Community Corner

Local Giants Fan Finalist in Contest to Meet Tim Lincecum

Half Moon Bay High baseball coach Mike Barragan, a die-hard Giants fan, is a finalist in the Red Bull Ultimate contest, which could win him a trip to spring training to play ball with Tim Lincecum.

When folks around Half Moon Bay think of the term "Giants fan," there's one guy who ultimately comes to mind - Mike Barragan.

Barragan has been living and breathing baseball since a young age. He is a die-hard San Francisco Giants fan, and loves his job coaching freshmen and sophomore baseball players at .

Now, Barragan needs the support of his community - for he is one of 10 finalists in the Red Bull Ultimate Contest on Facebook, which will award one lucky Giants fan plane tickets to fly to the team's next spring training, and try their luck hitting a pitch thrown by none other than Barragan's idol, Tim Lincecum.

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Barragan laughs when asked how he heard about the contest in the beginning - since he didn't even have a Facebook page. However, his wife Alena, a fulltime florist who runs the shop in town, did.

"I was looking at my wife’s Facebook page, and somehow came across it online," he recalls. "And, being that I'm Giants fan and I would love to go to spring training, I thought, this looks like a fun conquest."

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The contest required that each entrant submit a short video that demonstrates not only a love of the energy drink Red Bull, but a love for all things Giants and all things Lincecum. In the video, the entrant must show off his or her best impression of a signature Lincecum pitch.

Barragan says, he knew right away what he wanted to do in his video - throw a pitch to his baby daughter, Abigale Posey Barragan, who turns 10 months old today.

"Right away, the idea of pitching to Abigale came to mind," he said.

Barragan's sister shot the video.

"She did a great job. She's the reason why this video looks good," he said.

In the video, Barragan evens goes so far as to wear fake long hair under his Giants cap, making him look just like Lincecum, and he dons a Giants uniform. Abigale is seen sitting on the batter's diamond with a baseball glove propped up in front of her. She dons her own Giants shirt with the name "Posey" on the back - because, yes, Barragan says, she is named after the Giants' player of the same name.

Barragan does his impression of a Lincecum pitch, and the video makes it look as though Abigale catches it. In the closing credits, one sees a can of Red Bull with a baby nipple on it, sitting next to the glove and ball.

The next step, Barragan says, is trying to drive traffic to the site and get people to vote for his video, so hopefully, he nabs the grand prize.

Barragan says, he is definitely not used to running such a campaign, but it's worth it.

"I feel like a politician running for office," he said with a laugh. "But it’s been fun, and either way, we at least made our effort, and if it happens, it would be unbelievable."

Watch Barragan's one-minute video and vote for him in the contest on his Red Bull Ultimate Facebook page. Voting is open through Oct. 15.

 

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