Friday’s Town Hall

In case you missed it, the San Francisco Giants held a town hall on Friday night and if you’ve been missing baseball this was something that left you feeling good on the inside because the Giants have had a while to plan this show and I thought it went pretty well.

Had your player intros, which were alright, but it was a reunion (the good kind) where you’re glad to see everybody. Even new kids on the block Angel Pagan and Clay Hensley were there, even though the majority of the room sounded like they had no idea who the heck Clay Hensley was. Something I noticed during the intros that others caught on to as well, but was not mentioned, was Madison Bumgarner not wearing number 40, but number 23. Don’t know what that was all about. I guess in a roundabout way, only fitting the first question he gets asked is about a bull (the gift to his wife). I love Kruk and Kuip, but this was not their best night on the mic. Felt a little awkward at times, even when Aubrey Huff wasn’t talking.

Jeremy Affeldt was the name spoken most often and seemed to be the butt/bait of all jokes but the guy’s such a ham he rolls with it and is a crowd pleaser. Everybody was very happy to see the stars, and I could list them but you know who they are. Safe to say though that I think everybody’s eyes were on Buster Posey who isn’t walking with any limp or break in his gait that I noticed. He sounds good, is reporting good things, and this may sound odd, but it’s just good to see him smiling talking about playing for the team. Probably the most exciting thing he said tonight though, when asked if he’d rather be helping out with the twins or facing Clayton Kershaw:

If that doesn’t get you excited, I don’t know what will.

Madison Bumgarner probably was another star of the show, as he’s another Matt Cain “aw, shucks” guy in the making. Definitely a team favorite, he already is now, but definitely should develop into one of the bigger fan favorites by the time he really starts getting into those arbitration years.

Angel Pagan gave us no correct way to say his first name… just told Renel, “whatever’s easiest” so of course that doesn’t solve anything. All we know is he stole 32 bags last year, and that should help us tremendously in 2012. He also told us his nickname is “Crazy Horse” because he “only plays at one speed: 100%.” I liked the play hard thing. I imagine the marketing department is loving the “horse” thing more.

Very interesting weekend for the players since they have to do this again tomorrow but with 40,000 screamers around them begging for autographs and to father their children. Just the beginning to a very orange and black weekend.

Happy Orange Friday, by the way.