Please join me in welcoming Yasi Khan and Steven Kennedy to the crew.
You’ve likely noticed a few changes at McCovey Chronicles recently. First, I put out a post seeking some new writers to join the San Francisco Giants blogosphere (thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to everyone who applied). Then there was the return of the incomparable Sami Higgins.
Now we’re adding two new writers to the team: Yasi Khan (she/her) and Steven Kennedy (he/him).
Readers who spend time in the comments will recognize Yasi, who previously went by the username aeatherx. Steven is not a member of the right-margin crew, which I feel like is a healthy addition for us.
To help you get to know the new writers, I had them answer a few of life’s deepest questions.
Where do you live?
Yasi: I’m from (and currently in) San Francisco, but will be moving back up to Stanford soon for my final year of school!
Steven: I live in Philadelphia, PA but grew up in San Diego, CA and had stints in Massachusetts and the Bay Area.
What are you up to when not writing about the Giants?
Yasi: I’m a rising senior at Stanford majoring in Symbolic Systems (concentrating in human-centered artificial intelligence) and minoring in poetry. Other hobbies include reading and writing (poetry and fiction), astronomy, and playing tennis!
Steven: I work as an elementary school teacher. I like playing baseball, skateboarding and writing.
Who is your all-time favorite Giant?
Yasi: Tim Lincecum. He was absolutely captivating, magnetic to the extreme, and he’s the first Giant I remember turning the TV on for (I was a little too young to remember Barry Bonds). Buster Posey was my first jersey, though.
Steven: All-time favorite Giant is Willie Mays. I don’t think any explanation/reasoning needs to be articulated.
My all-time favorite Giant that I’ve seen play is Tim Lincecum. He ushered in a new era after Bonds, a little guy in the big guy’s shadow, absolutely dealt for three years, then had to reinvent himself as his career descended and the Giants ascended, while still contributing to all three championships—and then he disappears….
What is your favorite Giants memory?
Yasi: Bumgarner’s Game 7 performance in 2014 in Kansas City. For some reason, that’s the World Series that’s stuck with me the most, maybe because I was the oldest during it. I remember when that Alex Gordon ball got by Blanco and then Perez kicked it and I had to hide my face in a pillow, but then Salvador Perez popped out and I could breathe again. (I also saw a Gorkys Hernandez walk-off win in person, so that’s a close second).
Steven: Favorite Giants memory is going to a game at AT&T with my 80-ish year old grandpa. We took the CalTrain to the park from Redwood City. I think they played the Mets. I think it was 2009 or 2010. The game giveaway was a pair of black knee-high socks that I still have in my closet. I don’t remember if the Giants won or not. We took the CalTrain home.
What book are you currently reading?
Yasi: Just finished “American Estrangement” by Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, and can’t recommend it enough.
Steven: I am currently reading a book of plays by Annie Baker.
What album do you have on replay right now?
Yasi: I should find something new… but it’s still Ctrl by SZA.
Steven: Maybe it is lame to say, but the Beatles are the greatest band of all time and they will never get old to me. I am always listening to them and of the albums I always listen to, the one I always listen to the most is The Beatles (White Album).
Cake or pie?
Yasi: Pie, no question
Steven: Let them eat pie.