What is this all about?
Yesterday
Top 5 Moments in June 24 San Francisco Giants history.
1972 at San Diego, now this is a bad team, we're 22-45, last in the west, 18 games out of first place, 4-4 in the 11th, bases loaded, a Chris Speier single off Ed Acosta, plus a Padres error scores everybody and we win it 7-4. Speier's 22, it's his second year in the bigs, he's the starting shortstop for the Giants and he hits the ball, a 115 OPS+ backed up with terrific defense, it's a 7+WAR season for Speier making this year, right here, the single best season for any shortstop in the history of the organization.
1982 at Houston, we're 11.5 out, 3-3 in the tenth, Jack Clark homers off of Phil Niekro. That's gonna do it, we'll win 4-3. Home run 118 for Clark.
1989 at San Diego, we've won 6 straight, taking us to 16 over .500 with a 4 game lead in the West, just for the heck of it, go check June 22, 1988 before you continue with this game, I'll wait......okay, we're down 1-0 in the 8th, but there are 2 on, Mark Davis facing Will Clark - he triples both men home, we add a third run and win it 3-1. Will finished second behind Mitchell in the NL MVP race, the first time in Giants history teammates had gone 1-2. 11 years later it would be Kent-Bonds who would accomplish that feat.
2002 at San Diego, 9 games over .500 and 4.5 out, 6-6 in the 9th inning, and that only happened because back in the 7th Barry Bonds hit a game tying 3 run homer - he's up again to lead off the 9th - and he does it again, homering off Trevor Hoffman. We win it 7-6. Barry's best year with the bat, a 268 OPS+, it's his 5th MVP Award, he's worth eleven and a half WAR for his second best ever season. Homers 590-591 on the day for Bonds. He's a month and a half away from 600.
Walk off 2006 home vs. A's - we're 3 games out, down 7-5 in the bottom of the 9th, the first two men get on base and then Ray Durham hits a 3 run homer to win the game. Barry hit #719 in this one. Let's talk walk off homers with a 2 run deficit. Wagner in '59, Dietz in '71, Bonds the elder in '73, Reggie Smith in '82, then one we haven't seen yet in '82 (no spoilers), Youngblood in '84, Gladden in '85, another one in '85 from later in the season, Will Clark from two days ago in '86, there's one in '95 and then there's this one - so it had been 11 years since the Giants overcame a 2 run deficit with a walk off home run. Durham did 6 years as the Giants starting second baseman, he came over as a free agent from the A's, before the '03 season and we moved him to the Brewers at the deadline in '08 for Darren Ford. That turned out to be the last season of Durham's career. Durham was good here, 127 OPS+, three and a half wins, it's his second best San Francisco season.
See you tomorrow. Go Giants!
