Big News from the All-Star Break – Brandon Crawford

I spent the All-Star break in Los Angeles with Jalynne and her family. We relaxed for a couple of days. Then on Wednesday she had a doctor’s appointment.

We found out we’re having a girl.

We’ve chosen a name but we’re not telling people yet.

It didn’t matter to me whether we were having a boy or a girl, just that the baby is healthy, which she is. We’re both really happy and excited about being new parents – and relieved that between Jalynne’s family and mine we’ll have plenty of support and advice.

We took in a movie (“Spiderman”) and watched the All-Star Game to see my teammates. (I turned it off when they left the game.) It was great to see our guys show what they can do, especially after all the talk about our fans stuffing the ballot box.

It’s funny that Jessica asked in the comments section, “What’s with the batting gloves in the back pockets?’’  It’s something I’ve done since high school. But I stopped doing it three weeks ago, thanks to Ryan Theriot and Matt Cain.

They decided one day to take away what they called my “flare.’’ They thought I had too much extra stuff going on with my uniform  – the gloves in the back pockets, the wrist bands, the longer-sleeve shirt under my jersey. They took the items from my locker and hid them in a different locker. It was funny for a few days then I was like, “OK, give them back.’’

They did, but I decided to stick with the non-flare look. I haven’t put the gloves back in my pockets, and I wore the longer-sleeve shirt for the first time Friday night because it was so cold. The wrist tape stays, however, because it’s not a fashion statement but an injury-preventer.

Another recent change: My walk-up songs.

Actually they’ve changed a few times in the last few weeks. My walk-up songs for most of the season were Eminem’s “Writer’s Block’’ and Drake’s “Lord Knows.’’ I’d switch them back and forth. But I was lining out a lot, just having bad luck. So when I lined out a couple more times during a series last month, I thought, “Screw it. Time to change something up.’’

So I drastically changed it at the end of June. I went with Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger’’ and Katy Perry’s “Part of Me.’’ I got an RBI hit the first game and I’ve been hitting well for a couple weeks now. I think maybe they relaxed me a little. (The way this works is we tell media relations man Matt Chisholm before the game what we want and he relays the information to the public-address people, who download it from iTunes.)

Then I switched back to rap on Friday. I figured the second half of the season called for new music.

Another reader, mlcwriters, asked if we hear what’s shouted at us from the stands. You try not to, particularly if it’s something bad. You hear something negative and you can start to think, “Man, that was a bad play.’’ In baseball, it’s so important to forget about the bad stuff and move on, so the last thing you want is to be reminded of a mistake you made in the last inning. Of course, you hear the big chants. When they’re for us, they fire us up. When we’re in other ballparks and the chant is for the opposing team, it just sounds like noise.

Another question from comments section: What do you want to be called from the stands? “‘Brandon’ is hard to yell out . . .  need nickname,’’ Mindy writes. I can’t make up my own nickname. That’s lame. My teammates call me Craw, Crawford, Crawdad. But I think you should make up a nickname and let me know. (I try to ignore people who call me John Stamos. So definitely don’t go there.)

Rebecca asks whether I get stopped in public for autographs and photos. All the Giants’ players do, and our guys, maybe more than most, appreciate all the support we get from our fans. So we try to be as responsive as we can. But it’s tough when we’re with our families or friends at a restaurant. We still want to be able to go to dinner with our wives and just have a nice quiet dinner. My advice is to ask for the autograph when the player is leaving the restaurant. They’ll appreciate that you let them enjoy their personal time.

See you at the park. Thanks for reading and keep sending in questions.

-Brandon C.