Interview #14: Kristen Bayless, Gamer Babe
And meeting her husband at a Game 7 watch party
Background: Kristen (Bayless) Shore was born in 1987 in San Jose, CA. She grew up a Giants fan after falling in love with the telecasts and stories from Mike Krukow, Duane Kuiper and Jon Miller. She went to school at Cal Poly and has lived the past dozen years in San Francisco as a CPA. She married Brandon, a Rangers fan, a few years ago and they just welcomed their first child last year.
Love at Kruk and Kuip
So how did you get into baseball? Are your parents or fans?
“They’re from the Central Valley. So they grew up in split territory, you could be Giants fans or Dodgers fans . But they were on the Giants side.
My dad always had KNBR 680 on in the car, like constantly. Flip over to 1050 sometimes through commercials, but it was the sports radio car. So I've been listening to some of those guys literally my entire life.”
You didn't ask to change the station to like Disney Radio or something?
“I probably did at some point, but I think I like the sports radio better than the country music he would play sometimes. Just the consistency of listening to the radio to where around 2000, when the Giants were moving into the new ballpark and there was a lot of fanfare. I started paying attention more. It was listening to the broadcasters that really had me fall in love with it. Their passion and their storytelling is kind of what actually got me into it.”
Alright give me your favorite NON-WORLD SERIES baseball memory
“Besides the Giants’ wins in the World Series, this is my favorite baseball memory. July 24th, I forget the year, but it was Barry Bonds' birthday. I was about 16 years old. And that day, I think we were playing the Dbacks. Barry had this insane catch in the outfield, threw the runner out at home plate in the top of the ninth. Epic defensive play. And then came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth and had a home run to send the game home and the place went nuts. I wasn't at the game. I was watching on TV. And I was like, wow, great baseball game.
And then later that day, my family and some family friends were going up to San Francisco to watch Phantom of the Opera for my birthday and some other just family friend stuff. And so I was really excited about that because I've never seen Phantom of the Opera. This is a great day. The Giants won. Get to see a musical. We get up there, we sit in our seats and I look about 3 rows ahead of us and Mike Krukow is sitting right in front of us. I was like, ‘Oh my God, it's Mike Krukow.’ And my family said, how do you even know that? You're looking at the back of his head.
So at intermission, I found him in the lobby and I said, ‘Kruk! I'm such a big fan and you're the reason I love the Giants.’ And he was so cool. He's like, ‘Did you see the game today?’ And I was like, of course, you know. And we talked about Barry’s throw and winning the game, and I got to meet my favorite. So that was my favorite baseball memory, probably before the Giants winning the World Series.”
That's a random spot to meet him.
“The guy likes his artists, too. Musical family.”
Well, you know, you go to a a well-rounded school (Cal Poly-SLO) like he did, you have to be cultured. Are you a Barry Bonds fan?
“I like Barry. Obviously he caused us, and all of baseball, a lot of grief with the steroid era. But I always felt like he was a Hall of Famer no matter what with his talents.”
What’s your favorite non-Barry Bonds Giants memory?
“Meeting Orlando Cepeda. It was pretty cool because I was in a suite that game through my mom's company. I was looking across at the other suites and I could see him wearing his Panama hat. So I walked over there and poked my head in, the door was a little open, and then one of the staff members that was handling the food said, ‘Go in there, talk to him,’ and I’m like I can't do that. He's like ‘Nope, go ahead.’ And so they let me go in there and say hi. The giveaway that day was a Hall of Fame poster with all the old guys on it, so I got his autograph on it.”
Did you ever do McCovey Cove in a kayak?
“I did, a few years ago, took the kayaks out on a night game. It was really fun. It's kind of funny because you go under some of those street tunnels that go over the waterways. And you have to, like, bend backwards and pull yourself through it. I’m not sure of the the safety standards of this, but it was really, really fun. The kayak folks that were leading it didn't know anything about baseball. I kept reminding them like, what an inning was and when the endings would change and what it means. They didn't know anything, but they took us out to McCovey Cove. And it was a firework game! So as the game ended, you could see the fireworks out there. That was pretty epic.”
What got you hooked on the game?
“I think it was the feeling of, you always have something new every time you watch the game. It’s slow enough to where you don't really miss a whole lot, and if you pay attention, there's something kind of different that happens every time. So I like that part and the defensive players, I think are exciting beyond the home runs and all the strikeouts and things I think there is a really fun element of defense in baseball. And I think really it's the way that the statistics and the numbers of the game tie into the history and the story of the game. I’m very into the history.
Especially with the Giants, kind of the loyalty to their history, the fact that they bring in in their hall of famers. So I like that they were always a big part of it and they always paid attention to their history. I mean, it’s such an old game. So the numbers mean something, you know versus like football with a smaller population. I guess we have some really old, old stats out there. I like to go check out the older stadiums and see the history, especially when you're in places like Chicago and Boston and New York. It's part of being a fan, you gotta go pay respects to some of the old teams.”
What stadiums have you been to?
“I've been to Progressive Field once, had a good time in the standing room only section. Petco. Oakland. Candlestick. Wrigley. Texas. Arizona. I've been to new Yankee Stadium. And then to Fenway. I got to see A-Rod play against the Red Sox in his last series at Fenway. That was pretty fun. There's quite a few others I still need to do, never been to Dodger Stadium.”
Did you boo him?
“Of course.”
Good, good. What was your favorite besides San Francisco?
“Petco. It's just always nice down there, and then when you're watching a Giants game, it feels like a home game.”
Uh-huh… What still keeps you a fan today?
“I probably don’t pay as close of attention as I used to, but it's still my number one team for sure. You never know what's going to come next. I still love the broadcasters telling you new stories and developing new stories and new characters with the team. And so I think they just enjoy that it all continues.”
The Even-year Dynasty and 2014 Game 7
“After graduating I moved to Salinas and then Monterey to work at a Central Coast accounting firm. So in 2010, I was living in Monterey and actually speeding home to try and figure out how to watch the last few innings. I lived with a Dodger fan at the time, and I thought she might have been in the house, so I didn't want to go in the house and watch with a Dodger fan. And it was towards the end of the game, and I was like, I don't think I have time to run to one of the bars. So I just stayed in my car outside my house and listened to it on the radio.”
You moved to San Francisco in 2012. What was it like being in the city for the last two?
“It was definitely the focus of the conversation. If you cared, right, and then, you know, it’s quite a mix of a city where there's a lot of transplants here that don't really care, you know, so then they would keep working. But if you cared, you were leaving work at like 2 to try and go save a place at the bar if you weren't going to the game. And so I remember those days being a little hard on the liver because we were just constantly setting up, like, ‘OK, which bar are we going to this time? Who's getting there first?’
Like 2012, I watched it at the Civic Center on the big screen that they had down there with a couple of friends and we went out celebrating around Polk St. and it was just so much fanfare and people going nuts, so that was very exciting. And then I got to go to that parade.”
Has that kept you closer to some of those friends then?
“Yeah, I think so, ‘cause it's nice to be able to have an event that we can meet up on a random Tuesday instead of having to plan our weekends together or make it a big thing, but oftentimes you just start shooting around text messages, like are you doing the game today and it's like, yeah.”
“Quite a few of my friends are still pretty hardcore fans. There's a couple of Cal Poly folk, they live in San Jose still and they'll come up on like Tuesdays or Wednesdays for cheap ticket games. They're still on top of it, like, ‘OK, here's the latest rookie. What do we think's going to happen?’, you know?
One of my old roommates, her husband's dad has season tickets, so it's kind of the same with them. They live a few blocks down the road. But if we're going to a game like, are you guys also going to a game, and they're like, ‘Yep, we'll be there, come on over, say hi.’
Then in 2014, I watched it at a good sports bar that we knew we'd be able to save some seats at, so I was saving seats for my group of friends. And then actually, a friend of a friend who, unbeknownst to me, would be my future husband, was saving seats for his group of friends. And we’d met before and he said ‘Hey, why don't we combine tables?’”
Did you guys start hanging out after that?
“Took a few more months of running into each other after that, but I do like that memory because it's the first time I met some of his really close friends, and I was there with my really close friends. And we were all going nuts together and then we kind of parted ways to celebrate at different bars.”
So you can say that Game 7 ignited it.
“It continued progress in that direction, yeah.”
Is your husband a baseball fan?
“A pretty big baseball fan. He was pretty stoked when the Rangers won, so that was kind of fun for the family. And of course, (Bruce) Bochy is the best.”
So when you were dating your husband, obviously there’s more to your relationship than sports and baseball, but what impact did the game have on you two?
“It's definitely, you know, keeping up with sports in general I'd say is something we've both enjoyed doing. It’s definitely a component of things we enjoy doing together and watching at home or going to visit new stadiums. Pre-kid, we were traveling quite a bit. So if we were somewhere for someone’s wedding or seeing family or on a work trip, we’d try and work in seeing some games. That was kind of a nice component of, well if we’re going to be traveling to different cities across the nation, let's see if we can work in a baseball game.”
Spring Training
How many times did you go to Scottsdale for spring training?
“We had a pretty good streak going, I feel like. I started going, maybe my late teens until last year (baby was born in February, ending the streak). So more than 10 years in a row.”
That was always you, your sister, and your mom?
“I think we brought Brandon along one year. But it was pretty much a girls trip every year, just my mom and sister. My dad was always busy with tax season. So you think that's OK? You guys go ahead.
Pretty much just seeing the Giants. I think one year we went and saw the Rangers play. Pretty much would always try and see the Giants at Scottsdale Stadium. Hit a few other of the ballparks down there, too.”
How did the trip become this annual thing?
“Yeah, it became became a nice tradition for us. We knew there was a girls trip on the docket. Mom could play some golf and we could all hang out together, get some warm weather and get excited for the season. Earlier on when we were a little bit younger, we get some autographs. I got all four of the broadcasters to autograph for me.”
Buster and Posey
You have your cats that are named after a certain catcher.
“I'm trying to think how old those cats are now. OK, eight or nine years old. Buster is the the boy cat and he’s the bigger one, black and white. And Posey is a little smaller, she's kind of tabby colored.”
Is he your favorite player?
“I think so. I would say he's the one you could point to as being the most consistent and solid part of the team.”
Who was your favorite before he showed up?
“I always liked JT Snow in the prior teams.”
Takeaways
Again, look how important access to watching the games on tv and in person was to making Kristen a lifelong fan. Her parents were fans, but not diehard, bleed black and orange types. So it was a slow burn, with afternoon games in the middle of the summer listening to Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper go off on tangents during the slow parts that built up her baseball fandom and knowledge.
Then you realize that those early days developed so much of the rest of her life, not just the baseball part where she fell in love with the history and the stats and all the nerdy things that accountants love. But it’s also how she casually kept in touch with some of her closest friends, just meeting up at the ballpark mid-week as a single professional.
And then of course the story of watching Game 7 of the 2014 World Series and lighting a spark that would grow into marriage, which might not have happened, or certainly not as quickly, without a couple groups of friends who happened to meet up at the same bar for one reason only.
Also, I’m jealous, I think their kid might beat me in baseball stadium visits at his current pace. He just turned one this month and already has Oakland, Texas, San Francisco and San Diego under his belt (or jumper, I dunno what babies wear). He’s on pace for like 72 stadiums by his 18th birthday.