San Francisco Giants 2017 Oscar Winners

Last off-season, as Oscar nominations were announced, we decided at Around the Foghorn to get creative with the categories and create our own nominations for the 2016 San Francisco Giants.

This year, we have decided to bring it back.

We will be looking at the following categories with our own baseball twists: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in a Starring Role, Best Actor in a Supporting Role,  Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Foreign Language Film, Best Short Film (Live Action), Best Sound Mixing, and Best Song.

For Best Picture, we will literally look at the best photos taken in 2017.

For Best Director, we will look at the coaches as well as the front office.

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For Best Actor will look at the everyday lineup and starting pitchers.

For Best Supporting Actor will look at the bench and bullpen.

Best Original Screenplay will look at some of the best original commercials and player generated videos online.

Best Adapted Screenplay will look at the best Giants beat writers.

Best Short Film will look at the best GIFs online.

Best Song will look at the best walk up or walk out music on the Giants.

And finally, Best Sound Mixing will be awarded to the best song Team DJ Brandon Crawford came up with during the final home game for his teammates.

Here are the nominees.

Best Director

When you lose all but 64 games in a 162 game season, choosing a winner for Best Director is harder than in previous seasons. With the shakeup in the coaching staff, several coaches who have been revered for years like Dave Righetti and Mark Gardner, find themselves in new roles. Brian Sabean and Bobby Evans were not able to fix the problems during the season and manager Bruce Bochy at the end of the season had 98 losses attached to his name.

Nominees:

Bruce Bochy

Despite a down season, the Giants had very little turmoil in the locker room and hardly anything negative was ever made public. For a team that nearly lost 100 games, that is pretty remarkable. While no award should be given for that feat, this season could have been much worse had Bochy not been able to manage the locker room.

Bobby Evans

Evans won this award last season for his signings of Cueto and Jeff Samardzija and Denard Span and for his in season trades of Eduardo Nunez, Will Smith and Matt Moore.

As 2017 began, Smith was already out with Tommy John surgery, Moore was the worst starter in the National League and Span was the worst defensive center fielder in baseball. Nunez, who ended up having a strong year, was traded to Boston and Cueto couldn’t seem to stay healthy. Samardzija was the only addition from 2016 that had any kind of consistency in 2017.

Then, when you add the big splash addition of Mark Melancon, and the mighty struggles he had in 2017 to be consistent and stay healthy, it seemed like a perfect storm for Evans.

While he did add Sam Dyson, there was little to cheer about last season with the moves made by the general manager.

Dave Righetti

The only pitching coach Matt Cain ever knew was the team’s pitching coach for 19 seasons. Despite being moved into a front office role after the season, Righetti’s resume alone merits consideration for this award. His ability to be the calm during the storm for personalities like Madison Bumgarner, Cain, Tim Lincecum, Brian Wilson, Sergio Romo, Santiago Casilla, Jeremy Affeldt, Javier Lopez, Jonathan Sanchez and more proves just how invaluable he was for so many years.

John Barr

The winner this season is a little bit outside conventional thinking, but in a year where the team struggled so much at the major league level, this award should go to someone who went outside their comfort zone and found a star.

Heliot Ramos, the team’s first round draft pick in June, is already considered one of the top 100 prospects in all of baseball. With the 17th pick in the draft, the Giants found a player who has leapfrogged his entire draft class as the only member of the class to be named.

If the Giants are going to turn their fortunes around in the long term, it might begin when Ramos steps into the batter’s box at AT&T park for the first time.

For that reason alone, John Barr is the WINNER of the 2017 Giants Oscar for Best Director.

Best Actor

Madison Bumgarner is not a nominee for Best Actor in a Starting Role in 2017. If there is one sentence that says everything Giants fans need to say to explain how bad 2017 was, it is that. The team’s unquestioned ace missed most of the season after his infamous dirt bike accident and while he put up good numbers when he did pitch, he just had nowhere near the kind of season we are used to seeing from Mad Bum.

Nominees: 

Brandon Belt

Belt had another Belt season, hitting home runs at a higher clip than people give him credit for while not hitting enough home runs to make Giants fans happy. He continued to have a higher on base percentage than a typical first baseman and continued to have a better glove than a typical first baseman. And yet, he was nowhere near what many fans want from their first baseman. That being said, Belt still ended up having a strong year as both a hitter and a fielder and had a concussion not ended his season, he would have ended with career highs in several categories.

Brandon Crawford

Even know his bat was non existent in the first half of the season, his glove never took a day off and still helped lead the Giants on defense. As the second half began, so did Crawford’s bat. He was able to end the season with respectable numbers and that says a lot going into 2018. Had Brandon and the team not struggled so badly before the All-Star break, Crawford could have easily won this award and the team could have been in the hunt for the playoffs.

Jeff Samardzija

With Bumgarner out for much of the season and Cueto in and out of the rotation with injuries, Samardzija was the clear rock of the rotation. His strikeout to walk ratios throughout the season were staggering and his success on the mound translated to the strongest season among the starting staff

Buster Posey

The face of the franchise had another strong season for the Giants. In a year where the entire lineup struggled, Posey was the one bat that stayed consistent throughout. Posey’s power numbers did drop once again and teams had an easy time pitching around Posey with the rest of the lineup in a free fall.

Posey managed the staff and the middle of the order as best he could and while the wins didn’t come, the consistency did.

Buster Posey is the WINNER of the 2017 Giants Oscar for Best Actor in a Starting Role. 

Best Supporting Actor

This was a year where the Giants seemed to struggle everywhere. They didn’t have power in the middle of their lineup, defense in their outfield, consistency in their starting staff or set roles in their bullpen.

Despite all the struggles, a few key supporting cast members did shine for the Giants in 2017.

Sam Dyson

Dyson was basically given to the Giants in July after a rough start to his 2017 season. The Giants, who had plenty of troubles of their own, figured it couldn’t hurt to trade for a guy who had 38 saves in 2016 and a dominant sinker when he was right. The move paid off and Dyson became the team’s closer when Mark Melancon was injured.

Cory Gearrin

For all the struggles of the bullpen, Gearrin quietly had a strong season, posting a Wins Above Replacement over 2, which is impressive for any relief pitcher. While other pitchers received more attention before during and even after the season, the former left fielder had as good a season as any pitcher on the staff.

Kelby Tomlinson

The man referred to as Specs for his black rim glasses, resembles Clark Kent on the diamond. It was his play during the 2017 season and throughout his career that really has Giants fans excited. He has improved not only at the plate, but also in the field. While he may never become Superman, he has become an important piece to the puzzle of building a 25 man roster.

Nick Hundley

In his first season with the Giants, he received the team’s highest honor at the end of the season, winning the Willie Mac Award. It is hard for a part time closer, an underrated relief pitcher and a man known as much for his glasses as his play to defeat a man the entire team honor.

Nick Hundley is your WINNER of the 2017 Giants Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Best Original Screenplay

The Giants have had some hilarious commercials over the years and there were a few that made the cut this season.

Nominees:

Buster Posey and Puppies

Buster and puppies are a match made in heaven for many Giants fans and his promotion for the Buster Hug blanket with puppies named Buster laying on the blanket took cute to another level.

Brandon and Brandon

Crawford and Belt have had success in past seasons together in commercials. After the season, the two Brandons came together on Facebook for a game of Box of Lies. In the second installment, Belt attempted to trick Crawford and it did not go well.

George Kontos Fireworks

Former Giants pitcher George Kontos finally got his own commercial at the start of the 2017 season and it was to promote fireworks night. He was really excited about it.

Meet the Posey’s

Posey has had some great commercials with Toyota in the past, and this year is no exception. As his wife and dog head to the dog park, a man is seen playing fetch with his dog. He is using a plastic toy to help fling his ball further. Meanwhile, Posey steps out of the car and sends his ball a little bit further. The man sees the throw and immediately tosses the toy into the garbage can. It is not only hilarious, but it is the best of the year and the WINNER of the 2017 Giants Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Giants needed strong writers in a down season to help deal with the season that was 2017 and there was no shortage of great writing in the Bay Area when it came to the Giants.

Nominees: 

Andrew Baggarly

Alex Pavlovic

Hank Schulman

Grant Brisbee

These four have separated themselves from the rest and established themselves as the voices of reason in a hectic season.

While the team is in the dump, it takes humor to get you out of it and escape the pain. Grant Brisbee and his hilarious interpretations on the Giants helped fans smile after so many losses.

In such a prestigious group of writers, Grant Brisbee was able to separate himself from the group by giving Giants fans a brand of humor they needed and be selected the WINNER of the 2017 Giants Oscar for Best Adated Screenplay.

Best Short Film

GIFs have become an important part of baseball, as many fans use them to react to situations. From a Posey thumbs up to Bumgarner fist pump, fans have come up with some creative ways to embed Giants into almost any situation. There are also videos that are simply so hilarious or unique or interesting, that they stand alone.

Nominees:

Slow Down Hunter

With Johnny Cueto on the bases, Hunter Pence crushed a home run. Cueto had no interest in running around the bases and asked Pence to slow down. As they both trotted across home plate, we were rewarded with this GIF:

Speed Up Hunter

Cueto knows that Pence gives 110% every moment he is on the field and this GIF is proof of that as Pence nearly catches teammate Denard Span to home plate.

Bumgarner Smiles

Even Bumgarner smiles, and we have proof.

Duane Kuiper is the GOAT 

The best moment of the 2017 season may have happened in the stands. A fan wearing a Duane Kuiper jersey had an easy foul ball drop out of his hand and he was distraught to say the least.

Then, Kuiper left his radio booth and walked all the way over to the 300 section and snuck up on the depressed fan with a gift, an autographed baseball.

Even in a down year, the broadcasters can bring us back.

Of course, one GIF can’t tell the whole story. The WINNER of the 2017 Giants Oscar for Best Short Film goes to this sequence from A Fan and Kuip.

Best Song

Every player has their own theme music now. It is one of the things that is truly awesome about baseball. Instead of just Hall of Fame closers like Mariano Rivera and Trevor Hoffman coming out to Metallica’s Enter Sandman or AC/DC’s Hell’s Bells, all players get to have some fun with their entrance music.

Nominees:

Brandon Belt “Spin Me Round”

Dead or Alive only had one hit song and Belt using that hit to have some fun with his intro music is worth celebrating.

Brandon Crawford “Midnight Machine Gun Rhymes and Alibis”

Andre Nickitina is a Bay Area legend, so Crawford using his music is a nice tribute to his hometown.

Jeff Samardzija “In Bloom”

Nirvana is always a great idea for intro music, and In Bloom is no exception.

Hunter Pence “Game of Thrones”

As an avid Games of Thrones fan, it was no surprise when Pence decided to change his walk up music to the Game of Thrones music this season. It was hands down the most unique selection of the season, which is also what we always expect with Hunter.

Hunter Pence is the WINNER of the 2017 Giants Oscar for Best Song.

Next: Another Hall of Fame Class without Barry Bonds

Best Sound Mixing

The best of DJ Crawford at the final home game of the season.

Nominees: 

Matt Cain “Like It’s the Last Time”

Sentimental choice.

Nick Hundley “I’ll Be Back”

A little GM in Craw.

Austin Slater “The Saved By the Bell Theme Song”

Nostalgia at it’s finest.

Pablo Sandoval “Sorry”

To forgive is divine. Crawford wins for this one. Justin Bieber’s Sorry for Pablo is the WINNER of the 2017 Giants Oscar for Best Sound Mixing.