KELSEYVILLE >> You can see the San Francisco Giants’ 2010, 2012 and 2014 World Series trophies up close and personal Jan. 8 when they visit Kelseyville High School as part of the World Champions 2014 Trophy Tour sponsored by Bank of America.
The trophies will be on display from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Kelseyville Junior Giants, sponsored by the Lake County Sheriff’s Activity League, are working together with Lake County Youth Services, sponsors of the Clearlake Junior Giants, to turn the event into a fundraiser. All proceeds support Junior Giants baseball in Lake County, which provides a free instructional league for players during the summer months.
The Kelseyville Junior Giants are asking a $2 donation per person at the door while Lake County Youth Services will sell tickets for a 50-50 raffle.
Dan Camacho, commissioner for Kelseyville Junior Giants, applied in early November to host a stop on the Trophy Tour. He was notified three weeks ago that Kelseyville made the cut. In fact, Kelseyville is the second stop on a tour that kicks off Jan. 7 when the three trophies visit Raley Field in Sacramento, the new home for the Giants’ Triple-A minor league affiliate.
“I do it more as a community-type thing,” Camacho said of his successful bid to include Lake County on the Trophy Tour for the second time in the last three years. After the Giants’ win over the Detroit Tigers in the 2012 World Series, the 2010 and 2012 World Series trophies visited the Marge Alakszay Center in Lakeport.
Camacho is hoping to raise more than the $400 the Kelseyville Junior Giants received in 2012. All proceeds benefit the team, which provided a free baseball league to boys and girls during the summer months. While there is no admission fee to see the trophies at Kelseyville, the $2 donation helps out the league. Of the thousands of fans who viewed the trophies when they visited Lakeport in 2012, very few kicked in a donation for Junior Giants.
“I was kind of surprised,” Camacho said.
Plans are in the works, according to Camacho, for the trophies to be escorted down Main Street in Kelseyville on their way to the high school.
“They want to hold a parade and decorate Main Street in orange and black (the Giants’ colors),” Camacho said of local merchants. “Hopefully we can get someone like Brian Martin (who officially becomes Lake County’s next Sheriff on Jan. 6) to be the grand marshal.”
After stopping in Kelseyville on Jan. 8, the trophies visit the Willits Community Center in Willits on Jan. 9 and the Finley Community Center in Santa Rosa on Jan. 10. Hours in Willits are 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. while hours in Santa Rosa are 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. The tour is scheduled to run through early March.
At each stop on the tour, fans will be allowed to take one photo per person. If you come in a group, you may take a group photo with the trophies or individual photos, but not both. The Giants will make every effort to make sure all those in line have the opportunity to view the trophies, but if necessary a cutoff point in the line will be determined.
