With the San Francisco Giants’ upcoming Filipino Heritage Night 2 (Tuesday, Sept. 23rd) at AT&T Park, Filipinos will have something more to be cheer about- newly acquired Giants’ relief pitcher and Filipino American, Geno Espineli. On Sunday July 20th, he became the 12th Giant to make his major league debut in 2008. Espineli also becomes one of four rookies in the seven-man bullpen. He also becomes the 15th home-grown player on the 25-man roster. Tonight, Espineli recorded his first major league win, as the Giants beat the Washington Nationals 6-4 at AT&T Park!
Born in Texas, Eugene Macalalag “Geno” Espineli was drafted to the San Francisco Giants in 2004. This year, Espineli has been playing for the Triple-A league Fresno Grizzlies. Prior to his major league debut, Espineli was an All-Star for the Pacific Coast League and has been named to the U.S. Olympic Team! Now that he is on the Giants’ active roster, it is still unclear whether Espineli will be going to Beijing in August. Word is that Giants’ media personality and veteran, Mike Krukow, has complimented Espineli for his “funky” style of pitching and uniform appearance (he sports stirrups ala throwback style).
Though a small handful of Filipinos have played for Major League Baseball, Espineli could possibly be the first American-born Filipino major league pitcher? Either way, welcome to the Bay Area, Geno the “Funky Filipino”! We are totally proud to have you here!
[Sources: Henry Schulman, Chronicle Staff Writer]
ADDENDUM: Speaking of Major League Filipinos, here’s another one thanks to my boy Khalil. From San Jose’s Mercury News [http://www.mercurynews.com/giantsheadlines/ci_10052899]:
“A television station from the Philippines arranged interviews with reliever Geno Espineli, who is believed to be the first full-blooded Filipino in the major leagues, and Tim Lincecum, whose mother is Filipina.”
Word is that our SF Giants’ ace Tim Lincecum is a quarter Filipino?! Anyone out there, please confirm…
UPDATE 8/18/08: Thank you Nana (see Comments) for confirming that Tim Lincecum is HALF Filipino. As for Geno, word is that he has been demoted back to the minors. Unfortunate news and we know that’s the business of pro baseball. Regardless, keep it up Geno and we hope to see you back soon!
