Tagged: farm grown
Behind the Bobble: Matt Cain, Part 3
Part three of the Behind the Bobble series winds down with the final planning and production process of the Matt Cain bobblehead. These final stages included final approval and sponsorship inclusion.
January 18th
Bobblehead and sponsor must be approved by the Grizzlies before the Chinese New Year begins. Once the holiday begins, the production factory shuts down for three weeks. With the Matt Cain promo scheduled for May 18th, missing these three weeks can be the difference in receiving the bobbleheads in time or having fans wonder why the Grizzlies didn’t deliver on their promotion. As we all know, bobbleheads are not something to mess around with when it comes to Minor League Baseball fans.
January 22nd
Almost to the finish line. If you notice, the green on the back is a lighter shade of green from the front of the base. To keep it consistent, we asked the production company to make the same color throughout the base, front and back.
January 29th
One of the crucial parts of all giveaways: the sponsor. The final mock-up was sent to us with the sponsor added, PG&E.
Sponsorships of giveaways allows two businesses to work together to grow. With PG&E, the inclusion on the bobblehead is a component of the larger sponsorship deal. By including them, they are gaining the visibility on an item that fans will display at home or in the office for a long time. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies are able to offset some of the costs of the giveaway item while still hoping to increase ticket sales for that particular game.
Want to see the final version of the Matt Cain Farm Grown Bobblehead? Come out to the game on May 18th at Chukchansi Park!
Behind the Bobble: Matt Cain, Part 2
Welcome to part two of the “Behind the Bobble” series, showing the creation and progression of the first bobblehead in the 2013 Farm Grown Bobblehead Series. In the first part, we showed the different photos used to help the bobblehead artists design the mock-up.
January 9th
The first painted images of the Matt Cain bobblehead have arrived! Going from the clay to paint is definitely a night-and-day flip. The detail on the bobblehead is great to see, from the hat to the jersey logo to the Grizzlies sleeve patch.
The one suggestion and fix made to this version was moving him to the left. This will help center him more and not lean so heavily to the right of the base.
January 14th
This round of moldings shows the Matt Cain bobblehead moved to the left per the suggestions from last time. As shown in the photo (more visible in the photo from behind the bobblehead), the slight change makes a big difference.
Behind The Bobble: Matt Cain
To lead up to the first bobblehead in the 2013 Farm Grown Bobblehead Series, it is time to look behind the scenes into the making of the Matt Cain bobblehead.
The first step in creating a bobblehead is finding images of the player. We have to find a pose for the bobblehead, ideally with an accompanying photo.
Thankfully, Cain had a historic outing: a perfect game on June 13, 2012. There was an iconic image after the final out was recorded, Cain fist-pumping with a celebratory look on his face. As a staff, we felt this was a great shot to replicate our bobblehead after as it helped us deliver the message: Farm Grown to Perfection in Fresno.
We also had to find images of Cain from his time with the Grizzlies. Pitchers, especially top prospects, may be tough to gather photos of because they might be here temporarily, not leaving our team photographer an opportunity to get a good collection of photos (see: Lincecum, Tim).
Cain, though, was with the Grizzlies for all of the 2005 season, leaving us a bank of photos to select from. We also have to make sure we get all angles of the player to help show the bobblehead producers the small details of the hat, jerseys, pants, etc.
Up next, we show you the first images of the Cain bobblehead.
Farm Grown Fridays Are Underway For 2013
The Fresno Grizzlies held their first Farm Grown Friday on April 5th, and Chukchansi Park was buzzing with all things farming.
Several vendors were stationed along the concourse as part of the Farmer’s Market. Vendors and what they sold included:
- Vintage Cheese – cheese
- Wild West Eggs – free range chicken and duck eggs
- Blossom Bluff Orchards – organic drive stone fruit and persimmons, fresh peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots, pluots, apriums
- Bill Ferry Ranches – fresh orange juice
- Pepichile – fruit and vegetable seasoning
- Adams Olives – bottled olives, olive oil
- Simonian Farming Company – pomegranate jelly
- Friar’s Choice – honey
The Grizzlies Community Fund was also selling broccoli to raise money for its many community programs. Stamoules Produce Company, a Farm Grown founding partner, donated the broccoli.
In addition to the Farmer’s Market, the Grizzlies on the field took part in the “farming” theme by representing their parent club to the entire farm system: the San Francisco Giants.
Over the last two years, the Giants wore special orange jerseys for each Friday home game. The Grizzlies have now taken on such a tradition by wearing new orange alternate jerseys themselves. These are the first new jerseys worn by the Grizzlies since the team did a complete logo overhaul in 2008. The jersey will be worn by the Grizzlies at each Friday home game in honor of Farm Grown Fridays.
During the next – and all future – Farm Grown Friday, Farm Forums will be held in The CRU Club. George Radanovich, former U.S. Representative from the Central Valley, will be the guest speaker for the first Farm Forum.
The Grizzlies look forward to the next Farm Grown Friday on May 3rd!
First Look – Crawford Bobblehead
Yes, yesterday was the “21 Days Till Opening Day” mark.
Yes, we missed it, but that was because we were too busy announcing our exciting promo schedule for the 2013 season.
So, as an apology, we are offering the first look of the Brandon Crawford Farm Grown bobblehead (wearing his Grizzlies jersey number 21).
Baseball Season Is Ready To Get Underway In Fresno
The 52nd Anniversary Hot Stove Gala may have faced a last-minute change, but the evening itself went off without a hitch.
The Hot Stove Gala benefits the Fresno Grizzlies Community Fund (GCF), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that spearheads efforts to assist, reward, and support worthwhile causes throughout the Central San Joaquin Valley.
In addition to the dinner, the event includes raffle prizes and a silent auction to help raise money for the GCF. Through just the raffle and silent auction, over $7,000 was raised.
The money raised helps the GCF’s many community programs, such as Wild About Reading, Junior Grizzlies, and Farm Grown. The support for the GCF by fans each year helps it impact lives for the better all over the Central Valley.
As with previous Hot Stove Galas, one of the highlights of the night is the Q & A session with the guest speakers. The 52nd Anniversary Hot Stove Gala featured San Francisco Giants bullpen coach Mark Gardner, Grizzlies manager Bob Mariano, Detroit Tigers pitcher Doug Fister, and Giants pitcher George Kontos.
Each of the guest speakers had a tie to the Fresno area. Gardner was raised in Fresno, attending Clovis High School, Fresno City College, and Fresno State before ascending to a 13-year career in the Majors. Fister is also a local product as the Merced native attended Merced Junior College and Fresno State.
Mariano and Kontos, meanwhile, were with the Grizzlies in 2012. Mariano guided the team to a 74-70 record – the franchise’s only fifth winning season in its 15-year history. Kontos spent the first two months of the season with the Grizzlies before his promotion to the Giants, where he became a strong asset in the World Series-winning bullpen.
The guest speakers took part in nearly an hour-long Q & A session, which was hosted by the evening’s master of ceremonies Paul Loeffler. Plenty of great stories were shared by the four guest speakers, including Mariano’s expectations for the 2013 Grizzlies, Fister’s over-the-top focus when he is on the mound, and Kontos’ thoughts on how he went from a late trade acquisition prior to Opening Day to becoming a World Series champion.
Kontos was a late substitution for previously announced guest Ryan Vogelsong. Vogelsong was dealing with an eye infection on Thursday, and everybody felt it was best he didn’t make the trip.
There were awards presented during the night as well. Niko Pacheco (Bullard HS) and Rachel Rodriguez (Central HS) were presented with the Gus Zernial Male and Female Athlete of the Year award, respectively. Jay Pruess and his Kerman High School baseball team garnered the Coach of the Year and Team of the Year awards. Gardner was surprised with the 2013 Al Radka Award, which is given to an individual who helps the community through the game of baseball.
The Fresno Grizzlies want to thank everyone who attended the Gala as well as the guest speakers for helping make the night memorable. Now, it is time to start the baseball season!
Where Champions Are Grown
When the final out was recorded on Sunday night in the San Francisco Giants’ World Series clinching win, baseball’s focal point was on two players: Buster Posey and Sergio Romo. Romo finished off the Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera with an unanticipated fastball while Posey received the season’s final pitch to erupt a night of celebrating.
Romo and Posey were two of the 17 players that played for the Fresno Grizzlies at one point in their careers on the Giants’ 25-man roster. The list of 17 is a mix of draft picks, free agents and MLB Rehabbers, but nevertheless, the stamp of the Grizzlies was prevalent on this World Series run.
Torture reigned in 2010. Every night for the Giants seemed like a tall mountain to climb during that season.
In 2012, it was a team-wide never-give-up attitude that carried them to the end. This is not to suggest the 2010 version was a just a group of individuals, but this season, it felt as if each player on the 25-man roster had a moment to shine.
Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and Posey are the more well-known Grizzlies alums, but there are others with stints in Fresno during their careers. Each had a unique moment or moments that introduced them to fans of this band of characters.
Before Xavier Nady drove in three runs in his first game with the Giants on September 1st, he played in 25 games with the Grizzlies. Nady was signed as a minor league free agent after being released by the Washington Nationals. The Nationals, of course, fell in the first round of the playoffs.
Joaquin Arias recorded the final out in Matt Cain’s perfect game, nearly falling over in the process, but he also registered two RBIs in the Grizzlies first game of the 2012 season to help the team to a 3-0 win over Tucson. Arias was a member of the Texas Rangers during the 2010 season when Texas eventually lost to the Giants in the World Series, but Arias was traded to the New York Mets during the season. He had never played in the World Series prior to 2012 and spent most of his career in the minors.
George Kontos was traded at the last possible moment before the start of the 2012 season to the Giants organization from the New York Yankees. He started the season in Fresno, appearing in 23 games and fashioning a 1.71 ERA. Once Kontos earned the Major League promotion in June, he never looked back. In fact, he became a valuable asset for the Giants in the playoffs. Kontos previously pitched in the bigs with the Yankees in 2011, but he did not make their playoff roster. The Yankees eventually lost to the Detroit Tigers in the 2011 playoffs after New York won 101 regular season games.
Ryan Vogelsong, an epitome of hard-work and perseverance, made his first appearance for the Grizzlies during the purple-and-black, home-games-at-Beiden-Field era in 2001. After being the Grizzlies Opening Day starter in back-to-back seasons in 2011 and 2012, he stood on the largest stage and consistently delivered standout performances in 2012 postseason. The Giants originally drafted Vogelsong in 1998 out of Kutztown University. It took Vogelsong many miles traveled, 14 different professional baseball teams and 15 years since he was drafted to taste the nectar of a World Series title.
Santiago Casilla (played for the Grizzlies in 2010 and 2011), Guillermo Mota (2012), Barry Zito (2011), Hector Sanchez (2011-12), Brandon Belt (2010-11), Brandon Crawford (2011), Aubrey Huff (2012) and Pablo Sandoval (2011-12) complete the list of 17 Farm Grown stars on the Giants roster.
When the Giants won the 2010 World Series, 16 of the 25 players on the postseason roster at the time played in Fresno (14 came up through the system while another two appeared with the Grizzlies on MLB Rehab assignments).
Posey was one of only two three positional players on the Giants’ World Series roster in 2012 that was also on the 2010 championship-winning team (Huff was a starter in 2010 but a bench player in 2012). Sandoval, though, was relegated to a bench role in 2010, but he totally redeemed himself in a monstrous way in 2012 with an MVP performance. It is only fitting the likely 2012 MVP from the regular season paired up with the 2012 World Series MVP to guide the Giants offense, banking off experience (positive and negative) from two years ago.
Two World Series titles in the last three years is quite an accomplishment. The Giants are now the first National League team to claim MLB’s championship in two out of three years since the Cincinnati Reds did so in 1975 and 1976.
The Giants deserve each title, but each crown should serve as a moment of pride for the Central San Joaquin Valley community as well. It is one of the few regions in the country that can say they were able to see the World Series champions of tomorrow, today.
Romo threw pitches for the Grizzlies before he jumped to the Majors. Posey was a backstop at Chukchansi Park before a catcher at AT&T Park. The list goes on and on, and we should all be happy to be a part of it all.
Fresno is where champions are grown.
Yard Work 