SB Nation User Blog: shanghaijim

Memorabilia Collections

shanghaijim — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 05:55:20 -0000

HAVENT THE GIANTS DONE ANYTHING NEW SINCE FSANCHEZ?!? I"M GOING STIR CRAZY—

OK, so, I was curious about people's memorabilia collections. What do you have? How many pins? Any Croix collections of note? Is there some unlikely or weird piece of memorabilia you have?

How many baseballs have you gotten from games? Anyone have a bat that either was exchanged for a notable ball, or flew up into the stands and nearly decapitated you or your seatmate?

Me, I've tried to get autographed stuff, despite feeling like the saddest dork this side of Barry ZIto (I'm not a cute little kid, what the hell am I doing asking for an autograph? Yet I do.) I currently have signed Giants-issued cards of Zito and Wilson, and baseballs signed by Lincecum and Zito. These baseballs weren't signed personally for me, but were part of the "Cy Young WInners 3 Pack" at the Giants Community Fund auction after the Johnson/Santana Mets game in April. I gave the Randy Johnson baseball to my dad.

For sentimental reasons my favorite piece of autographed memorabilia still remains a card Bill Mueller signed for me in 2000. It was my first year as a real, game-attending fan; Billy had become my favorite player, a surprise, since usually I only pay attention to starting pitchers—I guess Estes got too whiny for me; and it was spontaneous, my first time venturing to the 2nd Street gate where the players exit, watching Baker get on his bike, Bonds vanish incognito, Aurilia walk across the street. Mueller came out for some reason, hair still mussed, and a fan called to him to start signing. So he started signing.

Autographs are weird. They're basically excuses to get in a personal space with someone you admire whom you wouldn't otherwise have a reason for approaching. I wonder what autograph hawks feel, if anything. They're just doing it to make a buck, aren't they? Maybe not completely.

I also have a scorecard from a Chronicle ballpark insert that I had signed by Shawn Estes in the 2000-2001 offseason. This was after the Incident of the Ankle at Second in the Evening, so I was wondering if people would still come. People came. Come to think of it, I think some of the people I saw at Zito's Strikeouts for Troops affair.

One of these days I want to get a ball hit into the stands. If only I could catch anything other than colds.

Strikeouts For Troops Report

shanghaijim — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 06:23:22 -0000

Point one: Barry Zito looks scared.

You think he's got it all: looks, fame, and more money than he knows what to do with.

But he's not a natural jock. He's a dork who became a jock. A man who forced himself, and continues to force himself, to play the part he always wanted to play.

Not a geek. No way the Freak. Not precisely a nerd. A dork. A music dork. Like from "Glee".

Tonight I saw him signing autographs, posing with fans, spend more than two hours behind the bar fielding drink orders from a crush of people who were ignoring the other players on the other end of the bar; making change, being interested with people's comments, meeting their eyes as they spoke to him, get up on a table to make his little speeches about the night and welcoming everyone, and singing karaoke badly. He was swimming for his life.

"Uh oh," said a girl I got to know, a friend of his. I was at a small table to the side and they had gravitated there, as did several celebrities throughout the night. I was hoping to get a picture but soon a tide of fans overwhelmed him and I ended up talking to his friend. She smiled sadly and pointed out to me the look he gave her: "Save me!"

It's not an open fear. It's the kind you recognize, and learn to deal with, and use, if not overcome. He certainly manages well.

But I am beginning to believe all this stuff, that has come with his ambition to become a major league pitcher, is unnatural to him.

He's playing the role he thinks he should play, and he really genuinely feels it's his duty—I, a relative nobody, would have squished half those annoying people under my heel, that he spent catering to all night: "Sign this, Barry", "Sign that Barry", "Hey Barry can I get a picture?", "Hi Barry this is my friend Tasha and I'm Stacey, ohmigosh I'm all over you I'm so sorry!" Patient and gracious to everyone. His obligation, what he owes to the people who pay to watch him, to the organization that paid him too much; a duty not begrudged at all, but embraced. Something he admires in the men and women he’s decided to focus his charity work on. Something I admire as well, and, if I'm right, now the primary reason I admire him. I respect that kind of fight.

For comparison, I give you Brian Wilson. The man is the cock in the henhouse, the bull of the herd, the pimp of the street. He's not sensitive. Not at all. He knows to be breezy, he knows to revel in the attention of the annies draping themselves all over him, without giving them too much attention. He makes faces and plays the clown and could be a splashy bartender professionally if he ever wanted to. He has no qualms about anything. From now on, if he's shaky in the ninth, I'll know it's not fear. It's adrenaline.

When to close the night he took the mic and unspooled a full-scale rendition of "Baby Got Back", anaconda and all, he was the center of attention, and he both loved it and didn't care.

Sitting next to him was Zito, trying to nod along with the beat, looking like a kid who had been invited to the popular table.

Notes and observations

Rich Aurilia told me that he's hoping to play for a team "with a chance to win". I mentioned the Reds again, and he said no. But if he doesn't find a job as a player he'd come back to the Giants for some off-field position.
The crowd is composed of equal parts old gray season-ticket/charter-school types, starstruck fans (such as me), and Botoxed, collagened, bejewel-phoned, tattooed, Ugged, bleached, plucked, women. Quite a few of a certain age.
For some reason Brian Wilson was right next to me several times all night. Which is how I got to observe him so closely.
Tony LaRussa was at my table while Wilson was there; I hung back as they chatted. I did not accost him to demand he release Matt Holliday to the Giants. I did not accost him much at all.
Raquel Aurilia was there! She did not sing.
Zito did. As I said earlier, he is a brave man.
But better than Dallas Braden. Who is cool, BTW.
C.J. Wilson hung with his girlfriend in various corners all night. The ho-crowd tried to engage him several times, but he kept the GF close. True to the Straight Edge, he did not imbibe ... well, anything. If Zito is the dork who suddenly got popular, and Wilson the wild man who loves the party, C.J. Wilson projected the man who was too cool for school. I am officially entranced. Also, not too tall.
Zito is tall. Wilson, surprisingly compact. Zito is tall and skinny, and has a little bit of flab around the middle, or so I squeezed. Wilson is rock hard all over.
Ronnie Lott had very few fans come up to him to chat or fawn, except Zito, Wilson, Dallas Braden, Tommy ... uh ... the other A's player, etc.
The other players, including Zito and Wilson, were almost deferential to Aurilia.
Waiting to get in, Neukom walked right past me. I said hi. He said "how're you doing."
Also there was Baer. I said nothing.
More importantly, MURPH was there!
Contrary to rumor, there was no Timmy.
Tyler Walker has lost weight. However, he still turned a bright, sweaty red under exertion. Zito called him Polar Bear while introducing him.
I shook hands with the Thumb. Also present was Chris Haft. I thought I spied Kawakami but I fled. Of course, Papa was there.
My haul: autographed baseball cards, pictures with Zeets and B-Weezy, and finally the shirt.

At the end of the night I asked Zito to sign my shirt. He paused for a moment, blinking and then staring at the row of little figures on playing cards. "Wow," he said, "what is this?" I explained, and pointed out who was who. "Where'd you get this?" I explained that too. "That's so cool, man!"

So, Natto, your little Giants have a new fan. He may be buying some shirts.

Them's Fightin' Words?

shanghaijim — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 22:26:00 -0000

Lincecum is not eligible for my list because he has not yet won 50 games... I do think Lincecum is an awfully good bet for the Hall of Fame. Better than Greinke? I don't think so. I know many people prefer Lincecum's greatness, but I think a lot of that is because Lincecum pitches in the National League*. And, as good and as well-publicized a year as Greinke had, I think many people STILL don't quite get how good he is.

*Just as a starting point: Opposing pitchers have had 173 plate appearances against Lincecum in his career -- they are hitting .095/.142/.116 against him with 68 Ks against eight walks -- add a little of that to Greinke's totals and see what you get.

Guru Joe Poz on SI, article of whom you may already have read: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/joe_posnanski/11/25/pujols.hall/1.html

I look forward to your well-thought-out opinions and cats.

New Broshuis Article

shanghaijim — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:38:14 -0000

New Broshuis Article

Garrett Broshuis just keeps getting better. (Sad AnVil cameo alert.)

Lincecum's CY chances

shanghaijim — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 05:09:42 -0000

After Lincecum was knocked out early in the LA series, Rob Neyer said there was no way he would win the Cy Young this year, and I agreed with him. But it looks a lot more compelling than I (we) thought.

ERA: Carpenter (Lincecum 2nd)

Wins: Wainwright (Lincecum tied with 7 for 4th) (Carpenter 2nd)

K: hahahahahaha (Wainwright 4th, Carpenter not in contest)

WHIP: Haren (Carpenter 2nd) (Lincecum 4th) (Wainwright 10th)

I guess those are the big four stats. I bet some will value wins more, more than a few will look to WHIP. (I mean, if a guy like ME is now talking about WHIP ...)

Also, for the heck of it, I noted Lincecum has 2 complete game shutouts, Carpenter 1, Wainwright ... can't find him, and Tim (with Cain) has 4 complete games, one more than Carpenter.

This may not add up to a sure-fire winning case, but he's definitely got at least as good a case as Carpenter, with more innings pitched to boot; especially now that Wainwright has failed to reach the magic 20 mark.

KLaw at the Sunday Denver game

shanghaijim — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:36:39 -0000

KLaw at the Sunday Denver game

"No offense to Giants fans, but this team is just not good enough to deserve a playoff spot." I'd say this is true, but you know sometimes people get what they don't deserve ...

Jason Schmidt's career might be over

shanghaijim — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:05:35 -0000

Jason Schmidt's career might be over

Gone from LA with a "shoulder injury".

"Cousin It"

shanghaijim — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 18:54:35 -0000

"Cousin It"

OT3: Buds, cans and woofers (headphones and speakers)

shanghaijim — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 03:55:22 -0000

We've listed our hippest choices and our guilty pleasures. How do we listen to them? What's the best headphone? What's the best speakers? And at what price points?

For ages, until I decided to start listening to something other than showtunes, I just went with whatever came with whatever Walkman or Discman I was using at the time. Occasionally I'd buy something that was colored shiny or a different color or something. But all I really cared about was the sensation of music because I was belting it out anyway while being driven to and from high school.

In college I had a pair of bass-heavy speakers tucked under my bed.

Since I began to be interested in band/artist music--not coincidentally, around the same time the first iPod came out, which I bought--I started considering headphones, and speakers, more seriously. I've gotten to the point where a new set of headphones anywhere under $300 is one of those things that I must refuse to want to buy.

I have decided that I do not like a heavy bass, although I'm not sure if that's more because I don't like music with a heavy bass line, R&B or hip hop for example. Right now I listen to hillbilly music and troubadour guitars. For some reason, a cheap pair of Koss circumaural headphones I got idly one day in Radio Shack worked perfectly with this music: bright, airy, open, and felt "live".

My main set of headphones right now are the Bose On-Ears. They sound a little ... processed to me, and sometimes the way they make a silent seal against my ears makes me uncomfortable.

But to be honest, what I go back to are the Apple earbuds on my phone. They suit my purposes, which is basically, listening to playlists I make from various tracks as a soundtrack either to what I'm doing or to whatever project I'm working on. And for working out. I used to work out with a pair of Sennheiser sport-headband headphones and the sweat from the pads after ... ew.

I keep hearing about the Grado headphones. Their retro, midcentury style is right up my alley, but I've never had the chance to try them in person, and I don't like choosing headphones you haven't listened to.

So what do you use? What's your favorite headphone, the one that sounds best to you with your music? And what's the best headphones out there?

~~And what does Timmy use? because Timmy is all~~

Best Baseball Novels

shanghaijim — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 07:27:59 -0000

Best Baseball Novels

Saw this linked over at BBTF and thought it would be good to talk about. I loved The Celebrant and gave it as a gift to the guy who got me into the Giants in the first place. I also enjoyed Pafko At The Wall, the beginning of Don DeLillo's Underworld, which was published as its own volume, although I probably liked it more because of the topic than anything else.