Tagged: Matt Cain

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Up next, we show you the first images of the Cain bobblehead.

Grizzlies Alumni Report: Matt Cain


Who: Matt Cain
When He Was a Grizzly: Made 26 appearances, all starts, during the 2005 campaign.
Fresno Highlights:
?       Led the PCL and established a Grizzlies franchise record with 176 strikeouts in his
                only season with the team.
? Held opponents to a .218 batting average in 2005, lowest amongst PCL starting
                pitchers.
? Won his last five decisions of the ’05 season, dating back to July 16th.
? Led the Fresno pitching staff by recording 10 of the team’s 68 wins.
? Recorded a season-high 11 punchouts in only 5.0 innings of work on July 28th, 2005.

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Where He Went From Here: Cain made his Major League debut at just 20 years of age on August 29, 2005 with the San Francisco Giants against the Colorado Rockies at AT&T Park. 
Where He is Now: 2010 marked Matt’s fifth full season with the San Francisco Giants after starting his big league career late in 2005. 
Career Highlights:
? Pitched a complete game in only his third start with the Giants, yielding a single run on two hits while recording eight strikeouts in a win at home against the Chicago Cubs on September 9, 2005.
? Led San Francisco pitchers with 13 wins in his first full season in 2006.
? Earned a win in six straight starts and seven straight decisions from May 7-June 14, 2009.  
? Was the longest-tenured Giant on the roster during the club’s 2010 Championship run.
? Did not allow an earned run in 21.1 innings over three postseason starts for the World Series Champion San Francisco Giants.

Smaller Stadium, Enhanced Experience

For many natives of Fresno, it comes as quite a shock when they meet people who relocate to the Central Valley from preconceived “nicer” areas. Speaking from the perspective of a Bay Area boy, my response to many when they initially find out where it is I’m originally from is simple: “Fresno has its advantages”. 
As a young adult fresh out of high school, I was eager to take on the responsibilities and freedom that came with leaving the nest. Luckily for me, I was drawn to Fresno through opportunities of higher education. Little did I know that after just over six years in what I now consider home, there would be so many positives to outweigh any disadvantages.
Growing up, baseball was always top of mind. At first thought, moving three hours east to the Valley was only going to put distance between myself and the sport and teams I lived for growing up. With more consideration, the travel was actually going to be more of a baseball blessing than a letdown. 
Like most people in Fresno I was ecstatic at the thought of being able to watch young talented ballplayers before they advanced to the Majors, but took for granted how fortunate I really was. To this day I kick myself for not catching every game in April of 2007. After seeing the career that young Tim Lincecum has put together thus far from the comfort of my unenthusiastic living room, I can only imagine what Chukchansi Park was like as the dominant right hander mowed down opposing hitters in the PCL.
Following the first of back-to-back Cy Young Awards for Big Time Timmy Jim in 2008, I was certain I wouldn’t let another opportunity like that come through Fresno without being a part of it. Even though the circumstances were dramatically in my favor, I made sure I soaked up every bit of the Giants’ most recent highly anticipated prospects to come through Fresno. With Buster Posey breaking into Triple-A midway through the 2009 season, and starting the 2010 season with Madison Bumgarner, we were showered with the gift of future standouts in our own backyard.
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What some people don’t realize is hat there are always other chances to see future household names, even before they show signs of stardom. A prime example from my experience in Downtown Fresno is the rise of Brian Wilson. After seeing Wilson grind through three seasons with the Grizzlies, he suddenly compiled a record-setting number of saves in San Francisco in the same amount of time he spent in Fresno. While he was just another arm in the bullpen for the Grizzlies from ’05-’07, now he’s captured the attention of millions who “Fear the Beard“.
Although it’s been recognized by some, there are still way too many Fresnans who are unaware of just how much connection the Central Valley had to the 2010 World Series. Not only did the Giants fill a 25-man roster with 15 players who wore a Grizzlies jersey at some point in there career, they were led to a Championship title by a majority of former Fresno Grizzlies.
There still may be several folks who will ask the clueless, “Wait, Matt Cain played in Fresno?” or “Buster Posey was here for two months this season?” questions. However, it would be my guess that the San Francisco Giants’ remarkable run to a World Championship, which sparked an incredible support from communities throughout Northern California, will be many peoples’ equivalent to the Tim Lincecum experience I had just a few short seasons ago. 
Whether a fan of baseball, an admirer of professional athletes, or just someone who wants to be a part of something special, the lesson here is simply not to let the future Giants like Brandon Belt, Darren Ford and Zack Wheeler breeze through Fresno without the chance to watch them play. Staying informed and involved will enhance the big league experiences you’ll encounter down the road.

They Might Be Giants

If you haven’t been living under a rock for the last week, you know that the Giants have survived a bizarre, emotionally draining, back-and-forth National League Division Series against Atlanta and are now preparing to face the monster known as the Philadelphia Phillies in the NLCS. These Phillies have made a late push for Team of the Decade, and could really secure their place in history as a dynasty with another championship in 2010. But first, they will have to get past the Giants’ pitching staff- one comprised mostly of former Grizzlies, including all four in the starting rotation.

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And just what did that rotation do in the Division Series? Oh, I don’t know, only combine to go 2-0 with a 0.93 ERA (3 ER/29.0 IP), walking just five while striking out an absurd 36 over that stretch. Yes, the combination of righties Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain and southpaws Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner picked apart a piece-meal Braves lineup, one that had been decimated by injuries late in the season. Needless to say they will have their hands full with a much more potent Phillies offense, but their collective performance in the first round was pretty amazing.
Consider the fact that Cain was in Fresno in 2005, Sanchez and Lincecum in ’07, and Bumgarner as recently as June 20th of this season. This is the first time Grizzlies fans have really seen the players they used to cheer on in person having an impact in the postseason, at least for the Giants (nothing against Joe Nathan).
And while San Francisco didn’t have much to cheer about on offense, Buster Posey did share the Division Series lead among all National Leaguers with six hits and three runs scored. Plus, Pat Burrell slugged a three-run home run in Game 2, the biggest run-producing hit of the series. He’ll have his chance to shine again against the team that drafted him, and that he played nine seasons for in the Big Leagues.
The NLCS kicks off Saturday night in Philly. Crawl out from under that rock and cheer on your former Grizz, won’t you?

Hope Spring(s) Eternal

It’s another beautiful weekend in the Valley of the Sun. Former and future Grizzlies alike are mixed among veterans and the practice fields are full of players as the teams have yet to make their first round of cuts, when they will send players back to minor league camp.

The Giants hold their Spring Training at Scottsdale Stadium, a beautiful complex with a capacity close to that of Chukchansi Park. Of course, the stadium itself is not quite as big (no upper deck), but has a grass berm that stretches across most of the outfield.

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On Saturday the house was completely stuffed as the A’s came to town. I know this because the official attendance was exactly 12,000, the fire marshall-mandated capacity at the ballpark. It was a nice preview of this year’s Highway 99 rivalry, as rising prospects from both organizations were on hand. When you look at the depth of both of the organizations, it’s easy to see how Sacramento and Fresno could be battling all year for the PCL Pacific Southern Division crown.
Matt Cain, who won 10 games as a starter for the Grizzlies in 2005, was on the hill for San Francisco Saturday. He was shaky early and dug the Giants in a hole, but the offense pitched in and made things interesting. Buster Posey went 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI as the team closed the gap to 8-7, but they came up short.
Today’s game sees a Brewers squad very light on Major League talent facing off against Jonathan Sanchez. Former Grizzly Fred Lewis is in left and Nate Schierholtz is in right, in what’s shaping up to be a high-scoring affair with the wind gusting straight out to center field.
Bud Selig literally just stepped into the press box in the middle of me posting this article, and is now addressing the media, so I’m going to sign off for now. More to come in the next week from Arizona including interviews with Cain, Posey and legendary Giants broadcaster Jon Miller.