Batting Stance Guy comes to San Francisco

Posted on May 28, 2010

Gar Ryness, known as the Batting Stance Guy, performs on the field before the game between the Washington Nationals and the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park on May 27, 2010 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Brad Mangin)

 

Yesterday started out like one of the crappy, rainy May days we have been forced to accept here in the Bay Area this year when I headed to AT&T Park to shoot the game between the Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants. I hate shooting in the rain. It is a huge pain in the ass. I get wet. My gear gets wet. I hate wearing rain gear, so it is basically stupid me in shorts and a sweatshirt. Luckily my spirits were lifted after lunch in the Sam Skinner Press Room when I came down to the field and saw the grounds crew removing the tarp, and even more importantly, I saw Gar Ryness, the Batting Stance Guy, getting ready to do his thing on the Nationals television pre-game show. All-time great television camera operator Pete D’Alonzo worked his magic from the first base camera well, Ryness gave a great performance for the audience in Washington DC, and I laughed like Hell as I witnessed him imitating batting stances in person for the first time. After his interview my friend Rob Leiter and I  had the chance to meet him and he couldn’t have been nicer.

By now you might be asking who in the heck is Gar Ryness and what is the Batting Stance Guy? Ryness is a Bay Area native from Alameda who claims to have the least marketable skill in the United States. Ryness became an overnight YouTube sensation less than two years ago when a friend posted a video of him imitating the batting stances of Boston Red Sox players. Ryness is a funny guy with a knack for picking up the tiniest eccentricities of batters as they get settled into the batters box, take their warm up swings, swing the bat, and throw the bat away as they run to first base. Everyone who watches him on video or in person, from fans to the players themselves, marvels at the hilarity of seeing their favorite player, or themselves, imitated by Ryness.

You have to be a little twisted to have the insane knowledge that Ryness possesses. Who else do you know who went dressed as Gary Carter (as a Montreal Expo!) for Halloween when he was a kid? Ryness became a mainstream American sensation last summer when he appeared on the David Letterman Show and and really knocked Dave over with his humor and batting stances. The only thing left to do for Ryness was to write a book, and he has recently released Batting Stance Guy, A Love Letter to Baseball which is getting rave reviews from everyone who has read it. After what I saw yesterday I will be getting my copy very soon!

As Barry Zito’s 12:45 first pitch drew closer I was hanging out in the Nationals dugout shooting candids of the players getting ready for the game when Ryness came over near the dugout and started doing his imitations. They guys on the bench were going crazy with laughter (see Nyjer Morgan and Ian Desmond above) and began calling out requests. Pretty soon Ryness started doing Adam Dunn, who was going nuts as he enjoyed the show. Eventually Ryan Zimmerman came over to talk with Ryness (see above.) Ryness had recently interviewed Zimmerman and Zimmerman is a huge fan of his work. “The guy is absolutely hilarious. We huddle around the computer in the clubhouse and fall over laughing. It’s a joke how accurate he is, too,” Zimmerman told The New York Times.

By the time the game started under some heavy rain my mood had perked up, thanks to the Batting Stance Guy. The sun eventually came out, and the Giants rallied for a come-from-behind win. What more could I ask for in a day at the yard? I wish the Batting Stance Guy nothing but success. For all you Bay Area fans he will be signing his new book at the Twins vs. A’s game next Friday night, June 4, 2010 behind section 125. Do yourself a favor and check out his act in person. You will be glad you did.