"I needed an outlet to stay focused with the team and my personal life and that's when I started drawing."
Giants' first-base coach Jose Alguacil spends his time after a game unwinding, but his form of postgame activities involve pencil and paper. And while he's always known he would have a life that revolved around baseball, his artistic abilities were more recent and began in 2016.
"I was managing in Triple-A and I think I went through the toughest year of my life," Alguacil told NBC Sports Bay Area. "I lost my dad and I got divorced that year and I still had to do my job you know?"
And that outlet created some impressive work of the teammates he coaches on the field every day:
"Me personally I like guys to have a lot of expressions, if they have facial hair it's a lot easier to draw," said Alguacil. "It's really hard for guys that don't have a lot of expressions or facial hair you have to put in the extra effort to get them recognizable. I think it's the moment, I do most of my drawings late at night after the game around midnight before I go to bed. That's when I feel I can do it right you know?"
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Alguacil said this hobby is a form of therapy of sorts.
As far as who his favorites are to draw, he didn't necessarily say he favored one over the other, but he did mention Dereck Rodriguez, Pablo Sandoval and Bruce Bochy were the top ones that "came out really good," and each year he's getting better and better.
But there are certain situations where he is drawn (no pun intended) to an individual.
"My thing is whoever is doing well at the moment, I can create value for that piece to help out either the junior guys or pitchers we need that's when I go to that individual person you know?"
He also added highlighting some of those veteran players could help in creating more monetary value for charity.
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You can see his, along with many others' artwork at the second annual Battle of the Bay Art Show.
The first installment will be Tuesday and Wednesday at Oracle Park and Aug. 24 and 25 at RingCentral Coliseum. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the A's Community Fund and the Giants Community Fund.
For more information on the events, go here.
