The Giants Pitch in For Tsunami Relief

The Giants announced today that will be helping out the tsunami relief effort by holding an online auction this Thursday and Friday to raise money. Things that can be bid on include throwing out the first pitch, a trip for four to spring training, taking a few swings at Giants pitching (hey, if it's Tomko you might be able to actually hit it), and other items. The big thing that will be auctioned off is the chance to hang out with noted good-will ambassador Barry Lamar Bonds before a game. If you're wondering just how much a meeting with Barry could net, keep in mind that people paid $7,500 last year to have private meetings with both him and Alex Rodriguez.

While it's kind of tempting to snark on some of this- The Insider's big story today was what the stars were doing to help out, including an interview with Clay Aiken on the set of his Public Service Announcement for UNICEF to raise funds- every dollar does help. Which is why we give props to Sandra Bullock for the sheer putting-her-money-where-her-mouth is-ness of throwing down for a million dollars. To further help the cause, on Jan. 15th, NBC Universal will have a telethon on all of the NBC channels (NBC, MSNBC, Bravo, etc.). No announcements have been made as of yet as to who will appear.

So far, Americans have donated over $200 million dollars to the relief effort with the Bay Area doing it's fair share to help. For those of you wishing to help out, here is the Chron's list of places to donate. For other places to donate, as well as the latest news and information on the relief effort, check out the South-East Asia Earthquake and Tsunami Blog.