Hunter Pence stars in 'Pence-ive Moments,' talks Dodgers and weird signs

The Giants outfielder is starring in a beef jerky series like Richard Sherman did

Remember the ad with Seahawks corner Richard Sherman having a voice in his stomach and then feeding that voice with beef jerky? That's an Oberto Beef Jerky ad, and Giants right fielder Hunter Pence is now starring in a digital series of ads for the same company. It's called "Pence-ive Moments" and features Pence eating beef jerky while daydreaming with random, humorous thoughts.

The first went live on Monday:

Strong start, and we can expect them to continue to be fun, per Pence himself.

"There are quite a few pretty entertaining thoughts," he said to CBS Sports. "I enjoyed the comedy, like we were talking about being stranded on a desert island, just thinking about random stuff all while eating beef jerky. It was pretty clever and a lot of fun to do that kind of comedy series."

Oberto picked perhaps the most fitting pitchman for a series like this, as all die-hard baseball fans are familiar with Pence being a good sport about signs that heckle him in good fun. The general idea on the road is to say Pence likes something that isn't generally considered OK to like by the masses, especially for a professional athlete.

A cursory Google Images search for "Hunter Pence signs" turns up some gems like ...

• "Hunter Pence likes Godfather 3"
• "Hunter Pence hates bacon"
• "Hunter Pence eats pizza with a fork"
• "Hunter Pence still has a Blockbuster card"

So you get the idea. The home fans in AT&T Park have taken to doing the opposite and standing up for their guy, but the playful heckling on the road is the fun part of the story. And Pence loves it.

"I've definitely enjoyed being part of that creativity and seeing what fans come up with, even though I get burned pretty hard," he said. "I enjoy that. I've always loved that slapstick comedy, like the Chuck Norris quotes. It's a good time for me and I definitely learn a lot about each city that I'm in."

An example of that would be a Kansas City sign that said, "Hunter Pence gets salad at Oklahoma Joe's," a widely famous BBQ restaurant in the KC area. Another:

"In Milwaukee they had 'Hunter Pence picks hamburger in the hot dog race,'" he said with a laugh.

So, yeah, the commercial series is definitely right up his alley in keeping with the tradition of the randomly funny fan signs.

Look at him, laying on the diamond with his jerky. Courtesy of Oberto

As for Pence on the field, he's struggled since returning from injury. After playing in 162 games in both 2013 and 2014, he missed a significant portion of last season and then hit the DL again this year with a serious hamstring injury. He tried to find a way to stay part of the team.

My goal is to do everything I can to help us win," he said. "When you get hurt, to me, it's an opportunity to learn from it. Your job actually becomes a lot longer and a lot harder. You rehab to get back, but also mentally try to be a fountain and share any little bit of knowledge and do anything you can to assist and also stay out of the way. It's a balancing act. To me, it's very difficult."

He returned on July 30, but hit .176/.236/.216 with 21 strikeouts through his first 13 games. Maybe Sunday was a building block for Pence, though, as he was 2 for 5 with a home run. It was his first home run since returning.

The Giants could certainly use vintage Pence in the upcoming weeks, that's for sure. They are 9-18 since the All-Star break and only have a one-game lead over their biggest rival, the Dodgers, in the NL West. It could be a race for the ages, too, with the two clubs facing each other nine more times beginning Aug. 23 and culminating on the final day of the regular season.

"There's definitely going to be some amped up games, a playoff atmosphere," Pence said of the nine remaining against L.A. "As a competitor, the rivalry has always been such a good time. Both sides, I feel like the fans get into it, and with both teams being as good as they have the past couple of years, it's kind of what you live for, competing. It gives you that playoff atmosphere, that adrenaline, the electricity in the air. They're an incredible team and we feel like we're a pretty talented team as well. Being this close coming down the stretch is definitely going to make both of us better teams. You're gonna have to work your way through a little bit of fire and that's fun."

Fun for the players, sure. Fun for the rest of us? Absolutely. There's serious potential in this race no matter your favorite team.

You can bet on Pence being a huge factor, too, both on the field and in terms of drawing the funniest signs in the crowd.