What is this all about?
Here are the September 30 games that mattered in San Francisco history
1962 home vs. Houston. One back. One left. We need to win. The Dodgers need to lose. Both of us at home, LA hosting the Cards, Johnny Podres for the Dodgers, Curt Simmons for St Louis - both throw complete game 5 hitters. There's only 1 run scored, in the top of the 8th, Gene Oliver homered off of Podres to give the Cards a 1-0 lead. LA never got another baserunner. So - if we win we force a 3 game playoff. Billy O'Dell for us against Turk Farrell. We get the first run, Ed Bailey homered in the 4th. They get the tying run in the 6th, Jim Pendleton singling it home. We load the bases with 2 out in the bottom of the 7th, but Farrell gets Matty Alou to pop up. We don't go hungry for long, Willie Mays leads off the 8th with a homer and when Houston goes down in order in the 9th we had caught the Dodgers. 101-61 to 101-61.
Walk off 1964 home vs. Houston, 3.5 back with 5 to go, we walked Houston off in 11 the day before and do it again here. Gaylord went 10, struck out 7 - but we only get 4 hits, it's 1-1 in the 11th, bases loaded, two out, an Eddie Kasko error on a Jim Davenport grounder to third allows us to score the winning run. Unfortunately we gain no ground - so with 4 left we're still 3.5 out.
Walk off 1965 home vs. Reds, 2 back with 3 left, we needed a run in the 8th to tie it and in the 9th Orlando Cepeda hits a 2 run walk off homer against Joe Nuxhall. The Dodgers also win - so we stay 2 back but now with 2 left to play.
1966 off day, 3 out, 4 left
1969 we beat the Padres for our 90th win, but the Braves also win and we're eliminated
1971 at San Diego, here's how to think about '71 - it's the inverse of '62, so, the chasing Dodgers are right on our doorstep, 1 game back with 1 game to go. They beat Houston 2-1, Sutton throws a complete game, a Buckner 7th inning sac fly gave LA the winning margin. So, now it's up to us - but unlike LA in '62, we hold them off , beating the Padres 5-1 to win the NL West. Juan Marichal throws a complete game 5 hitter, striking out 5 and walking none, Kingman homered, Fuentes had 3 hits and 40 year old Willie Mays doubles to get the scoring going in the 4th. For the first time since 1962 - the Giants are in the playoffs.
Walk off 1982 home vs. Astros two behind the Braves with 4 to go, maybe the high point of this tremendous 1982 run at first place, we are down 5-0 heading to the 7th, two out, bases loaded, Joe Morgan singles home two off of Mike LaCoss (of course it's LaCoss) Jack Clark follows with his own run scoring single and the lead is down to 5-3. Fast forward to the 8th, we've already scored another run, trail only 5-4, 2 out, runners on the corners, Max Venable singles off Bert Roberge to tie the score at 5. In the top of the 9th, future Giant Harry Spilman homers off Rich Gale to again put the Astros up - we've come back so far, from 13 out, and then today, 5 runs down - but now it's all over, we trail 6-5 going to the bottom of the 9th - but we load the bases, there are two outs, Ron Pruitt is on to pinch hit against Dave Smith. Pruitt was a Giant for the final two seasons of his 9 year big league career, he had a total of 5 San Francisco at bats. He had two hits. His first came here, a 2 run game winning single. The Braves lose - the Dodgers win, Atlanta's lead over both of us is cut to a game with 3 to go. 1982!
1987 NL West Champs (clinched 9-28)
1989 NL West Champs (clinched 9-27)
1993 at Los Angeles some years we chase the Dodgers, some years they chase us - we rarely play each other at the end, this year however the Dodgers are long out of the race, we're a game behind the Braves with 4 to play - but all 4 of those games have to be played in Los Angeles. It starts here, Bill Swift nails this one down, 7 1/3, gave up just 2 hits, 1 earned. Kirt Manwaring broke a scoreless tie with a 2 run 4th inning single off Tom Candiotti, we win this one 3-1 - and the Braves lose to the Astros, so with 3 days left in the season, each of us is 101-58.
1997 Game One NLDS at Florida hey look it's the playoffs, hey, look, I'm at the game, hey look, we only get 4 hits and they walk us off. Scoreless in the top of the 7th, Bill Mueller leads off with a homer off of Kevin Brown - some people behind me throw popcorn as I shout "Bill Mueller! Bill Mueller! (what it lacked in creativity it made up in accuracy) and I challenge an entire row to come at me. Kirk Rueter gave it back in the bottom half in the form of a Charles Johnson homer. In the bottom of the 9th Julian Tavarez put the first two on, got replaced by Roberto Hernandez, and with 2 out and the bases loaded, he gave up the game winning single to Edgar Renteria. That Marlin mascot planted the flag on the pitcher's mound and I made my escape.
2000 NL West Champs (clinched 9-21)
2001 we lose to the Padres, Arizona also loses, we're 2 out with 6 left.
2002 NL Wild Card (clinched 9-28)
2003 Game One NLDS home vs. Marlins, 6 years ago the Marlins edged us out in Game 1 of the NLDS, this year it goes our way, Jason Schmidt throws a 3 hit shutout, 5 strikeouts and no walks. We only get 3 hits ourselves, two of them from Edgardo Alfonzo that drove home the only two runs of our 2-0 victory. We're two wins away from the NLCS.
2004 at San Diego it's Houston we're chasing, half a game out of the WC with 4 to play - we catch them here, Jerome Williams gets it done, 7 innings, 4 hits, 1 earned, it's 1-1 on the 4th, JT Snow hits a 2 run double off Adam Eaton, we go on and win 4-1. Dead tied for the WC with 3 to play.
2009 we beat Arizona but are eliminated.
2010 home vs. Diamondbacks, we're 2 up on the Padres with 4 left and we're on a roll, having won 7 of 9. We make it 8 of 10 and sweep the Snakes, 1-1 in the 5th, Andres Torres hits a 2 out homer, Buster Posey hits a 2 run homer in the 6th, that's all the runs, we win 4-1. The Padres do not win - so with 3 to play we have a 3 game lead.
2012 NL West Champs (clinched 9-22)
2014 NL Wild Card (clinched 9-25)
2016 home vs. Dodgers, like 1993, we're playing the Dodgers at season's end but they aren't implicated in the race (unlike '93, it's because they've already won the West - the race is for the second WC spot, we're 1 up on St Louis with 3 left). We're down 3-2 with the bases loaded in the 6th, Conor Gillaspie hits a 2 run double off Brandon McCarthy and we go on to win 9-3, our Brandons both had 3 hits. The Cards won - we stay 1 up with 2 left. This was Madison Bumgarner's 100th career win.
See you tomorrow. Go Giants!
