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Madison Bumgarner Talks Ranching and “Sissy Hands” in Carhartt Commercial

ByMaggie Pilloton|

Madison Bumgarner is a man of few words and many accomplishments.

He’s calm, collected, and determined on and off the field. At just 25 years old, the ace of the San Francisco Giants‘ pitching staff has one of the most impressive résumés in baseball.

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His list of accomplishments include: three-time World Series champion (2010, 2012, 2014), two-time MLB All-Star (2013, 2014), NLCS MVP (2014), World Series MVP (2014), Babe Ruth Award winner (2014), Silver Slugger Award (2014), Willie Mac Award Winner (MVP), AP Athlete of the Year (2014), and Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year (2014).

One more addition to the experience section on his résumé could be: commercial actor.

Bumgarner recently filmed a commercial for Carhartt, which shows him working on his family’s 100-acre ranch. Bumgarner chops wood, sets up fence posts, and loads lumber in the commercial, but on a normal day at the ranch, he also trains and rides horses, cattle, and other livestock. Here’s the commercial:

In a separate video filmed by Carhartt, Bumgarner discusses ranching, baseball, and why he can’t stand “sissy hands”:

Here’s the transcript of the commercial, courtesy of Alex Pavlovic of Comcast Sportsnet Bay Area:

"“Working with my hands is a big deal for me because I can’t stand having sissy hands, soft hands,” Bumgarner says over a montage of him taking an axe to a tree. “That’s what we grew up doing around here. I want to have tough hands. I don’t want to worry about getting blisters or splinters. I want to have good hand-eye coordination and if you don’t do stuff with your hands, you’re not gonna have that.“Baseball is tough because you’re out there doing your job in front of millions of people. It makes it tough to stay on track and focused on what you’re doing, especially when things start going awry.“Ranching is tough because it’s a lot of hard work. You gotta get up early, go to bed late. A lot of manual labor has to be done to take care of your place, and take care of the animals that you have. I just love working hard.”"

Bumgarner spoke more about why he chose to work with Carhartt:

"“I’ve always been a Carhartt guy, through and through. I’ve worn Carhartt for as long as I can remember; it’s who I am'” said Bumgarner. “I had a lot of fun filming this campaign and couldn’t be happier with how it turned out; it’s completely authentic to who I am and also what Carhartt represents as a brand.”"

If only this shot had appeared in the commercial too:

Ted Berg of USA Today Sports was on set when Bumgarner filmed the Carhartt commercial. Berg said that in addition to chopping wood and working on the ranch, Bumgarner is also good at corn hole and enjoys fishing and hunting.

Berg focuses his article on Bumgarner not just as a rancher but also as a person. Bumgarner is not the typical type of media-hyped athlete who picks up technology, shoes, or car sponsorships. Berg focused on this when speaking to Bumgarner and Jason Momoa, an actor and the director of the commercial.

"“The people that I see a lot – maybe not every day, but pretty often – there’s nothing different with them,” Bumgarner says. “The people that you just see a couple times an offseason — you’re out to eat and you run into somebody you know — even though they may know you pretty well, they kind of get a little nervous or they want pictures and autographs. Which is fine: I want to make everyone around here happy. This is where I grew up, and what helped mold me into who I am today.”“There’s moments where it must become frustrating, if you haven’t changed and everyone changes around you,” Momoa says. “But he handles it amazingly.”It might seem like the lifestyle Bumgarner favors and the superstardom he architected with his postseason performance are mutually exclusive, that one will ultimately need to give way to the other as he continues his ascent to the top of the Major League ranks. But Bumgarner is a man with strong convictions and a firm foundation. When Hollywood calls, he makes Hollywood come to him.No one says it explicitly, but it’s hard not to come away from the commercial shoot with the notion that someone advised Bumgarner to do some endorsements after his spectacular postseason, and he looked down at the logo on his shirt and chose Carhartt. And presumably the people at Carhartt, a family-owned, Michigan-based workwear company, delighted at the chance to portray a hard-working athlete in his hard-working environs. The ad shows Bumgarner felling a tree and collecting wood for a fence, and it matters to Bumgarner that the spot depicts the actual work he’s doing on the ranch, not a glamorized cinematic interpretation."

Berg describes Bumgarner perfectly. Bumgarner is a principled, hardworking, and humble man, who just happens to be one of the best pitchers in all of MLB. He’s unique. He has become somewhat of a MLB superstar, because of his incredible, historic postseason performance in 2014, but he doesn’t live a lavish lifestyle, he has no intentions of starting a career in Hollywood, and he’s a family man.

Bumgarner’s true personality is shown off in these Carhartt commercials, and he’s a great representation of the Giants organization, on the field and in commercials.

Next: Giants' Spring Training Update: Week 3

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