I'm going through every San Francisco Giants club ever. By WARP/WAR (B-Ref version) here's the first decade of Giants baseball (including the 2 years from the 50s). I guess the idea would be to see who had the best positional seasons ever and select the all time Giants by position. I made a run at this a couple of years ago.
Edit - it's 2012, time for an update. I'm going to use the Davenport WARP numbers.
1958 (Pythag Wins Normalized for 162 game season: 84)
C Schmidt WARP 1.5/WAR 1.4
1B Cepeda 3.8/2.7
2B O'Connell 1.5/.9
SS Spencer 4.7/3
3B Davenport .7/1.1
LF Sauer 0/.5
CF Mays 9.1/10(8 wins is an MVPQuality season)
RF Kirkland .2/.4
OF Wagner 1.3/1.8
OF F Alou .7/1.1
P Antonelli 5.4/3.7(4.6 win season)
Gomez 2/1.1
McCormick .7/-.3
Miller 4.7/4.8(4.6 win season)
Worthington 2.1/1.2
Cl Grissom .3/-.3
-Modest though it is, that initial campaign by Spencer will remain the Giants best season from a shortstop throughout the rest of this look at the 60s. This Mays season is the 4th best overall by a Giant in the 60s (guess who has the top three?)
1959 (91)
C Landrith 2.3/1.3
1B Cepeda 5.6/3.4(4.5 wins)
2B Spencer 3.1/2
SS Bressoud 1/2.6
3B Davenport -.5/1.5
LF Brandt 2/1.2
CF Mays 6.5/7.4(7 wins)
RF Kirkland 2/2.9
1B McCovey 4.1/3
SS Rodgers .9/1.1
LF Wagner .8/.5
RF F Alou .6/1
P Antonelli 6.1/4.5(5.3 win season)
Jones 6.9/4.9(5.9 wins, our best pitched season to that date)
McCormick 1/.2
Sanford 4.2/2.9
Cl Miller 2.8/2
-Sam Jones and Antonelli are a solid 1-2 in McCovey's rookie year - and it'll be a decade before someone has a better second base season than Spencer. Hell of a pythag - 20 games over .500
1960 (85)
C Schmidt 1.1/.4
1B McCovey 1.6/1.6
2B Blasingame .9/1.2
SS Bressoud .9/1.5
3B Davenport .7/.9
LF Cepeda 3.9/3.9
CF Mays 7.6/9.2(Mays's second MVPQ season in SFG)
RF Kirkland 1.7/2.9
2B Amalfitano 1.2/1.6
LF F Alou .1/1.2
P McCormick 7.4/5(6.2 wins)
Jones 2.8/1.1
Sanford 1.8/.6
O'Dell 4.2/3
Marichal 2/1.7
Cl Antonelli 1.8/.7
-Until '63, this McCormick season was the best pitched year in SFG history.
1961 (93)
C Bailey 1.2/1.5
1B McCovey 2.2/2.4
2B Amalfitano .5/.2
SS Pagan -.5/.8
3B Davenport 3.1/2.6
LF Kuenn .6/.5
CF Mays 8.1/8.4(Third MVPQ season)
RF F Alou 2.3/2.6
LF Cepeda 6.6/5.4(6 win season)
P McCormick 5.6/4.1(4.9 wins)
Sanford 2.2/1.3
Marichal 2.2/1.1
Loes .6/-.3
Cl Miller 4.4/3.2
-Cepeda split his time between left and first in that "how can we have a team with both he and McCovey - just too many bats!" conundrum the Giants were in. But for these purposes we'll call him a left fielder and say this was the best LF season of the Giants in the 60s.
1962 (100-65)
C Haller 4/3.4
1B Cepeda 5.8/2.9
2B Hiller 2.6/2.5
SS Pagan .8/2.2
3B Davenport 3.4/4.6
LF Kuenn 2.5/2.2
CF Mays 10.7/10.2
RF F. Alou 4/5
C Bailey 2/1.8
LF McCovey 2.9/1.8
RF M Alou .4/.9
P O'Dell 3.5/2.6
Sanford 4.5/2.9
Marichal 4.5/4
Pierce 3.2/2.5
McCormick -.7/-1
Perry -.4/-.5
Cl Miller .2/-.3
Through the first 5 years in San Francisco - here's the all time team.
C Haller ('62)
1B Cepeda ('59)
2B Hiller ('62)
SS Spencer ('58)
3B Davenport ('62)
LF Cepeda ('61)
CF Mays ('62)
RF Alou ('62)
P McCormick ('60)
-Mays' 5th best season of the decade led the pace for the best Giants team of the time period; a hundred pythag wins and the first of only three pennants we've won to the date of this writing.
1963 (90-62)
C Bailey 3.2/3.2
1B Cepeda 7/5.2(new best 1B season)
2B Hiller -.4/-.9
SS Pagan -.4/.5
3B Davenport -.4/.5
LF McCovey 6.1/6(new best LF season)
CF Mays 11.3/10.2(new best CF season)
RF F Alou 4.6/4.8(new best RF season)
C Haller 2.7/2.6
P Marichal 9.1/7.8(new best pitching season)
Sanford 3.7/2.5
O'Dell 3.8/2.9
Larsen 1.5/1
Duffalo 1.4/1
Cl Pierce 0/0
-The 3rd best overall season of the 60s, it's Mays in '63 - this is a real stars/scrubs team, look at all the production from Cepeda/McCovey/Marichal and then look at the rest of the infield - Hiller is sub replacement level and Pagan/Davenport aren't any better. Not hard to see where upgrades could have been made in '63. This is all time frustrating "why didn't they fill those holes" team.
1964 (89-73)
C Haller 3.2/2.8
1B Cepeda 4.1/4.2
2B Lanier 2.7/.7
SS Pagan -1.4/-1.3
3B Hart 5.1/4.9(new best 3B season)
LF McCovey .5/-.3
CF Mays 11.2/10.7(new best CF season)
RF J Alou -.3/0
LF Kuenn -1/-.4
CF Snider -.6/-.7
RF M Alou -.1/.5
P Marichal 7/5.8
Bolin 2.7/2.4
Hendley 2.2/1.5
Herbel 2.2/1.5
Sanford 1.8/1.5
Perry 5.6/4.8
Duffalo 1.6/1.3
Pierce 1.4/1.6
Cl Shaw .5/.2
-Best season of the decade for Mays; the best third base season until Hart passes it himself in '66; the best pitching season as of this point was Marichal's the year before - this was second. Pagan and Jesus Alou both below replacement.
1965 (91-71)
C Haller 2.9/2.3
1B McCovey 5.4/5.5
2B Lanier -.4/-1.1
SS Schofield -.4/-.5
3B Hart 3/3.2
LF Gabrielson 1.5/1.3
CF Mays 10.9/10.9
RF J. Alou 1.2/2
RF M Alou -.9/-1.1
P Marichal 11.4/10.1(new best pitched season)
Shaw 5/4.7
Perry .5/-.2
Sanford .1/-.4
Spahn .7/.5
Bolin 5.1/4.3
Herbel 1.1/.7
Murakami 1.1/1
Cl Linzy 4.6/3.9
-19 bleeping 65. 91 pythag wins is really good - but look what happened here, the second best season overall in the decade (Mays) the best pitching season of the decade (Marichal) - add in the best season for a closer in the decade (Linzy) and you'd like to play in the postseason. But Schofield's sub replacement, Lanier is at the line, the two Alou's continue to most pointless of all sports dynasties. But Cepeda got hurt and there's Gabrielson/Peterson giving us nothing in left (while the Alou's give us less than that in right). Hard not to look in hindsight at '65 as one that got away.
1966 (86-75)
C Haller 2.4/3.2
1B McCovey 8.4/5.7(new best 1B season)
2B Lanier .3/-.7
SS Fuentes 1.3/.6
3B Hart 4.9/6.4(best 3b season)
LF Gabrielson -1.9/-.1.1
CF Mays 8/8.8
RF Brown -2/-.9
3B Davenport .8/1.1
RF J Alou -2.9/-2
P Marichal 10.6/9.5
Perry 6.1/4.7
Bolin 4.8/4.3
Herbel -.1/-.8
Sadecki -1.4/-1.6
McDaniel 2.3/1.4
Cl Linzy 2.2/1.2
-You cant really look at this Mays season and see slippage, but this is just an ordinary great player year as opposed to an all-time season - and '66 becomes the first year that Mays wasn't the best player on the club (Marichal). It's the second best pitching season of the era - and the best third base season, as Hart continued his solid play - it was also, to that date, the best first base year, as McCovey starts to gear up now - and so does Perry as the number two starter. But look at the corner OF - they're sub replacement and so are their backups. Add the replacement level middle infielders and you can really see the picture of mid 60s Giants baseball forming - MVP seasons in Mays/Marichal - really solid supporting work led by McCovey - and then some terrible baseball by most of the rest of the lineup.
1967 (93-69)
C Haller 4.3/3.7(best catching season)
1B McCovey 6.3/4.9
2B Fuentes 1.8/1.2
SS Lanier 2.4/1.7
3B Hart 4.8/5.6
LF J Alou -1.3/0.2
CF Mays 3.8/4.2
RF Brown -.3/1.5
C Dietz 1/.5
Hiatt 1.4/1.5
3B Davenport 3.1/3.4
LF Cline .2/1.1
CF Henderson -.1/-1.1
P Perry 6.4/5.1
McCormick 5.9/3.9
Marichal 3.2/2
Sadecki 4/3.1
Cl Linzy 4.5/3.2
10 years Down. Here's the All Time SFG Team:
C Haller '67
1B McCovey '66
2B Hiller '62
SS Spencer '58
3B Hart '66
LF McCovey '63
CF Mays '64
RF Alou '63
P Marichal '65
Cl Linzy '65
-Catching has never been a SFG strong suit, but Haller had some good enough years; this was the best - the best catching season in the 60s. More importantly - even though he finished 3rd in the MVP vote, we see the Mays decline; the best Giant in '67 was Gaylord, Jim Ray Hart was second, McCovey third and then Mays - they all had similar good, solid, but unspectacular seasons - '67 is the year Mays became just another good guy, on what was the second best Giants team of the decade.
1968 (90-72)
C Dietz 1.2/1
1B McCovey 6.9/6.9
2B Hunt 5.7/4.6(best second base season)
SS Lanier 1.3/-.2
3B Hart 2.9/2.7
LF Cline -1.6/-.1
CF Mays 6.4/6.1
RF J Alou -1.4/-.9
C Hiatt 2.1/1.7
3B Davenport -.3/.1
RF Bo. Bonds 1.9/2.8
P Marichal 7.3/5.4
Perry 6.3/4.7
Sadecki 3.2/2.2
McCormick -.3/-.4
Bolin 5.3/4.5
Cl Linzy 2.5/1.8
-Hunt joins the club - and look, a middle infielder who can actually play - this is the best second base season of the decade. Mays rebounds a bit, but it's McCovey, who, by a narrow margin beats him out for best player - and, of course,we have sub replacement value corner outfielders in Alou and Cline - but Bobby Bonds, in part time, gives us a glimpse.
1969 (89-73)
C Dietz 2.5/1.9
1B McCovey 8.2/7.9(best 1B season)
2B Hunt 4.4/4.1
SS Lanier 1.6/.6
3B Davenport -.1/-.4
LF Marshall -1.1/-.6
CF Mays 1.9/3
RF Bonds 5.6/6.3(best RF season)
C Hiatt 2.3/1.6
SS Fuentes 1/1.4
P Perry 7.6/6.2
Marichal 9.3/7.5
McCormick 3.3/2.4
Bolin -.1/-.2
Sadecki .6/0
Cl Linzy .6/.7
-There's no doubt as the decade closes - McCovey's the best player, this is the best first base season of the decade - Mays is behind Marichal (the third best pitching season of the decade, all by him), Perry (his best season of the decade), Bonds (with the best RF season of the decade), and even Hunt. Davenport gets back his starting job 5 years after turning it over to Hart - and he and the LF Marshall are sub replacement.
Here's the SFG 25 Man Roster for the 50s/60s.
C Haller '67
Haller '62
1B McCovey '69
McCovey '66
2B Hunt '68
Hunt '69
SS Spencer '58
Lanier '67
3B Hart '66
Hart '67
LF McCovey '63
Cepeda '61
CF Mays '64
Mays '65
RF Bonds '69
F.Alou '63
P Marichal '65
Marichal '66
Marichal '63
Marichal '69
Marichal '64
Perry '69
Marichal '68
Cl Linzy '65
Linzy '67
