August 31 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

What is this all about?

Yesterday

Here are the top 5 August 31 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

1963 at LA, we're 7.5 out, trying to avoid a sweep, a Cepeda 9th inning homer forced extras, this is the 12th, with 2 out Felipe Alou singles home the go ahead run off of Larry Sherry.  This was a 4 hit game for Alou.

1966 at New York, this is what's up - it's game 133 and we are tied for first place with Pittsburgh, at 22 games over .500, only the Orioles have a better record in all of MLB. 50,000 paid at Shea, each team only gets 4 hits.  Marichal throws a complete game and wins his 20th, the big shot was Mays - he tripled in the 9th off of Jack Fisher and then scored on a Jerry Grote error.  We win 2-1. Who was the Giants CF after Mays?  The answer just below...

1980 home vs. Mets, 9.5 out, first game of a doubleheader, 4-4 in the 6th, Bill North breaks the tie with a single off Dyar Miller.  We go on and win 11-4. The Mets would go on to lose 12 more in a row. The first San Francisco center fielder was, of course, Mays.  We've talked about the second, that was Garry Maddox.  We've mentioned the guy who replaced him, that was Von Joshua.  Then came Larry Herndon.  And, in 79-80, North. But who was next?  That answer just below...

2010 home vs. Rockies, we're 4 out and haven't seen first since early May, but we're 1.5 out of the WC meaning we're in the race. 2-2 in the 8th, Andres Torres homers off Matt Belisle, we go on to win 5-2. Torres was our CF that day, here's all of them, with OPS+ and PA.

58-71 Mays 157, 12015
72-4 Maddox 104, 1738
75 Joshua 108, 707
76-78 Herndon 93, 2305
79-80 North 98, 1222
81 Jerry Martin 85, 267
82-4, 87 Davis 113, 3564
85-6 Gladden 106, 1419
88-90 Butler 119, 2083 (best CF bat since Mays)
91- McGee 107, 1748
92-5 Lewis 77, 2054 (Just killing us with the bat)
96, 99-01 Benard 96, 2945
97-8 Hamilton 98, 965
02- Shinjo 78, 398
03-04 Grissom 94, 1371
05 -Jason Ellison 74, 491
06- Finley 83, 481
07- Roberts 76, 573 (can we can a decent bat in center?)
08-10 Rowand 87, 1865
11- Torres 105, 1438
12-15 Pagan 103, 2471
16- Span 93, 1086

2011 home vs. Cubs, we were in first place August 9 - now we're 6 back, the WC isn't any closer, so we really need to step on the gas as this is game 137. Madison Bumgarner goes 8, gives up 2 hits and strikes out 11. We win 4-0, the big shot a Jeff Keppinger 4th inning homer to plate the game's initial run (Pablo followed with a homer).  17 year old Bumgarner was the tenth pick overall in 2007 out of a North Carolina high school.  David Price went first, Jason Heyward 14th, Josh Donaldson 48th.  We had a second pick, Tim Alderson, another HS arm, went 22nd overall, kicked around multiple minor league systems through 2016 and never pitched an inning in the bigs.  Bumgarner came up at 19 in 2009, joined the rotation in 2010 and through 2016 hasn't looked back.  Career Giants ERA+ of 124 in 1483 IP.  Through 2016, Bumgarner's the 14th greatest San Francisco Giant of all time.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

August 30 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

What is this all about?

Yesterday

Here are the top 5 August 30 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

1962 home vs. Braves, it's game 133, we're 3.5 games out of first place despite an 83-49 record. The last time we saw first place was July 7 as the Dodgers are playing .650 ball.  We come into this one having won 5 of 6 and not gaining a game on the lead in that stretch.  We're up 3-2 in the 9th, the Braves have the bases loaded, 1 out, and Aaron at the plate (okay, it's Tommie, but still).  Don Larsen gets him to line back to the mound - a toss to first for the double play ends the game.  How about this, we get to talk about Don Larsen.  Larsen was 17 when he signed with the Browns in '47, six years later he debuted, then moved with the club to Baltimore and in '54 he lost 21 games.  After the season he was part of a 16 player trade that sent him to the Yankees.  The perfect game was '56, Larsen was named World Series MVP.  After the '59 season he went to the A's in a 7 player deal, part of the return to the Yankees being Roger Maris.  2 years with the A's, a season with the White Sox, and before this season we got him at age 32 and Billy Pierce, the main piece going back being Eddie Fisher, who had some nice years in the Sox pen.  Larsen spent two plus seasons in our pen, and was okay, 158 innings, a 93 ERA+.  We sell him to Houston during the '64 season, where he goes on the best run of his career, 108 innings and a 144 ERA+.  Larsen winds up with the Cubs at the end, pitching 4 innings in '67.

1964 at Milwaukee, 7.5 games out so it's going to take a helluva September if we're going to make a run, this is a pretty good start, 10-10 in the 8th, Jim Davenport had replaced Jim Ray Hart at third, he hits a 2 run single off Hank Fischer, we go on to win 13-10. Here's every starting third baseman in San Francisco history, with Giants career OPS+ and PA.  Start at the beginning.

58-63,69 Davenport 90, 4981
64-68 Hart 130, 3836 (2 starting third basemen all the way until 1970, we had corner continuity)
70-2 Gallagher 91, 1081
73 Goodson 94, 1068
74-5 Ontiveros 97, 910
76 Reitz 76, 614
77 Madlock 120, 1364
78-81  Evans 119, 4406
82-3 O'Malley 93, 827
84 Youngblood 106, 1647
85-6 Brown 120, 1184 (very similar to Madlock with the bat)
87-8 Mitchell 152, 2516 (Mitch, obviously, is a step up offensively)
89-Riles 109, 722
90-6 Williams 122, 4497 (Matt and Evans had very similar Giants offensive careers)
97-00 Mueller 102, 2440
01 Ramon Martinez 94, 1045
02 Bell 104, 628
03-5 Alfonzo 88, 1564
06-7 Feliz 84, 3027 (3000 plate appearances to Pedro Feliz, goddamn)
08- Jose Castillo 73, 420 (quite the run of batsmen at our hot corner)
09-14 Sandoval 122, 3614
15-16 Duffy 98, 962

1984 at Philadelphia, playing out the string, 22.5 back, front half of a doubleheader, down 5-4 in the ninth, Jeffrey Leonard hits a 2 run homer off Al Holland, we win it 6-5.  10 days before we traded Al Oliver to the Phillies for Kelly Downs. Holland had a nice Giants career, 138 ERA+ in 319 IP.  We sent him to Philly after the '82 season with Joe Morgan for Mike Krukow and Mark Davis.  Who won that trade?  Here's WAR, PA/IP with their new teams.

We get: Krukow 9.8, 1154
             Davis 2.9, 555

They get: Morgan 3.35, 504
                Holland 6.65, 194

So - we win, and that doesn't include that Davis was part of the package that gets us Mitchell.

1989 home vs. Phillies, the last time we were in second place was June 11 - we're now 4 up, still only 19,000 paid at the Stick on a Wednesday afternoon, up 3-2 in the 9th, nobody out, one on, Von Hayes at the plate, Steve Bedrosian gets him to go 3-6-3 and we hold on to the 3-2 win.  Bedrosian won the Cy Young for these Phillies just 2 years prior; we got him six weeks prior along with Rick Parker for Mulholland, Hayes, and Cook.  He was good in '89 (128 ERA+, 17 saves) but not in '90 and we gave him to the Twins after the season. Bedrosian finished back where he started, Atlanta, and he was unbelievable for that great '93 team that edged us out, a 248 ERA+ in 49 innings.  His last season was '95.



2009 home vs. Rockies - we're 6 out in the west but only a game back in the WC - and we've just taken 2 from the team we're chasing, the Rockies, and are going for the sweep.  Sunday afternoon in San Francisco, Edgar Renteria had a 5 RBI day, the biggest coming with 2 out in the 7th in a game we trailed 5-2, he hit a grand slam off of Rafael Betancourt.  We win this one 9-5.  Renteria was 15 when he signed with the Marlins, 19 when he finished second in the Rookie of the Year in '96 (to Todd Hollandsworth) 32 when we signed him before this season. He was awful as our starting shortstop in '09, a 67 OPS+ in 510 PA.  He was better as a backup in '10 and finished his Giants career with a 76 OPS+.  He finished his career in Cincinnati in '11.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

August 29 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

What is this all about?

Yesterday

Here are the top 5 August 29 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

Walk off 1970 home vs. Pirates, 17 games out of first, everyone just waiting for their tee times, Bobby Bonds hit a three run homer in the 8th to tie it, and then, with the score 9-9 in the 9th, singled home the winning run off of Bruce Dal Canton. Bonds never won an MVP award, but he had two top five finishes.  In '71 he finished 4th.  That year Bonds had a 6.05 WAR (his second best season) Joe Torre won, he had a 5.2 WAR.  Ferguson Jenkins was 10.5, so while Bonds was better than Torre, he still didn't deserve the award.  Bobby's best finish was in '73, when he finished third.  That was also his best season, 7.75 WAR, the best season a Giants RF had who isn't Mel Ott.  Rose won, his WAR was also 7.75.  Joe Morgan was 9.55, so you wouldn't have gone Bonds this year either.

1984 at Montreal, 22.5 games out of first, 3-3 in the top of the 11th, Bob Brenly homers off Rick Grapenthin and that's gonna be the final.  Brenly hit two extra inning homers in his entire career, this one and a walk off 3 years later to beat the Braves in the 10th.

Walk off 1985 home vs. Mets, 24.5 out, so things haven't gotten better a year later, with the score 3-3 in the 10th, Chili Davis hits a 3 run homer off Terry Leach and we win 6-3. Chili had 5 career walk off homers, this was his only one as a Giant.  He got two with the Angels 8 years later in '93, and then 2 with the Royals way out in '97.

1990 at Montreal, we're 8.5 out, 5-5 in the 9th inning, 2 out, Robby Thompson homers off of Bill Sampen, we're going to win 6-5.  This was Robby's 50th career homer.  His 5th was off Doyle Alexander His 14th was off Bob Knepper.  His 23rd/25th off Ed Whitson. His 51st off Dennis Cook.  His 61st off Rich Rodriguez. His 65th off Terry Mulholland. His 98th and 102nd off Robb Nen. His 106th off Kirk Rueter. His 113th off Jeff Juden. And his 116th off of Jason Schmidt.

2010 home vs. Diamondbacks, we were a game back on the 6th - but now that deficit is 6 games, we're 1.5 out of the WC, so here, on game 131 of the season as we try to avoid a series sweep by Arizona, a win would be a good thing.  Down 6-5 in the 7th, Jose Guillen singles home the tying and go ahead runs off of Esmerling Vasquez, we go on to win 9-7.  Guillen spent the last 34 games of his big league career in San Francisco, We got him 16 days before from the Royals. He played a lot of RF, had an 89 OPS+ in 139 PA.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

August, 2017 Athlete of the Month

August is here.

Giancarlo Stanton.  Runners-up: Terence Crawford, Floyd Mayweather, Rhys Hoskins

2017 is 2/3 of the way gone.  Who will be named Athlete of the Year?


January - Deshaun Watson
February - Tom Brady
March - Russell Westbrook
April - A'ja Wilson
May - Stephen Curry
June- Kevin Durant
July - Roger Federer
August - Giancarlo Stanton

August 28 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

What is this all about?

Yesterday

Here are the top 5 August 28 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

1964 at Braves, 8 games out of first on game 129 of the season, we get 5 hits, but one of them comes in the 9th inning, 2-2, Del Crandall singles home what turns out to be the winning run off of Wade Blasingame (aided by a Lee Maye throwing error). Crandall was a Brave lifer - finished second in the Rookie of the Year in '49 when he was 19 and the Braves were still in Boston (Newcombe won). He came back from Korea in '53, the team was in Milwaukee and he started a near decade long run as their starting catcher.  We got him in the offseason in the Felipe Alou trade and Crandall played in 69 games as a Giant.  We sent him to Pittsburgh before the '65 season and he finished as an Indian the following year.

Walk off 1968 home vs. Astros, 11 games out of first, only 4700 at the Stick on a Wednesday afternoon, 3-3 in the 9th, Bobby Bonds gets us a win with a literal walk off, forcing a bases loaded walk off of John Buzhardt to win the game.  Here's the OPS+, PA of every starting RF in San Francisco history.  Going backward with this one.

Pence 114, 2727
Schierholtz 98, 1316
Winn 100, 2799
Tucker 91, 833
Cruz 104, 650
Sanders 107, 571
Rios 123, 809 (Rios is our best post-Burks RF bat)
Burks 151, 1104 (Burks was a wrecking machine)
Javier 97, 1677
Hill 109, 1388
McGee 107, 1748
Bass 98, 923
Maldonado 109, 1862
Davis 113, 3564
Clark 134, 4300
Murcer 125, 1256
Bonds 131, 4610
Jesus Alou 84, 2347
Ollie Brown 84, 942
Felipe Alou 116, 2478
Kirkland 112, 1548

2000 at Pittsburgh, we're 73-55 with a 2.5 game lead in the West, it's 4-4 in the 9th, Russ Davis hits a leadoff homer off Scott Sauerbeck and we win this one 5-4. Davis finished up his career in San Francisco in '00 and '01 after a half dozen seasons in the AL. He was solid as our backup third baseman with a 100 OPS+.  Davis had 84 career homers, the last 16 with the Giants, this was his 6th.

2005 home vs. Mets, 7 games out of first, so while it's unlikely, it's not impossible we go on a September run. Noah Lowry goes 8, gives up just 5 hits, the big shot is Pedro Feliz's, he hits a 2 run homer off Kris Benson in the 6th to break a 1-1 tie. We win it 4-1.  Lowry's career was short, five seasons, all of which in San Francisco, almost all of which in the rotation. Lowry has a career ERA+ of 109 in 618 innings pitched.

2012 at Houston, it's game 128 and we're 2.5 games up and starting a series in Houston, Matt Cain goes 7 and a third, gives up 6 hits, we trailed 2-1 in the 9th when Joaquin Arias singled home Brandon Belt off Wilton Lopez to tie and Hector Sanchez singled home Arias off Lopez for the win.  Arias spent the last four years of his career as a utilityman in San Francisco, he had an 80 OPS+ in 843 plate appearances.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

August 27 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

What is this all about?

Yesterday


Here are the top 5 August 27 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

Walk off 1958 home vs. Braves, we were in first place on July 29, less than a month later the inaugural San Francisco Giants are 9.5 out the fight's all but done.  2-2 in the 12th, bases loaded, Orlando Cepeda draws a walk off of Bob Trowbridge to send everyone home.  We'd have one more walk off win that season.

Walk off 1981 home vs. Pirates, a dozen games out, 4 hours on a Thursday night at the Stick, score tied at 4 in the 13th, Jack Clark homers off of Don Robinson to get one for the good guys.  Jack hit 7 homers off of Caveman Robinson, more than any other pitcher.  The first two were in 1980, within 9 days of each other in May.  That second homer was also in a tie game in the 13th inning.  This is the third homer.  4 and 5 come next May in the same game.  Six comes later that season, in August.  The last one is five years later when Jack's a Cardinal.

2001 at New York, it's game 130 and we're 3.5 out in the West and in a flat tie for the Wild Card, 4-4 with 2 out in the top of the 9th, JT Snow hits a 2 run homer off of Rick White, we win this one 6-5.  Snow spent most of a decade as our starting first baseman, here's the OPS+ and PA of every 1B in San Francisco history.

Cepeda 140, 4531
McCovey 149, 8523
Kingman 112, 1403 (From 58-73 we had two starting first basemen, Kong breaks that run)
Montanez 112, 826
Evans 119, 4406
Ivie 126, 1131
Cabell 72, 413
Smith 134, 398
Oliver 101, 360
Green 85, 321
Clark 145, 4878 (Clark and Cepeda similar hitting numbers for Giants)
Benzinger 96, 559
Carreon 117, 1025
Snow 112, 4497
Hillenbrand 74, 247
Klesko 92, 411
Bowker 76, 513
Ishikawa 92, 752
Huff 116, 1342
Belt 126, 3149

Walk off 2011 home vs. Astros, game 132, we're 3 out in the West, 3 out in the Wild Card, 1-1 with 2 out in the bottom of the 10th, Jeff Keppinger lines a 2-2 pitch into right center off of Fernando Rodriguez to drive home the winning run. Keppinger played in 56 games for the Giants, we got him from the Astros at midseason. He played a lot of second base down the stretch and didn't hit, had a 76 OPS+. He left for Tampa after the season and finished with the White Sox in 2013.



Walk off 2014 home vs. Rockies, we're 4.5 out in the West, but now there are 2 wild cards per league and we're 2 games up for that final slot. Tim Hudson goes 8, gives up just 4 hits, it's 2-2 in the bottom of the 9th, 2 out, Buster Posey hits a 2 run homer off Juan Nicasio to send everyone home. 17 big league seasons for Hudson, Oakland took him out of Auburn in the 6th round in '97. We took Kevin Joseph out of Rice seven slots earlier, he never played for us, we sent him to the Cards for Jason Christiansen. Joseph threw 11 total big league innings.  Hudson did better, 6 years in Oakland, 9 in Atlanta, we signed him as a 38 year old this year for two seasons to finish his career.  He was just okay for us, 92 ERA+ in 313 innings.  Through 2016 I have Hudson as the 50th best pitcher in MLB history.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

August 26 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

What is this all about?

Yesterday

Here are the top 5 August 26 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

Walk off 1970 home vs. Cardinals, we're 18 games out, trying to get to the end of the year, 7-7 in the bottom of the 9th, Jim Ray Hart singles home the winning run off of Frank Linzy.  It took a 2 run homer from McCovey in the 7th to get us to that 9th inning tie.  McCovey was the cleanup hitter for the '70 Giants.  Here's every cleanup hitter in San Francisco history (majority of games at clean up for the season).

58-Ray Jablonski/Hank Sauer
59, 62, 64 -Cepeda
60, 65-66, 68-73,77-79 McCovey
61, 63 Mays
67 -Hart
74-75 Matthews
76-Murcer
80-81 Evans
82- Smith
83-Jack Clark
84-86 Leonard
87-88 Maldonado
89-91 Mitchell
92 -Snyder
93-96 Williams
97-02 Kent (like McCovey, 6 straight years hitting cleanup)
03-04, 06-07 Bonds
05-Moises Alou
08-09 Molina
10, 12-13,15-16 Posey
11-Huff
14-Sandoval


While we're here - what's the most commonly used lineup in Giants history?  Exact order, 1-8?

In 2000, we had this lineup 22 times, by far the most ever in the 21st century:

Benard
Mueller
Bonds
Kent
Snow
Burks
Aurilia
Estalella

1993 came close, with 20 games for this lineup:

Lewis
Thompson
Clark
Williams
Bonds
McGee
Clayton
Manwaring

But if you go back to 1973, you get this lineup - it appeared 23 times. And this is your winner:

Bonds
Fuentes
Maddox
McCovey
Goodson
Matthews
Speier
Rader

1978 home vs. Expos, what has been a three way race every day of the season hits game 129, we are a game out of first, hosting the Expos on a Saturday afternoon (plenty of good seats available, unfortunately). Jim Barr throws a complete game six hitter, the big blow comes in the second - when Johnnie LeMaster doubles home the first run of the game off of Woody Fryman. We win this game 4-1 to stay in the race.  Johnnie LeMaster is an all time bad Giant, maybe the worst San Francisco Giant ever, he had a -5.8 WAR in 11 seasons, he got 3404 plate appearances to post a 62 OPS+.  LeMaster had his best offensive season here, with a 79 OPS+

1987 at Philadelphia, looky here, 3 weeks ago we were in 3rd place, 5 games out of first - but coming into this one, the 126th game of the season, we now hold a 1.5 game lead.  We only get four hits, 2 of them coming in the 9th inning, a 2 out single by Chris Speier and a 2 run homer by Bob Brenly off of Shane Rawley.  Those are the only runs of the game, Dave Dravecky went 7 2/3 giving up 5 hits and striking out 7 and Don Robinson went the rest of the way for the shutout.  The Pirates drafted Dravecky in the 21st round in '78 out of Youngstown St. (10 picks prior, we took Mark Calvert from Tulsa, he pitched in 28 games for us in 83-4 and that was his entire career). Dravecky broke into the majors at age 26 with the Padres in '82; we got him in the middle of the '87 season in just an enormous deal that brought he, Kevin Mitchell, and Craig Lefferts to the good guys for Chris Brown, Mark Davis, Mark Grant and Keith Comstock. Dravecky pitched in only 27 regular season games for the Giants (one fewer than Calvert) and had a 116 ERA+ before cancer ended his career in 1989.  This game was Dravecky's 11th as a Giant.

2002 at Colorado, we're 11.5 out, our biggest deficit of the season, but only half a game behind in the WC, 3-3 with 2 out in the 8th, David Bell homers off Todd Jones and we're gonna win this thing 4-3. Three generations of Bells.
  
Gus Bell WAR 10.6, OPS+ 103, PA 7070
Buddy Bell WAR 61.45 OPS+ 109 PA 10009
David Bell WAR 17.35 OPS+ 85 PA 5380

2009 home vs. Diamondbacks, 6 games out of first place, 4 out of the WC, down 3-1 with 2 out in the 8th, Bengie Molina hits a 3 run homer off Chad Qualls, 4-3 is gonna be the final score.  Bengie Molina was the 15,000th player in MLB history when he debuted with the Angels in '98. We signed him just before the '07 season and he was our starting catcher until Posey took his job during the '10 season. We sent him to Texas in July and he played against us in the World Series.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

August 25 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

What is this all about?

Yesterday

Here are the top 5 August 25 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

1979 home vs. Cubs, we're 14.5 out of first, John Curtis goes 7, striking out 9, the big shot is a Mike Ivie three run double off Dick Tidrow to break a 2-2 tie in the 7th.  We win 5-2. We got Curtis from the Cardinals in a six man trade right after the '76 season. He was mainly in the pen the first two seasons, but got 18 starts in '79.  He had a Giants career ERA+ of 82.

1984 at New York, we're 23.5 out, Randy Lerch goes 6, striking out 6, the big blow is Bob Brenly's, a three run homer off of Bruce Berenyi to break a 2-2 tie in the 6th.  B on B violence at Shea.  We win 5-4. We got Lerch from the scrap heap for the last two months of the '83 season and he was in our pen in '84, this was one of his 4 Giants starts.  He leaves after this season and only pitches in 4 games the rest of his career.

1999 at Chicago, 8 games out, mid week doubleheader at Wrigley, we took the first game, we're up 6-5 in the 9th, 2 on, 2 out, Robb Nen gets Henry Rodriguez to ground to second to end the game and get us the sweep.  Through 2016 Nen is the 26th greatest player in San Francisco history.

2004 at Florida, 5 out in the west, only one down in the WC, 5-5 with 2 out in the 10th, AJ Pierzynski draws a bases loaded walk off Rudy Seanez to score Ray Durham with what turns out to be the winning run.  Durham led off for the Giants in this game and in 114 other games this season.  Here's every leadoff hitter in San Francisco history (meaning, most common leadoff hitter for each season, I'll go backward).

16-Span
15-Aoki
14-12 Pagan
11-10 Torres
9-Velez
8-F.Lewis
7-Roberts
6-Winn
5-Ellison
4-3 Durham
2-Bell
1-99, 96 Benard
98-97 Hamilton
95-92 D.Lewis
91-Felder
90-88 Butler
87- Milner
86-84 Gladden
83-LeMaster
82-Davis
81-Morgan
80-79 North
78-Madlock
77-Thomas
76-Herndon
75-Joshua
74-69 Bonds
68-Hunt
67-J.Alou
66-Fuentes
65-Schofield
64-62 Kuenn
61-Amalfitano
60-Blasingame
59-58 Davenport



2009 home vs. Arizona, 7 out after losing 3 straight at Coors, only 4 out of the WC, so there's still a possibility we're playing in October.  2-2 in the 8th, Travis Ishikawa hits a 3 run homer off of Jon Rauch, we hold on and win 5-4.  23 career regular season home runs for Ishikawa, all but 6 of which were with the Giants (see how I said "regular season"?)  This was the 12th.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

August 24 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

What is this all about?

Yesterday

Here are the top 5 August 24 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

Walk off 1963 home vs. Reds, we're 6.5 out, so still have a chance of making a run in September, 3-3, bases loaded, 2 out in the bottom of the 12th, Chuck Hiller singles home the winning run off of Al Worthington. Let's take a look at the career Giants OPS+ and PA of every starting second baseman.

O'Connell 82, 839
Spencer 85, 2846
Blasingame 71, 586
Amalfitano 76, 976
Hiller 70, 1650
Lanier 50, 3743 (you cannot, just, it is malpractice to give 3700 PA to someone with a 50 OPS+)
Fuentes 80, 4183
Hunt 103, 1661
Thomas 91, 1492
Perez 81, 375
Andrews 74, 873
Madlock 120, 1364 (it took us 20 years, but we finally got a second baseman who could hit)
Strain 71, 492
Stennett 64, 517
Morgan 128, 932 (he's 37-38 years old, and the best bat at second we had to that point)
Wellman 59, 706
Trillo 74, 942
Thompson 105, 5235
Patterson 58, 452
Scarsone 88, 810
Kent 136, 3903 (Kent mashed)
Durham 105, 2958
Burriss 57, 801
Sanchez 98, 847
Theriot 83, 384
Scutaro 119, 828
Panik 102, 1687

1968 at Los Angeles, 13 games out of first, so playing out the string, Ray Sadecki throws a complete game, striking out 11.  The big shot comes in the 5th, down 3-2, Ty Cline hits a 3 run homer off Don Drysdale, we're gonna win this one 9-7. We bought Cline from the Braves during the '67 season, he hit okay, enough that this year we made him our starting left fielder and he was an unmitigated disaster, with a 58 OPS+ in 310 PA.  The Expos took him (thanks, Expos) in the expansion draft following the season, and he finished his career in Cincinnati in '71.

Walk off 1983 home vs. Phillies, we're 15.5 out, Steve Carlton throws a complete game here, it's 3-3 in the 9th and Joel Youngblood hits a 2 run homer and we win this 5-3.  Lefty Carlton is a Hall of Famer and Joel Youngblood was a guy with 80 career homers - but he hit 5 against Steve Carlton. Youngblood was 27 of 82 (.329) career against Lefty with an .887 OPS.

1984 at New York, we're 24.5 out headed to a Friday doubleheader at Shea, down 6-4 in the 8th Bob Brenly hit s 3 run homer off Jesse Orosco, we win this one 7-6. This was Brenly's second homer of the game, he hit a 2 run shot in the 6th off Ron Darling. These were the 27th-28th homers of his career.  This was a hot month for Brenly, he hit 8 (and only had 91 in his career, so this was a big month).  In fact, forget the whole month - Brenly hit 6 homers in 9 days.  Against John Denny on the 20th, these two against the Mets, the next day he hits another against the Mets, off of Bruce Berenyi, then two against the Expos on the 28th and 29th.

1995 at Montreal, we're 8.5 out and still, maybe, just maybe in the race, down 3-2 in the 8th, Glenallen Hill hits a three run double off of Mel Rojas, we win this one 5-3. 3 seasons as a Giant for Hill, a 109 OPS+.  You know who Hill would rake?  Denny Naegle.  7 career homers in 32 AB, a near 1.500 OPS. He was less prolific against Chuck Finley, 4 hits in 29 at bats.     

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

August 23 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

Yesterday

What is this all about?

Here are the top 5 August 23 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

Walk off 1964 home vs. Cards, we're 7.5 out, so it's not impossible we make a run, 2-2 in the bottom of the 10th, 2 out - a Dal Maxvill error on a Harvey Kuenn ground ball scores Jesus Alou with the winning run.  5 years and a 101 career OPS+ for Kuenn in San Francisco. He goes to the Cubs in the middle of the next season.

Walk off 1970 home vs. Cubs, we're 19.5 back, Ken Holtzman 1 hit us the day before, I'm a month from birth, Marichal throws a complete game 5 hitter, but we're down 3-2 with 2 out in the 9th, Frank Johnson pinch hits a two run single off of Phil Regan to send everyone home. Frank was bad, so of course he was a Pureblood, six big league seasons, all with the Giants.  Career -2.6 WAR, OPS+ 52 as a backup OF. His last season is '71 when he has 4 hits in 49 at bats.

1978 at New York, half a game out on game 127 of this great, great, great 1978 season, 1-1 with 2 out in the 9th, Marc Hill doubles home the go ahead run off of Dale Murray, and 2-1 is the final score. We got Hill as a 22 year old from the Cards after the '74 season for Elias Sosa and Ken Rudolph; he backed up in '75-6 and became the starting catcher in '77.  You can't say a guy with 2 and a half WAR in 14 years really had "career seasons" but both offensively and defensively '77 and '78 were the height of his career or at least his Giants run. He spent 6 seasons in San Francisco (OPS+ 74) and we sold him to the Mariners during the '80 season.  Let's look at the career Giants OPS+ and PA for each of our starting catchers.

Schmidt 89, 1009
Landrith 84, 641
Bailey 114, 1096
Haller 114, 2744
Dietz 130, 1983 (Dietz could hit him some baseball)
Rader 89, 2011
Hill 74, 1370
Littlejohn 55, 540
May 99, 1384
Brenly 108, 2903
Melvin 74, 842
Kennedy 88, 918
Decker 66, 506
Manwaring 75, 2384 (that's a lot of PA for so little bat)
Lampkin 90, 290
Wilkins 88, 393
Johnson 101, 547
Mayne 103, 691
Estalella 105, 466
Santiago 92, 1466
Pierzynski 86, 510
Matheny 75, 662
Alfonzo 84, 387
Molina 89, 1827
Posey 136, 4142

1983 home vs. Phillies, 16.5 out, 1-1 with 2 out in the 8th, Darrell Evans hits a 2 run homer off of Al Holland and 3-1 is the final score.  Evans had 414 career homers, which is a ton, this is 258, he only has four more as a Giant.  The last two will come against Mike Scott and Orel Hershiser.



2001 at Montreal, a month ago we were 6 and a half out, that's now down to 1.5 (and up 1 in the WC) it's 5-5 in the 9th...but here comes that bad man...Barry Bonds pinch homers off Graeme Lloyd and we're gonna go on to win 10-5. This is number 55 of 73 on the year, Barry hit a dozen homers in August.  It's 549 out of 762 on his career.  Barry hit 4 pinch homers in his career, this is the third - the first two were against the Giants, off Joe Price in '88 and Bedrosian in '89.  His last pinch homer is in 2006 against Billy Wagner.  Bobby passes away 2 years from this game to the day.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

August 22 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

What is this all about?

Yesterday

Here are the top 5 August 22 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

1968 at New York, we're 14 out, but that doesn't bother Gaylord Perry, who had a complete game win here, the big blow coming on a Dick Dietz two run 9th inning single off of Don Sutton to give the Giants a 3-1 lead, the final margin of victory. Gaylord's career Giants ERA was 119, his IP 2294. Let's take a look at the career Giants marks for all the Giants aces.

Antonelli 124, 1600
McCormick 98, 1822
O'Dell 101, 921
Marichal 125, 3443
Perry 119, 2294
Bryant 95, 908
Barr 109, 1800
Montefusco 105, 1182
Halicki 103, 1027
Knepper 96, 970
Blue 99, 1131
Alexander 119, 152
Laskey 92, 686
Breining 106, 430
LaPoint 97, 206
Krukow 92, 1154
Downs 98, 762
Reuschel 104, 601
Burkett 96, 997
Black 91, 539
Swift 138, 506 (look at the ERA+ on Swift, we got him right in the heart of his career)
Leiter 92, 331
Watson 88, 185
Estes 98, 990
Gardner 88, 951
Ortiz 101, 973
Hernandez 92, 746
Schmidt 126, 1069 (Schmidt in 2003, ERA+ 180, 207 IP)
Lowry 109, 618 (Pureblood Giant)
Cain 109, 2074 (his last stretch gets him over 2000 IP)
Lincecum 107, 1643
Bumgarner 123, 1470

Walk off 1976 home vs. Expos, we're 25.5 back, we walked off the Expos the day before and do it again in front of just a little more than 5000 paid on a Sunday afternoon at the Stick. 3-3 with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th, Gary Matthews singles home the winning run off of Chuck Taylor.  Sarge never had a season with an OPS+ below 100 until his last year, 1987. This was his last Giants season and he was off to the Braves.

1980 at Philadelphia, only 7.5 out, so if we can go on a run we can make it a race, Steve Carlton goes the distance, strikes out 13, but at 3-3 with 2 out in the 10th, Mike Ivie singled home Billy North with what turned out to be the winning run.  We got the last 3 years of North's career, signing him as a free agent in '79 after he spent a year with the Dodgers.  He spent two seasons as our starting CF, had a career Giants OPS+ of 98, led MLB in caught stealing in '79, and finished his career after the '81 season.

1988 home vs. Expos, we're 5.5 out having won 5 straight, we get a complete game from Rick Reuschel but trail 2-0 in the 7th when Ernie Riles hits a 3 run homer off Bryn Smith. That 3-2 score is the final.  How'd we get Earnie Riles?  It starts with Tito Fuentes.

In '74 we traded Fuentes to the Padres for Derrel Thomas
In '78 we traded Thomas back to the Padres for Mike Ivie
In '81 we traded Ivie to the Astros for Jeffrey Leonard
And in '88, we traded Leonard to the Brewers for Earnie Riles.

In doesn't end there, in '90 we traded Riles to the A's for Darren Lewis.  It basically stops there, Lewis is part of the larger deal that gets us Deion Sanders, but there are a ton of players in that trade.

Walk off 1993 home vs. Marlins, a month before we had a 10 game lead in the west, it's down to 7.5 now, but that's still fine, it's August 22 after all, game 124, we're 41 games over .500 for Chrissakes.  But...we're down 6-5 in the bottom of the 9th (and that's after scoring 3 in the 8th) down to our last strike, Bryan Harvey has a 1-2 count on Robby Thompson ---- who hits a 2 run walk off homer off a split finger fasball to left to beat the Marlins and maintain our lead.  The Braves, who seemingly haven't lost a game in two months, come to the Stick tomorrow for a 3 game series and we're clearly in good shape....right?  11 big league seasons for Thompson, all of them in San Francisco.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

August 21 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

What is this all about?

Yesterday

Here are the top 5 August 21 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

Walk off 1976 home vs. Montreal, we're 26.5 games out and playing in front of 3600 paid on a Saturday afternoon at the Stick - that's not a Wednesday afternoon, that's a Saturday afternoon.  Fans got their money's worth, 16 innings and over 4 hours of baseball.  4-4 with 2 out in the bottom of the 16th, Larry Herndon wins the game with a run scoring single off of Chip Lang.  We got Herndon from the Cardinals for Ron Bryant early in the '75 season, he was a Giant for 6 seasons, starting in both center and left (career Giants OPS+ 93) before we dealt him to Detroit for Dan Schatzeder after the '81 season.  He finished his career as a Tiger in '88.

1985 at New York, we're 25.5 out in a 100 loss season, a day after Gooden struck out 16, we trail 2-1 in the 9th when Bob Brenly hits a 2 run homer off Roger McDowell and we're gonna win this 3-2.  Brenly didn't play a big league game until he was 27 in 1981, took over the starting catching position in '83 and had his career year in '84 (131 OPS+. 4.35 WAR, through 2016 it's the 21st best season for a catcher in franchise history) was productive through '87 and then fell off the table, we let him go after the '88 season, he spent 48 games in Toronto in '89 and then came back to the Giants for a dozen games down the stretch to end his career.

1986 home vs. Philadelphia, we were tied for first on July 20, but a month later are 7.5 out, have lost 4 straight (the Phillies were 3 outs from a perfect game the night before) and on the verge of waving goodbye to '86. Fewer than 8,000 paid on a Thursday afternoon at the Stick, a 2 run 8th inning single by Luis Quinones off of Kent Tekulve cut a Phillies lead to 6-5, and Candy Maldonado followed with a 2 run double to put us up 7-6 and that's going to be the final score. Quinones had 19 hits as a Giant. His most notable accomplishment was being the return in an early season '85 trade with the Indians for....Johnnie LeMaster.  Quinones signs with the A's in the offseason but is dealt 8 days later to the Cubs for Ron Cey. Within a year and a half, Luis Quinones was traded for Johnny LeMaster and Ron Cey.  That's good stuff.



Walk off 2003 home vs. Atlanta, we walked them off on Tuesday, walked them off on Wednesday, and this is (maybe, I don't know) the only time in San Francisco history we've walked off the same team 3 straight days, we have a 9.5 game lead in the west, 25 games over .500, Jason Schmidt goes 8, gives up just 4 baserunners, 3-3 in the 10th, two nights before Barry homered off of Ray King in the 10th to win the game - tonight, he got Trey Hodges, with one out, Barry hit the first pitch out to win this one. That's homer 652 for Bonds, his 9th career walk off homer.  He hits one more in his career, off the Rockies next May.

He had two with the Pirates, one in '86 against Steve Bedrosian, and then one 5 years later against Lee Smith.

The rest were in San Francisco.  He got Trevor Hoffman in '95, Jose Lima in '97, Billy Brewer (pitching for the Phillies and not Milwaukee) in '99, Alan Embree in '02 and then 3 in '03, Mike Myers in July and the two against the Braves.

2011 at Houston, between May 10 and August 10 we were never more than half a game out of first place, coming into this one we're 2 and a half back (and the same in the WC) after dropping 3 straight. 4-4 in the top of the 11th, Pablo Sandoval facing future teammate Mark Melancon with 2 out - Pablo hits a 2 run homer and we're gonna take it 6-4.  It's Sandoval's best year with the bat, a 155 OPS+, and he cracked 6 WAR - the greatest season for a third baseman in San Francisco history and 5th best in franchise history.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!