"The Beards back on twitter.....Lets Rage!!!!!!!!"

And with that...San Francisco Giants reliever Brian Wilson is back on Twitter.

This past Wednesday, with the World Series trophy in hand...Wilson reportedly visited Twitter headquarters in San Francisco and activated @BrianWilson38.

Within hours..."The Beard" had 4000 followers.

As of Saturday night, he had surpassed 23,000.

According to The San Francisco Chronicle, Wilson's ended his previous venture on Twitter in April 2009 after implying he was partying all night. 

The next afternoon, he blew a save opportunity.

Controversy ensued and Wilson ended up removing all his posts...even thought he claimed his tweets were "made up stories that reflect my humor".

In between talking to himself, appearing on talkshows and being oblivious to "The Machine" behind him...it'll be interesting to see what Wilson has in store for his followers.

Follow.  Him.  Now.

High five!

Deion Sanders to Enter Cooperst, er...Canton

Not that long ago, The Hall broke down some current pro football players that had also been selected in the MLB draft.

While the two sports have seen their fair share of two-sport stars, one player can now puff his chest out a little more than the rest, instead of just boasting (or in the case of THIS VIDEO...rapping) about it.

Why?

Because Saturday night, professional "jack of all trades" Deion Sanders has been elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

"Prime Time", while he wasn't as highly touted as Bo Jackson, put together a pretty respectable pro baseball career.  Over nine seasons (he played 641 games as an outfielder with four different teams), he batted .263 and swiped 186 bases...twice finishing second in the league in the category.

Given his future gold jacket and bust, it was as a cornerback and returner where Sanders was more successful.

During his career, he intercepted 53 passes for 1331 yards, good for an amazing 25.1 yards per return.  Dude amassed 7838 all-purpose yards and scored 22 touchdowns...nine interception returns, six punt returns, three kickoff returns, three receiving and one fumble recovery.

His 19 defensive and return touchdowns are an NFL record.

In the 1996 NFL Playoffs, Sanders added a rushing TD to his resume...becoming one of only two players in NFL history (Bill Dudley was the other) to score a touchdown six different ways.  Sanders brought home two SuperBowl rings (XXIX and XXX)  and was selected to eight Pro Bowls (1991-1994 and 1996-1999).  In 1994, he was named the NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

And oh yeah, the other six cats who will be enshrined in Canton...first-time nominee Marshall Faulk, defensive end Richard Dent, tight end Shannon Sharpe, NFL Films founder Ed Sabol and linebackers Chris Hanburger and Les Richter.

Tim Lincecum is Looking Rather Debonair

As if San Francisco Giants ace Tim Lincecum needed any more of an advantage...he's trying to harness the most awesome power he can.

By growing a mustache.

"I started growing it about a month ago and this is all I've got," the two-time Cy Young Award winner said of his upper lip accoutrement.  "It's kind of sad, but true."

Sure, "The Freak" has a long way to go to match some of the mustached Giants greats (Rod Beck, Jeffrey Leonard and even, albeit briefly, Will Clark)...but dude is making an entire Facebook group soil themselves with delight.

Here's hoping he keeps it come April.

Vladimir Guerrero Settles on Baltimore

The move had been rumored for a while, so when it was announced Friday that plans were in place for the Baltimore Orioles to ink Vladimir Guerrero...no one should have been surprised.

The surprising part of the whole thing...the Orioles have had, quietly, a fantastic off season.

Seriously...an off season like the one that had makes the paltry efforts of division foes, the New York Yankees, look comical.

Now, the beleaguered O's won't compete in the American League East (that job belongs to the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays), but they'll beat up on some of the other American League teams.

Consider this...by signing Guerrero, Baltimore is adding a pretty sizable bat to a lineup that already added some bulk in the form of Mark Reynolds, Derrek Lee and J.J. Hardy.  And at only 35 (he'll turn 36 next week), dude is poised to add to an already Hall of Fame worthy career.

Last year, after signing a one-year, $5.5 million deal with the Texas Rangers, Guerrero slugged 29 home runs, knocked in 115 and hit .300.  The nine-time All-Star will enter 2011 with 2427 hits, 436 home runs and 1433 RBI for his career.

After 15 years in the bigs, Guerrero has a lifetime .320 batting average and it's worth mentioning that the free swinger is just one of four players (Frank Robinson, Dave Winfield and Fred McGriff are the others) to record 1000 hits in both the American and National Leagues.

So if Guerrero can avoid the injuries that limited him to just 100 games in 2009 and moved him from the outfield to designated hitter...are we looking at baseball's next 3000 hit-500 home run guy?

Perhaps.

And without a hint a steroids surrounding Guerrero (and let's face it, you almost have to think that about with everyone nowadays)...is it possible we're looking at a future Hall of Famer?

Most definitely.

Andy Pettitte Calls it Quits...Cooperstown Next?

In a word.  No.

But, first...let's digress.

On Thursday, came word that New York Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte was going to end all the "is he coming back" or "isn't he coming back" speculation and...not come back.

This...from the New York Post:

Yankees pitcher Andy Pettitte will announce his retirement at a press conference Friday morning at Yankee Stadium, ending a storied career and leaving a gaping hole in the 2011 team.

Pettitte called Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner on Wednesday to let him know he was retiring, then flew to New York on Thursday. The Yankees did not try to talk him out of retirement.

“He just doesn’t have the fire in the belly anymore,” a source familiar with Pettitte’s thinking said.

The 38-year-old lefty ends his 16-year career with a 240-138 record and a 3.88 ERA.  His 203 wins as a Yankee ranks third behind Hall of Famers Whitey Ford (236) and Red Ruffing (231) all-time.

Finally...the Hall of Fame debate can officially begin.  And if you consult that same New York Post piece and poll...a tad more that 70% of Post readers think he belongs.

Me?  I'm a "no"...and I've made my case before.

But what's the talk on Twitter?

@raymondbolduc: just for the record, if there's a debate about whether or not Andy Pettitte's a first-ballot HOF'er, i will not understand why.

@VzSports: Is Pettitte a HOF'er? 240 wins, ERA under 4 in the live ball era, and 19 post season wins. Not 1st ballot, but he gets in.

@InClementeWthr: How is it that Bagwell can't get HOF support b/c of mere suspicion of PED use (with no evidence) but people think Pettitte should go in?

@kingrichcomedy: Gotta admit ... 1st ballot HOF, no matter what. Pettitte retiring after 16 seasons

@PCarrESPN: If you take away his postseason, Pettitte's not close to HoF. Playoffs do count for something, but not that much.

@Smokey1920: pettitte has to be hof most all time post-season 200+ wins 5 titles not first ballot but he's in

As you can see...it is rather varied.  So, now I am asking you.  What do you think...is Andy Pettitte a Hall of Famer?  GO VOTE!

Talkin' Baseball with Brad Mangin

Every so often, you come across someone and you have to find out what makes them tick.

Brad Mangin is one of those guys.

You see, Mangin does what anyone one of us would love to do...he wakes up and goes to the ballpark.  Every day.  He's a sports photographer...and, most often, his office is AT&T Park in San Francisco. 

He's photographed everything from last year's World Series run by the Giants to the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta.  In between, he's been to SuperBowls, All-Star Games and even had some of his work displayed at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Recently...I had the privilege of talking with him.

HOVG: The SuperBowl is this weekend and given your love for the 49ers...you've covered your fair share of Championship football. I've gotta know, what do you enjoy more...shooting football, baseball or something else?

MANGIN: I enjoy shooting football, and have shot the NFL since my first 49er game back in 1986. I shot the 49ers beat the Broncos in Super Bowl XXIV in New Orleans in 1990 by a score of 55-10. However, baseball is my favorite sport to shoot. I am a baseball guy and over the years I have become more and more appreciative of the game. At this point in my life I usually photograph close to 100 big league hardball games each season, from the first pitch of spring training to the final out of the World Series. When I am not shooting I am watching on television or attending games as a fan in my San Francisco Giants season tickets.

HOVG: Who has been (or is) your favorite athlete to shoot?

MANGIN: This has changed over the years. One of the first ballplayers I loved to shoot was Bo Jackson playing baseball for the Royals in 1990. He was such an incredible athlete and he always made great pictures by diving headlong for line drives in the outfield or breaking a bat over his knee after striking out. The camera loved Bo Jackson. A few years later (1993) Barry Bonds came to the Giants and he pretty much dominated the scene for me over the next 15 years. Being able to document Barry's career and home run chases was a fun experience.  Recently I have been very fortunate to have two terrific young players to shoot in San Francisco. Tim Lincecum and Buster Posey are my two new favorite players to photograph. I shot Lincecum's MLB debut against the Phillies in May of 2007 and ever since then it has been tough to take a bad picture of him. Posey burst on the scene at AT&T Park last May and was a joy to photograph during his Rookie of the Year season. As he helped lead the Giants to the World Series title I was able to get so many pictures of Posey that I really like. He is very photogenic. He has a beautiful right-handed swing that looks good while shooting him from first or third base. He also is a catcher, and I love photographing catchers. He is involved in so much of the game and is such a terrific young player that he always makes for good pictures.

HOVG: You're based outside the Bay Area...and, clearly, you're a San Francisco Giants fan. Who would be on your "Giants Mount Rushmore"?

MANGIN: Because I have been a Giants fan since I was eight-years-old in 1973, I go back quite a ways and always have to remember the guys who meant so much to me as a kid. Therefore, my Giants Mount Rushmore will be personal and not a simple list of All-Stars. To make it more fun, I will only qualify guys who have worn the orange and black since 1973 when I started following the club. I would have to start with two of my favorites from my childhood: Jack Clark and John "The Count" Montefusco. Next I have to add Barry Bonds. My fourth and final guy to be placed up there would have to be Will Clark. Will was the first Giants superstar I had the chance to shoot in 1987 and has always been a fan-favorite.

HOVG: Speaking of Barry Bonds, do you have any good Bonds stories? I've been to San Francisco and it seems like everyone has something to say about the man.

MANGIN: I do not really have any good Bonds stories. I am not a portrait guy so I never had to deal with him one-on-one, thus I never had any bad experiences with him. I just remember how exciting it was every time he came to the plate. I could care less about the whole steroids thing. Pretty much everyone did them, along with greenies, red juice and everything else. Bonds created excitement wherever he went doing whatever he did, and I was glad to have the chance to document his long and historic journey in San Francisco.

HOVG: Last fall...the Ken Burns documentary "Baseball" was continued on PBS with "The Tenth Inning". Many of your pictures made it into the final cut. How did that partnership between you and Burns come about?

MANGIN: I was contacted by a producer from Florentine Films named Michael Welt a few years ago. Michael was doing research trying to find original photographs of players and events that took place during the steroid era. I have an extensive online archive that is searchable on my website containing over 44,000 images. Michael searched through my archive and found many pictures that fit into their documentary. It was a huge honor to have some of my work in the film, so I took a trip to New York last July to view a private screening of the film that I was invited to. What a thrill it was seeing the "Ken Burns Effect" performed on some of my images in one of his films! I had the chance to meet Burns in a party afterward and he actually knew my name from the pictures. What a great night that was.

HOVG: Quickly...what's in the camera bag? What are the essentials?

MANGIN: I am not a huge gear freak. There are certain essentials you need to be a sports photographer and not of it is cheap. I shoot with Canon Mark IV digital camera bodies and Canon lenses ranging everywhere from a 15mm super wide angle lens to an 800mm lens, with everything in between. I try not to get hung up on camera equipment, but to do the job I do there are certain things you must have.

HOVG:  Lastly, baseball season is right around the corner...what do you have cooking until then?
MANGIN:  Actually I have my first book coming out soon. It will be announced in the coming days. I am teaming with a writer friend of mine Brian Murphy to do a book for the SF Giants entitled "Worth the Wait." It is a 128-page picture book full of my images from the 2010 World Series season. This is the Giants OFFICIAL book of their season.


You can find out more about "Worth the Wait" by clicking HERE.  And if you've got the time (and, honestly, you should figure out way to make the time), peruse Brad Mangin's extensive photo archives over at his personal website.  The stuff is amazing!

Brad asked that I share this picture with you all.  Enjoy!

Jermaine Dye Likely Done

Perhaps sitting out the entire 2010 season wasn't such a good idea.

With 325 career home runs to his credit...outfielder Jermaine Dye looks to be done. Ken Rosenthal over at FOXSports.com has reported that the 36-year-old Dye is likely to retire.

The free agent outfielder has been contacted by the Rays, Rockies and Phillies, and has probably been offered a minor league contract or two, but he wants a guaranteed roster spot and it's just not going to happen.

"I would still like to play, but I think my choices have passed and teams have gone with other people," Dye said Wednesday. "I will continue to stay in shape and hopefully someone will call. If nothing gets done by the end of the spring, I may call it a career."

If he is indeed done, Dye can look back knowing that he put together a pretty solid career.

Through 14 big league seasons (a third of which were injury plagued), the 2000 Gold Glove winner had a .274 batting average, those 325 home runs and 1072 RBI.  In 2005, he brought home the 2005 World Series MVP award after leading the Chicago White Sox to the title.

Maybe Dye can join whatever that is Brian Cashman is putting together in the Bronx.  I dunno, after bringing in Andruw Jones, Bartolo Colon, Mark Prior, Freddy Garcia...adding Jermaine Dye seems about right.

Cursed! Wrigley Field Falls Victim to the Snowpocalypse

Stormageddon.

Snotorious B.I.G.

Snowprah.

Whatever you call the blizzard that is paralyzing the Midwest, I am pretty sure that it doesn't compare to the expletives being thrown around by the Chicago Cubs brass when they found out that part of Wrigley Field's roof was ripped off Tuesday night.

Sure, it wasn't as dramatic as what happened to the Metrodome a couple of months ago...but it is still pretty surreal.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times:

Streets near Wrigley Field have been roped off after a panel from the ballpark’s roof blew away during the early stages of the blizzard Tuesday evening.  A panel of the Wrigley Field roof above the press box was damaged by extreme winds accompanying the blizzard, Cubs spokesman Peter Chase said.

Part of the panel, made of fiber board, broke away, and the Cubs are working with the city to monitor the situation and to ensure there aren’t any public safety issues, Chase said Tuesday night.  Streets were closed to traffic about 5:30 p.m. due the blowing debris, police said.

As a precaution, streets were closed from Addison Street between Sheffield Avenue and Racine Street and also on Clark Street between Addison Street and Waveland Avenue, police said.

Now, the coolest thing to come from this whole debacle is the website I found and, frankly, I could watch it for hours.

And I probably will be.  CLICK HERE for a live view of Addison St. in front of Wrigley Field...CLICK HERE to check out the view down Clark St.

So...when do pitchers and catchers report again?