I’m often accused of having a man-crush on San Francisco Giants outfielder Nate Schierholtz. No denial there. Here’s why:
Talent
Obviously, I’m biased towards Nate. The guy has been my favorite player since he joined the squad in 2007. Nate’s hit .312 in July and he’s also hit six doubles and three home runs this month.
Schierholtz’s season stats are pretty amazing, given the limited number of at-bats he has had this season. Schierholtz has just 261 AB this year (league leader has 427) and still is second on the Giants in runs, hits, and RBI, and third in home runs, doubles, and steals.
Schierholtz is also an assassin in right field, closing out games with diving catches and gunning down runners at second and third all year long.
Who could forget Nate Schierholt's laying out of the Chinese team's catcher in the 2008 Summer Olympics?
Class
Schierholtz is the epitome of class.
Nate doesn’t scream and look for attention from the cameras and he rarely even fist pumps after a big play. All Nate does is hustle to first base every at-bat and bring his helmet back to the dugout after making the last out (an extremely rare situation).
Of course, some of my love for Schierholtz is due to his lack of lack of apparel swag, which I interpret as the ultimate measure of swag.
My favorite aspect of Nate’s swag is his indecisiveness over whether to rock high socks.
He admires Matt Cain’s clean high socks look, while shaking his head at Barry Zito’s and Cody Ross’s ridiculous striped socks.
I believe that Nate makes the socks decision based on how good his calves look on a given day. If he’s been working out and he’s got some definition, he’ll go with the high socks. Otherwise, he’ll keep the pants low.
On the football field, I try to look just like Nate (minus the talent). I want people to see me on the sideline and notice my ankle socks, the cotton t-shirt hanging out of my jersey sleeves and maybe even my Franklin gloves.
Clutchness
You heard it here first, Nate Schierholtz is quite the looker.
This is the man we want up with the game on the line.
Nate has two walk-off hits and has a ridiculous .356 average when he has two strikes against him this season. He is hitting .308 with runners in scoring position, while the Giants as a team are only hitting .224 in these situations. Nate is also batting .309 with runners on and two outs and .600 with the bases loaded.
Looks
If you ask the ladies, the Giants are a good looking baseball team. Fan favorites include Buster Posey, Pat Burrell, Brandon Crawford, Barry Zito, and, even Brian Wilson.
Truth is, these shallow females are missing out on the real stunner, my man Nate Schierholtz. They don’t know it yet, but they’ll come to love those deep mahogany eyes, scruffy beard and buzz cut.
Final thoughts
This is directed to Giants manager Bruce Bochy. Nate’s playing time should not be compromised by the addition of Carlos Beltran. Beltran adds a lot to the Giants’s meek offense, but the team has no shot at another deep playoff run unless Nate is playing every day.
