Yesterday
Here are the Top 5 July 22 moments in San Francisco Giants history.
1964 home vs. Cubs, it's game 95, just a week before we were up a game - but now we're one out of first place, it's 3-3 in the 6th (we scored those three on a Hal Lanier homer in the 5th) Orlando Cepeda hits a two run homer off Larry Jackson, we're gonna win this one 7-3, but we can never make up that game and get back into first. It's Cepeda's 208th career homer, he only hits 17 more as a Giant.
1983 at Pittsburgh, game 94, 11 games out, down 3-2 in the 8th, Joel Youngblood drives in two with a pinch base hit off of Kent Tekulve, we're gonna win it 5-3. Jack Clark had five hits on the day. It's Youngblood's first year of 6 in San Francisco and easily his best, he had a 138 OPS+
Walk off 1996 home vs. Cubs, we're 9.5 games out, Kim Batiste pinch homered in the 7th to tie the score at one, and in the bottom of the 9th Rich Aurilia singled with one out - Kirt Manwaring tried to bunt him over but got hit by the pitch, a batter later the Cubs tried to pick Aurilia off second, but the catcher's throw hit him, with 2 outs and Aurilia on third a Marvin Benard ground ball went under Ryne Sandberg's glove to score the game winning run. It's Batiste's only season in San Francisco, he played 54 games as a Giant and didn't hit at all, having an OPS+ of 49 as a utility guy. It's hit 26th game as a Giant, his 9th hit and his second of 3 home runs.
1997 home vs. Phillies, it's game 100, the first time we've hit that number on this daily look at great Giants moments, we're 3 up in the NL West, Bonds homered to tie the game in the 5th, but we were down 4-3 in the 7th when Jeff Kent hit a 2 run over off of Jerry Spradlin (Kent's second homer) and we're gonna win it 8-5. This is Kent's first season in San Francisco after the Matt Williams trade with Cleveland, he was okay, it's really '98 as a 30 year old that he starts the march to his Hall of Fame level career.
2014 at Philadelphia, up 1.5 in the West, we play a near 6 hour game on a Tuesday night at the Vet, 5-5 with 2 out and the bases loaded in the top of the 14th - Brandon Crawford doubles off Jeff Manship, clearing the bases, and we win it 9-6. Buster Posey had a game tying homer in the 9th. We drafted Crawford as 21 year old in '08 (in the 4th round, Jason Kipnis and Dee Gordon also taken in that round; '08 was also the Posey draft, so a nice haul) he came up in '11 and took the starting shortstop job in 2012. He's been good every year, particularly so in 2015 and then 2016, although as of this writing has fallen off the table entirely in 2017 in a nearly inexplicable collapse.
See you tomorrow. Go Giants!
Edit - Walk off 2017 home vs. Padres, game 99 of an historically bad Giants season, we come in 29.5 behind the first place Dodgers, further beind than any Giants team has ever been to any Dodgers team in the entire history of both organizations. 4-4 with 2 out in the bottom of the 12th, Nick Hundley singles home Kelby Tomlinson with the winning run off of Kevin Quackenbush. It's the tenth year of Hundley's career, he signed as a free agent in the offseason after a couple of years in Colorado. He produces well enough to be your backup catcher, as of this date he's got an 87 OPS+ in 2017. Hundley was taken 28th in the 2nd round by the Padres in 2008 (they took Chase Headley 10 spots prior, he and Yunel Escobar have been the two best players from that round; we lost our pick to the Cardinals in the Mike Matheny signing, they took a Texas high school pitcher who never made it).
See you today. Go Giants!
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