Forever Giants:1929 New York Giants(Year 47)

1928 is here.

My WAR calculation is a combination of Baseball-reference and Clay Davenport; I believe it to be the "best" WAR number available for historical comparison. 8 WAR is an MVP quality season. The record is pythagorean adjusted for 162 games.

1929 97-67

C Shanty Hogan .4

1B Bill Terry 4.4

2B Andy Cohen .9

SS Travis Jackson 6.6

3B Freddie Lindstrom 2.8 

LF Freddy Leach -1.2

CF Edd Roush 1.45

RF Mel Ott 7.7

OF Chick Fullis -.4

C Bob O’Farrell .65

2B Andy Reese .2

IF Doc Farrell -1.35

OF Jimmy Welsh -.8

SP Carl Hubbell 3.45 

SP Larry Benton 1.35 

SP Freddy Fitzsimmons 1.55 

SP Bill Walker 3.3

SP Dutch Henry 1.3

RP Carl Mays 1.5

-27 years of John McGraw, only 3 below 90 pythagorean wins as the decade ends. Jack Scott ends a nice Giants career; Carl Mays pitches his final season with the Giants - Edd Roush started his career with the Giants and nearly finishes it as well, but will come back and play another season with the Reds.  You may recall this when Mathewson retired, but they played toghether and now Roush plays with Ott.

Conner played with Davis played with Matthewson played with Roush played with Ott.

Hall of Famers connecting the Giants from 1883-1947 (that's when Ott retires).  Ott's going to play with Mize who plays with Irvin who plays with Mays, but we'll cross those bridges.  

Forever Giants:1928 New York Giants(Year 46)

1927 is here.

My WAR calculation is a combination of Baseball-reference and Clay Davenport; I believe it to be the "best" WAR number available for historical comparison. 8 WAR is an MVP quality season. The record is pythagorean adjusted for 162 games.

1928 96-66

C Shanty Hogan 3.35

1B Bill Terry 3

2B Andy Cohen 2.1

SS Travis Jackson 6.3

3B Freddie Lindstrom 6.95

LF Lefty O’Doul .65

CF Jimmy Welsh 2

RF Mel Ott 3.35 

Uti Andy Reese .25 

OF Les Mann -.9

OF Edd Roush -.15 

C Bob O’Farrell .1

SP Larry Benton 6.25 

SP Freddie Fitzsimmons 2.75 

SP Joe Genewich 2.3

SP Carl Hubbell 1.75

SP Vic Aldridge.15

RP Jim Faulkner .55

-Ott joins Terry in the starting lineup and Hubbell becomes a Giant as the next generation of Hall of Famers moves in.

Forever Giants:1927 New York Giants(Year 45)

1926 is here.

My WAR calculation is a combination of Baseball-reference and Clay Davenport; I believe it to be the "best" WAR number available for historical comparison. 8 WAR is an MVP quality season. The record is pythagorean adjusted for 162 games.

1927 90-62

C Zack Taylor -1.2

1B Bill Terry 5

2B Rogers Hornsby 9.3 MVPQ

SS Travis Jackson 5.45 

3B Freddie Lindstrom 2.95 

LF Heinie Mueller .35 

CF Edd Roush -.05

RF George Harper 5.4

Uti Andy Reese -..15

OF Mel Ott -.2

OF Ty Tyson -.45 

SS Doc Farrell 1.95

C Al Devormer -.35

SP Burleigh Grimes 3.2

SP Freddie Fitzsimmons 1.35 

SP Virgil Barnes .6

SP Larry Benton 1.35

RP Dutch Henry  .1

-McGraw's 25th season as Giants manager includes the greatest second baseman of all time, Rogers Hornsby, who has the best Giants season for any player in more than 15 years. Ross Youngs, on the Forever list, who just retired in the off season, dies of Bright's Disease.

Forever Giants:1926 New York Giants(Year 44)

1925 is here.

My WAR calculation is a combination of Baseball-reference and Clay Davenport; I believe it to be the "best" WAR number available for historical comparison. 8 WAR is an MVP quality season. The parenthetical is a career Giants WAR total with the eventual goal of a top 100 Giants of all time. The record is pythagorean adjusted for 162 games.

1926 80-82

C Paul Florence -.6

1B High Pockets Kelly 3.65 (23.3) Last Season

2B Frankie Frisch 4.55 (35.6) Last Season

SS Travis Jackson 4.1 

3B Freddie Lindstrom 3.25

LF Irish Meusel .2 

CF Ty Tyson  .25

RF Ross Youngs  1.4 (27.9) Last Season

OF Heinie Mueller  -.95

1B Bill Terry 1.3 

SS Doc Farrell .7

C Frank Snyder -.1 

OF Billy Southworth .8 

SP Kent Greenfield -.05 

SP Freddie Fitzsimmons 2.5 

SP Virgil Barnes 2.05

SP Jimmy Ring -1.6

SP Hugh McQuillan .1

SP Jack Scott 1.6 

-Future Hall of Famer and the Giants best player, Frankie Frisch, left the club and then eventually got traded in a dispute with McGraw.  17 year old Mel Ott joins the club while Youngs (Pureblood Giant) and Kelly finish up.

2014 Athlete of the Year

December (and the winner of every month in 2014) is here.

Madison Bumgarner.

Runners-up: Rory McIlroy, Breanna Stewart

The signature sports achievement in 2014 was Madison Bumgarner's October, reaching historic levels in the Giants third World Series victory in 5 years, and near mythic levels in his relief appearance in Game 7.  Bumgarner wasn't baseball's best player in 2014, but in the absence of (in any sport) the best player winning the championship, it's the singular achievement of Bumgarner's October (as was also recognized by SI) that pretty clearly outdistanced the field.

I've been doing a version of this since, well, since about 1980, but it's since January of 1990 that all the records (for each month, with runners up) remain intact.  Here's the list.

1990: Joe Montana
1991: Michael Jordan
1992: Mario Lemieux
1993: Michael Jordan
1994: George Foreman
1995: Hakeem Olajuwon
1996: Michael Jordan
1997: Tiger Woods
1998: Mark McGwire
1999: Tiger Woods
2000: Tiger Woods
2001: Barry Bonds
2002: Barry Bonds
2003: Lance Armstrong
2004: Peyton Manning
2005: Reggie Bush
2006: Roger Federer
2007: Tom Brady
2008: Usain Bolt
2009: Manny Pacquiao
2010: Maya Moore
2011: Aaron Rodgers
2012: LeBron James
2013: LeBron James
2014: Madison Bumgarner