't even ask when they walk out anymore. But I guess if you want Jarrett Parker's autograph you should ask him before!
• Edward Concepcion had the (dis)honor of wearing the bright pink Barbie bullpen snack backpack last night because he was the last reliever to give up a home run. As he was walking out to the bullpen with it, Chris Lofton was walking back to the dugout from warming up, and he was like, "Ooh, what's in there?" Edward stopped and Chris opened it up and looked through the whole thing while it was still on Edward's back. It was kind of cute.

During the game - I only have a couple interesting things from during the game, because I sat in the RF bleachers instead of behind the dugout like I normally do. There are always funny stories when you sit behind the dugout. Anyway:

• Since I sat in the RF bleachers, which are between the SJ dugout and bullpen, relievers and other players often walk back and forth right in front of me. Just like I said after the game on opening night I went to in Modesto, I like to say hi to the players when I see them walk by. But I don't really want to bother them if they're focused and "in the zone" or whatever. But it was kind of interesting when I said hi to Chris Wilson. I said hi to him, and he was like, "Hi, how are you?" I said I was great and asked how he was, and he was like "Tired!" But the funny thing was that he never looked at me the whole time.
• When Chris Lofton singled in the 2nd inning, some fans in the bleachers yelled at him for the whole next AB to steal 2nd base, and kept saying, "Kenny would!! Kenny would!" BTW, I asked, and they are not related. :(

OK, that's about all I have for last night. I'm going to San Jose again tonight, so hopefully I'll have more stories! And I had a pretty fun time sitting behind the bullpen in Fresno last Friday night, maybe I'll make a post for that later. I've also got a bunch of pictures and video from last night and other past games that I haven't had a chance to post yet, I'll get around to that eventually.

Edit (4/6/2012): New pics at the bottom! And I just realized, there is no jump for a FanPost, is there?

kdl and I (along with some other friends) had THE BEST time at fanfest this year. ALL of the players were SO nice, friendly, and funny! Probably the least friendly of the bunch was Josh Osich - who, by the way, is not OK with being called Spud Stud. I mean, he wasn't mean or rude or anything, he just wasn't super friendly like everyone else. Anyway, I'm not really sure how to go about doing this. I guess I'll just tell some little anecdotes:

• I asked Ryan Bradley (the player who I saw at Chipotle twice during my 5 days in AZ) if he had found a Chipotle here in San Jose yet. His face lit up and he said, "I was about to ask YOU!!" Stephen Harrold assured him there was a Chipotle nearby, and they all looked pretty happy about that.
• As I mentioned above, I confirmed with Josh Osich that he was from Idaho and then asked if it was cool to give him the nickname "Spud Stud." I'm pretty sure his complete response was just: "No."
• Luke Anders and Alex Burg were hilarious. We were taking pictures of each table of players, and Luke commented that he and Alex were the "best-looking players on the whole team." Also, they had little name cards on the table in front of them, which had their name and position. Alex had crossed out "INF" on his card and written "ATH" above it, so asked what that was for. He said, "It stands for ATHLETE!"
• When I handed Juan Ciriaco my media guide for him to sign, with the book open to the page with his stats in the minor league section, he looked at it for quite awhile. It seemed like he was looking over all his stats from the previous years. Someone commented that it seemed like he had been in San Jose forever and we all laughed about it. Poor guy though.
• Adam Duvall was THE NICEST GUY. I don't remember what we talked about, but I feel like we were standing at his table talking to him for a bit - which allowed us to hear his southern accent. So, our friend Julie asked him where he was from, and he said Kentucky. Either kdl or Julie asked if he was rooting for Kentucky and he said he wasn't because he was from Louisville. OK now this anecdote sounds stupid and pointless but trust me, he was really friendly when he was talking to us!
• I told Bobby Haney I adopted him on here. He hadn't heard of McCovey Chronicles, but he thought it was funny and said, "What does that mean, do I have to live with you?" I told him I'm supposed to follow him and support him and stuff like that, and then I started talking to him about the book he wrote that I'm about halfway through reading. I guess Joe Panik (three people down from Bobby) noticed that I was talking to him for a long time or something and started making fun of him a little, in a tone like, "oooh, you have a FAN!"
• When I got to the last table that had Ryan Lollis and Jarrett Parker at it, before I was even able to say anything, Jarrett said, "Hey, Lauren! What's up?" which completely shocked me. First of all, last year Jarrett was really shy. Secondly, I had no idea he even knew my name. I knew he would recognize me, and a lot of minor leaguers do know my name now (from Twitter or from asking me). But I had never specifically told Jarrett my name, and he's not on Twitter. So that was really cool.
• As I mentioned in the other post, after I had gone through the autograph line and gotten all the players, I went back to the first table (Drew Bowlin, Ryan Bradley, Edward Concepcion) and basically just listed off players. They told me if they were in extended spring training, injured, or released. All three of them (and Stephen Harrold from the next table over) were so helpful and nice about it. I love them for it, because I was really stressing out about some of the players on that list (and I know you guys were, too)!
• Oh, I also asked Shawn Sanford what the rotation order would be and he told me, but I'm not sure I remember it exactly. I know he was first. Then I think it's Taylor Rogers, Ryan Bradley, Jack Snodgrass and then Justin Schumer. But I'm not sure. I should have written it down!

OK, I think that's about all I have for now in terms of stories. I'll add more in the comments if I think of them, and I'm sure kdl has more. Pictures after the jump!

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First, the important part: I got info about a lot of players who were missing from rosters! I made a list of about 70 players who had been left off of the recently-announced rosters and brought it to the fanfest. While I was going through the line, when I got to Dan Burkhart I asked him about Kendry Flores, Jesus Galindo, and Lorenzo Mendoza. He, Jeff Arnold, and Andrew Susac helped me out with those guys. Later, I took my list and walked back over to the first table that had Drew Bowlin, Ryan Bradley, and Edward Concepcion. I asked if they would mind me asking them where some players were (while they were signing autographs), and they were super cool about it!! My list was a bit long, though, so I didn't ask about every single player. But with the three of them combined (and Stephen Harrold chiming in from the other table sometimes), they knew the status of pretty much every player I asked about. It was great. Before I was done, they finished signing and got up to go to the bathroom, so I ended up asking Jarrett Parker and Ryan Lollis about some of the other players. Anyway, this is the info I gathered:

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So I was just wondering who's planning on going to the San Jose Giants FanFest on Tuesday? From sjgiants.com:

Members of the 2012 San Jose Giants will join Giants coaches and fans for the 4th Annual San Jose Giants FanFest at Municipal Stadium on Tuesday, April 3 from 5:30 PM to 8:30 PM. Admission and parking are FREE.

Manager Andy Skeels, along with his players and coaches, will be available to sign autographs, pose for pictures and answer questions from fans as part of a "Meet and Greet" at 6:00 PM.

Fans will also have the opportunity to watch the team practice beginning at 7:00 PM, enjoy their first bite of Turkey Mike's BBQ this season, purchase new merchandise and play in the Family Fun Zone.

I've enjoyed talking prospects with some of you the last couple weeks and if you're going it would be cool to meet you!

On my other Fanpost with info about what I saw in minor league camp this spring, SDJBruin asked me for information about minor league camp since he's going next week. I started typing up this huge long comment and thought it might be better to just make a Fanpost. So here goes!

When you get there, grab a roster and a schedule from the office. I'm pretty sure they're available for anyone to take. I don't know how often they update the rosters, so note that they may not include players who have been cut from major league camp and may include players who have been cut from the organization altogether.

Guys get to camp anywhere from 6-8:30. Most of them are driven in vans that pick them up from their hotels, and I think the vans come in every 30 minutes or so. First van at 6, last van at 8:30. Others have cars and drive, and a few bike there. During that time, they eat breakfast in the cafeteria, get dressed, and hang out. Some of them do early work on the fields.

If you want to talk to them or get autographs, 6-8:30 is the best time to do it. They're all pretty friendly, except some of them look like they're sleepwalking. It's really easy to talk to them because one of the areas where fans are allowed to go is directly in the path of where the players have to walk to get from the cafeteria to the clubhouse, or from the parking lot to the clubhouse.

At 9:00, practice starts. The players break up into 4 (or 5? Not sure) groups and go to the corresponding fields. You can watch them practice from outside 2 fences. From what I've seen, the routine is each group has a little meeting, they do some warmup exercises like running and stuff in the outfield, then play catch, and finally do fielding exercises and batting practice.

At about 11:30 or 12, they break for lunch and the away teams get on buses to go wherever they're going. As you can see from the schedule I posted earlier, either the AA and AAA teams go away while the A teams stay at home, or the A teams go away while the AA and AAA teams stay at home. If you don't want to get up early, if you come around this time you can catch the players who are playing at home to chat or get autographs.

The games start at 1 PM, so if you come then you are guaranteed to be able to watch 2 games at once. The games usually last around 3 hours. After the game is probably a good time to talk to players or ask them for autographs also.

There are bleachers for Fields 1 and 2. Those are the fields used for intrasquad games and games played against other teams. At the time of the games, though, the bleachers are completely in the sun, and it's the hottest time of the day, so you might want to bring an umbrella or something. If you're watching the game on Field 2, you can sit at some picnic tables next to left field under a tree and get shade there for awhile. It's kind of hard to see the batter, though, and there is a fence in the way.

There is at least one public restroom. The minor league complex is part of Indian School Park, so nearby there are tennis courts, a playground, and a volleyball court, and I think there are drinking fountains somewhere. There is also a gas station and a gym on the same block. Across the street are a McDonald's, Jack-in-the-Box, and golf course. A few blocks down there is a Safeway and I think the Safeway is part of a whole shopping center thing.

Pictures, link to map, and website after the jump.

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Hi guys! Sorry, I don't post here much, or honestly really even go on this site that much anymore... BUT I still think you guys are pretty cool, especially those of you that follow the minor leaguers. :) So I've been in Scottsdale since Friday night, hanging out at the minor league complex every morning from about 6 AM til about 10 or 12. I've spent the past 4 days trying to memorize the names of all 160 players in camp (now about 170 with the ML guys that got cut) and watching them practice and stuff, before going to the big league ST games. I know you guys are super knowledgeable about these players and baseball in general but since you probably don't get to see these guys in person you also must have things you want to know about them. I have one more day here, so are there any particular players you want me to watch and report back on? While trying to learn their names, I've gotten the chance to talk to all of them and I guess I could tell you about my interactions with them. (It also gives me the chance to ask them any random questions you might have!) And then during bp or whatever practice they're doing I could watch for specific things...I mean I'm not a scout and don't know anything about scouting, but I could try. You'll just have to be really specific for what you want me to watch for. OK I'm going to sleep really soon and I'm leaving in about 8 hours so if you have anything, get your questions/comments in before then!

Edit: THANKS SO MUCH to kdl for texting me all the questions and typing out my answers while I was at the minor league camp!! :)

I'm going to buy a bunch of copies of today's newspaper from the SF Chronicle in a couple hours. Let me know if you want any so I know how many to get! They cost $1 each and I can mail it to you for $6. Comment here and/or email me at sfgtweetup@gmail.com with your address if you want one (or more). I also still have extra copies of the other newspapers I was offering last time - the 10/4 SF Chronicle after we clinched the NL West that says "PLAYOFFS!", the 10/4 SF Examiner, the 10/6 SF Chronicle with the NLDS preview, and the special "GIANTS CLINCH!" paper. Each are $1 and cost about $6 to mail. Or if you're going to one of the games next week I can hand it to you in person.

So I've never made a FanPost before, and I'm not exactly sure how this works. I don't even know if anyone would be interested in this offer. So sorry.... But on Wednesday on Twitter, I asked if anyone would want copies of the SF Chronicle that had cool Giants stuff in it, like the "GIANTS CLINCH!" Extra, Wednesday's NLDS special section, and Monday's paper that had "PLAYOFFS!" A lot of people responded, so I went down to their distribution center near the ballpark and bought 25 copies of Wednesday's paper and 18 copies of the "GIANTS CLINCH!" paper. They were really nice! So now I've been mailing them to people who asked for them. Then, before Friday's game, right outside the ballpark, there were little SF Chronicle carts selling Monday's paper and the "GIANTS CLINCH!" paper so I got some more. I don't know if they were selling Wednesdays paper. Anyway, I figured if Giants fans on Twitter wanted copies of the paper, maybe you guys would too. (Especially people who don't live in the Bay Area?) So, if anyone wants a copy of any of those 3 editions of the Chronicle, let me know... each paper costs $1 and I think shipping would probably be about $5. Or I could meet you at the ballpark and give it to you or something. But then you might as well buy your own. I don't know. Also, I'd be willing to go out and buy more copies of future papers like if they have more special stuff like if we win the NLDS or something. I can also go get a bunch of free Examiners downtown (I don't know about old issues though). So yeah, just let me know if you're interested I guess... By the way, the meetup at Public House was really fun today! :)

Edit: I just called the Examiner and they said they have 8 copies left of last Monday's paper (this one) and I can get all of them. Also, I can apparently go get old copies from their office in general, as long as they still have some left. So let me know if you want any other old copies of the Examiner and I can try to get them on Tuesday.

Edit again: If you want any of these, email me your address to sfgtweetup@gmail.com and let me know how many of which copy you want, and I'll mail them to you!