Originally a shortstop in the Giants' system, he debuted as a pitcher in 1999. He was infamously traded to Minnesota in the A.J. Pierzynski deal but returned to the Giants in 2016. We didn't win in 2016, but if you asked me midseason, we were definitely about to, thanks to the Even Year
... They would need to change the league to 80% feeder prospects and 20% Old Bastards… but would anyone object? How can we start a movement to do this? Who would YOU wanna see out there? My vote? Chris Carter and Khris Davis
In August 2023, I fell off my bicycle and suffered a TBI, a broken back, a broken shoulder, a fractured skull, and other facial fractures requiring emergency reconstructive surgery.
While my physical wounds have thankfully healed, my brain has not. I live in a "zero-session state"—meaning every task feels like starting from a blank screen. I cannot reliably form new memories, and my executive dysfunction is severe.
Before the crash, I was the primary breadwinner for my family as a designer in the tech industry. In February 2025, I was laid off for "performance" issues directly related to my TBI. I am currently stuck in a horrific benefits loop where I have been denied LTD, EDD, and SDI.
Because of the massive cognitive load required to do my previous job, I am struggling to figure out how to ever return to work in my field, or what a pivot even looks like.
What I am looking for:
Does anyone know of a weekly, virtual support group specifically for TBI survivors who are trying to navigate returning to work?
Ideally, I am looking for a group of professionals, or people specifically in the tech industry, who understand the unique hell of trying to manage severe memory issues, screen fatigue, and cognitive walls in a high-demand corporate environment.
... that is, until the robuts are able to get rid of umps and then i dont have to bother with this stupid hat anymore
In the not so distant past, largely in the Sabean era, the Giants had a heartwarming tradition of re-signing their former heartthrobs years after their prime. There’s spectacular examples like Vogelsong and Ishikawa, Barely Left’s like Galaragga, and other categories, all of which I’ll be exploring in this series.
Fellow Old Bastards remember when Kevin Frandsen was the future. It was a simpler time, mid 2000s, when a badass named Kevin Ferguson was going viral as Kimbo Slice. A different kind of badass, Kevin Frandsen, was also gaining momentum with a similar name.
In 2005 he played on the USA team for the Futures game alongside future Giants names like Petit, Melky, Merkin and Ryan Garko - who was the starting catcher.
Frandsen became part of giant expert trivia when he received his 2010 SF Giants World Series Champ ring. See, on March 26, 2010, he was Purchased by the Boston Red Sox. So he never played even in the regular season for the team. However, he’d made such an impression or whatever that the Giants took a vote after the season and decided that both he and Fred Lewis would both get World Series rings despite 0 games played.
He bounced around until, in 2015, it was brought back to the Giants and went 2-11, never appearing in MLB again. One of his 2015 teammates, Stephen Okert is on the Astros right now.
We speak your name, Kevin
Next time: Originally a shortstop in the Giants' system, he debuted as a pitcher in 1999. He was infamously traded to Minnesota in the A.J. Pierzynski deal but returned to the Giants in 2016.
Coming off the '89 Earthquake World Series, the 1990 Giants had some solid centerpieces: Matt Williams and Brett Butler both put up 5.;0 WAR seasons, and closer Jeff Brantley was an All-Star.
But there was another guy in that bullpen: Ed Vosberg.
Vosberg appeared in 18 games for the Giants in 1990 with a 5.55 ERA. But his professional baseball journey is a carroty rabbit hole:
Anything, really, is better.
Hint: Not JVW (pictured), who we acquired a year after he’d hit .299 with a .972 OPS and 94 RBI. Posey had a .957 OPS when he was MVP... so JVW = good guess! you're getting closer
Carlos Santana, the only 40+ MLB player today, needs to step it up
