2012 Sons of Johnnie LeMaster Shirts Have Arrived!

The crack of the bat, the pop of the glove, the smell of cut grass, and new shirts from the Sons of Johnnie LeMaster. If that doesn't define baseball, we don't know what does! After months of trying to determine what our 2012 shirts should look like, we finalized our design several weeks ago, and yesterday they arrived from our vendor.

The front of our shirt is unchanged from last year, but the back of the shirt is where the real changes are. First, we replaced LeMaster and inserted BOO to the nameplate area of the shirt, this was chosen to honor the 1979 game vs. Montreal in which Johnnie wore the "BOO" jersey. Second, we used a different font for the numbers. Third, we incorporated a Gary Carter memorial design to the sleeve (on the men's shirts), and on the left chest (on the women's shirts).

Less than 50 of these shirts were printed and are being distributed (for free) to those that embody the diehard spirit of a San Francisco Giants fan. Unfortnately, none of our shirts are for sale ... we are not looking to profit from our shirts, we're just looking to share our passion with like-minded diehard Giants fans - plain and simple.

For those of you that have or are about to receive one ... wear it with pride!

The few, the proud, the Sons of Johnnie LeMaster ... see you at the yard in 2012!

Front (men's)

Back (men's)

Left Sleeve (men's)

Front (women's)

Back (women's)

New Restaurant/Entertainment Option Opening Up Near AT&T Park

Well, it's official ... the old Border's bookstore location on the corner of 3rd and King streets will open up as Lucky Strike Lanes bowling alley on March 9. Unlike your old school bowling facility, Lucky Strike is bit more pimped out and features a full-service bar.

We imagine that this will be a hit for pre and post game festivities once the season starts.

Lucky Strike Lanes

Our Projected SF Giants Opening Day Lineup

So here it goes, before the first intersquad game even takes place, we're gonna guess the opening day lineup ...

1. Pagan (LF)
2. Sanchez (2B)
3. Cabrera (CF)
4. Posey (C)
5. Sandoval (3B)
6. Belt (1B)
7. Schierholtz (RF)
8. Crawford (SS)
9. Lincecum (P)

We're thinking Belt has to be in the lineup, even if you have a washup making $10 million this year sitting on the bench. The key to this lineup is Freddy's health, if he's not 100%, then the lineup is influx.

Rest In Peace - Gary Carter

Another sad day for baseball ... former SF Giants, Gary Carter, lost his battle with brain cancer today. Last year we wrote a blog post about our encounter with Gary during the 1990 season. Read it, if you haven't already done so.

One thing is for sure, The Kid's spirit will live on. RIP Gary.

Gary Carter 1954-2012

FOX Sports Schedules SF Giants Nine Times in 2012

FOX Sports released their MLB on FOX 2012 schedule today, and the Giants are scheduled to appear on nine broadcasts for the upcoming season. In fact, the Giants join the Red Sox, Cubs, and Yankees with the most amount of appearances on FOX for the upcoming season.

Listed below are the nine Giants games that will be televised on FOX Sports.

April 7, 2012 (3:30 PM ET)

San Francisco Giants at Arizona Diamondbacks

May 5, 2012 (3:30 PM ET)

Milwaukee Brewers at San Francisco Giants

June 2, 2012 (7:00 PM ET)

Chicago Cubs at San Francisco Giants

June 23, 2012 (7:00 PM ET)

San Francisco Giants at Oakland Athletics

July 21, 2012 (3:30 PM ET)

San Francisco Giants at Philadelphia Phillies

August 18, 2012 (3:30 PM ET)

San Francisco Giants at San Diego Padres

August 25, 2012 (3:30 PM ET)

Atlanta Braves at San Francisco Giants

September 1, 2012 (3:30 PM ET)

San Francisco Giants at Chicago Cubs

September 8, 2012 (3:30 PM ET)

Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants

Tim Lincecum Bobblehead Beer Tap Handle!

This tidbit comes to us from the Sons of Johnnie LeMaster Insider, @hankola, who has notified us that a gastropub in Long Beach called Beachwood Brewing & BBQ has turned a 2011 Tim Lincecum bobblehead stadium giveaway into a beer tap handle. As it turns out, the establishment has typically accepted various trophies from patrons and then transforms them into beer tap handles. This might be the first bobblehead beer tap handle ever made or seen.

From what we understand, the bobblehead was donated to the gastropub with the idea they would transform it to a beer handle. The beer currently being served by Tim Lincecum, is a Ballast Point Sculpin IPA, sounds good to us.

Maybe some San Francisco bars will get creative too, and start getting rid of those boring tap handles, and have some bobblehead beer handles with some of our favorite Giants!

ESPN Sunday Night Baseball 2012 Schedule

After appearing on three ESPN Sunday Night Baseball telecasts in 2011, the SF Giants are scheduled for zero appearances in the first half of the 2012 schedule that was recently released. I guess missing the postseason does that to a club. Anyways, good riddance, those Sunday night games at AT&T Park screwed with our weekend routine and travel plans. The 2012 schedule below is listed through July 22, but it should be noted that ESPN will make selections three weeks in advance for the games in June and July 29; and two weeks in advance for games in August and September.

April 8	ChiSox at Rangers
April 15	Angels at Yankees
April 22	Yankees at Red Sox
April 29	Rays at Rangers
May 6	Phillies at Nationals
May 13	Angels at Rangers
May 20	Cardinals at Dodgers
May 27	Nationals at Braves
June 3-July 1	TBD
July 8	Yankees at Red Sox
July 15	Cardinals at Reds
July 22-Sept. 23

ESPN Sunday Night Baseball at AT&T Park

Reds v. Giants, June 12, 2011

Modest Physical Changes to AT&T Park

The SF Giants communications department commented earlier in the week that some changes are being implemented to the physical layout of AT&T Park. According to the Giants, the promenade level near the left field corner is being widened to help with the ingress and egress of game day crowds, and to provide for better sight lines to the field. In addition, the bridge from the left field corner to the bleachers is being expanded. If you've ever sat in the bleachers and taken the bridge to go to your seats, you know how jam packed the bridge can become. So kudos to the Giants on making these changes.

AT&T Park