Political Journalist - Giants Fan

That would be Steve Harmon; a gent I don't know and never heard of until a few days ago. He's self-admittedly been a fan since 1968. (ten fewer years than moi, so obviously I missed something along the way.)  Professionally he first covered the Giants for the local Vacaville paper and later, the Sacramento Union during the Roger Craig, Will Clark, and Big Daddy years of 1986-90.

He than moved on to political reporting where he is currently engaged by the Bay Area Newsgroup's Contra Costa Times as a political reporter covering the shenanigans of the pols in Sacramento. A job most would consider "challenging" I suspect. But as his blog profile states, writing professionally about politics gives him the opportunity to write about the San Francisco Giants as a fan. Which for other Giants fans, that is a plus. Its kind of like playing beer-league softball and having Mike Krukow in your dugout.
So what does that mean?  It means, you get the investigative instincts of a guy who is surrounded by silver-tongued devils always looking for an edge; the observational acumen of someone who has to see the forest through the trees, and the knowledge and experience of one who has followed the Giants for 43 years. All of that and the willingness and skill to write elegantly and informatively on any topic about one of the most interesting teams in professional sports. That is a rare combination and one that I appreciate, and I don't like the work of most blogs  and/or sports writers in general.
And it doesn't cost a cent. All you have to do is click on a link to Steve's blog or follow him on twitter at ssharmon.  Here's a small sample. Steve writes at length, but never wastes words or runs off the tracks.  And this is just a random snippet from some of his observations. This one on Pablo Sandoval. As insightful an observation as you will see from somebody who is looking at the same things you and I are, but with a perspective just not often found in today's news cycle.

"Just a thought on Pablo Sandoval, who extended his hitting streak to 22 (if you want to count the All-Star game, it's 23). Forget what Tim McCarver said in the All-Star game telecast (maybe the worst ever in the history of the game) about Sandoval getting as many hits on bad balls as good pitches. That was old Conventional Wisdom. Last year's news.

This year, and particularly the last 10 or 15 games, Sandoval has become as disciplined a hitter on the Giants. He has learned to lay off pitchers pitches, build the count to favor him. The irony is this: pitchers still try to get him to bite outside of the strike zone, and are falling behind in the count as a result. Hence, Sandoval is getting great count leverage, getting good pitches to hit on 2-0 or 3-1 counts."

And you know what? He's absolutely right. Sandoval is indeed a disciplined hitter. Disciplined meaning working the count in his favor by not chasing pitches he can't drive. And that is a pitcher's worst nightmare. A guy talented enough to drive pitches outside of the strikezone, but good enough to not chase pitches he can't drive.

Steve also pointed out that the Buck/McCarver crew completely looked like two big green chunks of stupid with their prejudicial take on Sandoval's hitting. And that was he laid off two really tough pitches before he raked that double over the fence. Nobody in media picked that up except Steve that I am aware of; and that was buried in the middle of the rest of his piece about Aubrey Huff, which should also pump up Giants fans in addition to his observations about Sandoval.

Steve is not only a fan and a believer, but he gives you good solid evidence to support his beliefs, as well as your own hopes. Being a fan requires some hope and faith of course. But like they say, faith can move mountains, but you better bring a shovel. Steve provides some pretty high-quality shovels.