September 22 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

Yesterday

What is this all about?

Here are the top 5 September 22 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

Let's see where every team stood heading into 9-22. Maybe change the format for this one.

1958-11.5 out, 5 games left, eliminated
1959-1 back, 5 left, still in play
1960-16 back, 7 left, eliminated
1961-9 back, 9 left, still in play
1962-3 back, 8 left, still in play
1963-11 back, 7 left, eliminated
1964-7 back, 11 left, still in play
1965-3 up, 10 left, still in play
1966-4 back, 8 left, still in play
1967-11.5 back, 11 left, eliminated
1968-10 back, 6 left, eliminated
1969- half a game up, 9 left, still in play
1970-14 back, 9 left, eliminated
1971-1.5 up, 8 left, still in play
1972-26.5 back, 10 left, eliminated
1973-10 back, 8 left, eliminated
1974-26 back, 8 left, eliminated
1975-26 back, 5 left, eliminated
1976-27.5 back, 9 left, eliminated
1977-22.5 back, 9 left, eliminated
1978-9 back, 9 left, still in play 
1979-19.5 back, 9 left, eliminated
1980-15 back, 12 left, eliminated
1981-11.5 back, 13 left, still in play
1982-5.5 back, 12 left, still in play
1983-14 back, 10 left, eliminated
1984-22 back, 9 left, eliminated
1985-28 back, 14 left, eliminated
1986-10 back, 13 left, still in play
1987-up 7.5, 12 left, still in play
1988-10.5 back, 10 left, eliminated
1989-5 up, 9 left, still in play
1990-7.5 back, 11 left, still in play
1991-16.5 back, 13 left, eliminated
1992-23.5 out, 12 left, eliminated
1993-3.5 out, 12 left, still in play
1994- season ended on August 10, we were 3 back
1995-8 back, 10 left, still in play
1996-24 back, 7 left, eliminated
1997-2 up, 6 left, still in play
1998-3.5 out of the WC, 6 left, still in play
1999-9 out, 11 left, still in play
2000- Clinched NL West on 9-21
2001-2 out, 14 left, still in play
2002-2 up in WC, 6 left, still in play
2003-Clinched NL West on 9-17
2004-half a game up in WC, 11 left, still in play
2005, 5 out, 11 left, still in play
2006-5 out, 9 left, still in play - a decade of meaningful late September baseball. 
2007-20 out, 7 left, the run ends - eliminated
2008-11 out, 6 left, eliminated
2009-4 out in WC, 12 left, still in play
2010-half a game up, 11 left, still in play
2011-4 out in WC, 7 left, still in play
2012-10 up, 11 left, still in play
2013-18 out, 7 left, eliminated
2014-4.5 up in WC, 7 left, still in play
2015-6.5 out, 13 left, still in play
2016- tied for WC, 10 left, still in play
2017-36.5 out, 9 left, eliminated - no team in SFG history has ever been so badly buried


Okay - so on September 22 we played the following meaningful games:

1959-lost a walk off to the Cubs, the first place Braves won, that dropped us 2 back with 4 left.

1961-at Cincinnati, Billy O'Dell threw a complete game shutout, we won 6-0, a Jose Pagan two run second inning single got it going.  We're now 8 back, 8 still to play.

1962-at Houston, we lost a walk off - the Dodgers won, so we are now 4 games back with only 7 left to play. This was a tough one, we were up 5-4 in the bottom of the 9th but Jack Sanford gave up a 2 run single to Roman Mejias.  4 back with 7 left is a steep climb.

1964- at Houston, we win 7-1, a second inning Orlando Cepeda homer off Larry Dierker got it going.  We move 6 back with 10 left.

1965-we lose to the Reds, the Dodgers win and our lead is cut to 2 with 9 still to play.

1969-at San Diego, thick of the race, half up on the Braves, 9 left, we've won 4 straight and walked off the Dodgers the game prior, 2-2 in the 7th - which of these teams has Willie Mays?  Mays hits a 2 run homer off Mike Corkins, we win it 4-2 and maintain a half game lead with 8 to play.

1971 at Houston, 8 games to go, 19 days ago we had an 8.5 game lead but now it's down to 1.5, Juan Marichal throws a complete game, because he's Juan Marichal, 6 hits, 6 strikeouts, no walks, at 1-1 in the 5th Bobby Bonds homered, we win it 3-1.  That bumps the lead back to 2.5 with 7 to play.

1978 home vs. Astros, it's 9 back with 9 left, the end is coming any day now, but not today, Bob Knepper throws a complete game 5 hit shutout, striking out 8 and walking none.  Houston threatened in the 7th, we're up 2-0, 2 on, 2 out, Knepper strikes out Bruce Bochy.  We're 8 back with 8 left.

1981 home vs. Dodgers, 11.5 back with 13 left, scoreless in the first, Larry Herndon hits a 2 run inside the park homer off Fernando Valenzuela, we win it 5-2.  We move to 11 out with a dozen to play and hold off elimination just a big longer.

1982 at Cincinnati, 5.5 back with 12 left, Renie Martin goes 7, gives up just 2 hits, the only run we needed was a Johnnie LeMaster RBI single in the second off of Mario Soto, we win the game 2-0. Three weeks ago we were 9 back - but now that number is 4.5 with 11 still to play.

1986 at Cincinnati, we're nearly done, 10 back with 13 left, Vida starts this one - he came back from the Royals in '85 to finish his career in San Francisco, he has 2 starts left in his career after this. We came into the 6th down 3-2, but Bob Brenly tied it with a homer and, now up 4-3, Dan Gladden hit a grand slam off of Scott Terry, we win 10-7, we move 9 out with a dozen left.

1987 - we lose 4-3 to the Dodgers, the Reds win, cutting our lead to 6.5 with 11 to play. Fernando beat Dravecky.

1989 - we lose 3-1 to the Astros, the Padres also lose, so the lead remains 5 with 8 games left. Future Giant Portugal beats us in this one.

1990 - we lose to the Dodgers, 6-3, the Reds sweep a doubleheader, so we drop to 9 out with 10 to go, former Giant Dennis Cook beats us.

1993 at Houston, 12 days ago we were tied, we're now 3.5 out, Bill Swift goes 8, gives up 4 hits, strikes out 10, and we beat the Astros 1-0.  The run was scored in the 7th, Kirt Manwaring doubled home Willie McGee off of Pete Harnisch. Meanwhile - the Braves lose, so we gain a game back, 2.5 games down with 11 to play.

1995 - the first place Rockies beat us 6-1, we fall 9 out with 9 left, we get 2 hits.

1997 at San Diego - we're 2 up with 6 left, it's 5-5 in the 8th, Stan Javier drives in the go ahead run with a single off Heath Murray. That opens things up and we win 11-5. We gain a half game and are now 2.5 games up with 5 to play.

1998 home vs. Pirates, we're 3.5 out of the WC with 6 left, we just blast the Pirates 14-2, Barry Bonds finishes a double short of a cycle and we get 10 extra base hits.  We gain a game in the WC and are now 2.5 out with 5 to play.

1999 at Los Angeles, we're 9 back with 11 left, so the end is near, but not today - down 3-2 in the 7th Rich Aurilia flipped the game with a 2 run single, we win this one 5-4.  We remain 9 games out with 10 to go.

2001- the Padres walked us off, but Arizona also lost, so we stay 2 back now with 13 to play, Mike Darr homered off Brian Boehringer in the 10th to beat us.

2002-at Milwaukee, we're 2 up in the WC and looking for a sweep of the Brewers, Kirk Rueter is strong, 7 innings/3 hits, it's 1-1 with 1 out in the 9th, Jeff Kent leads off with a homer off Luis Vizcaino, we win it 3-1. Our WC lead stays at 2 with 5 to play. We head home for the final five games of the season.

2004-home vs. Astros, we're half a game up in the WC, 1.5 out in the West, Noah Lowry throws a complete game, gives up just five hits and a walk, at 1-1 in the 5th, Pedro Feliz singles home the go ahead run off Roy Oswalt, we win 5-1, with 10 to go we move half a game out in the West and stay half a game up in the WC.

2005-the Nats beat us 2-0, the Padres also lose so we remain 5 back, now with 10 to play. We got 4 hit.

2006-the Brewers beat us 13-12, the Padres won, we drop to 6 out with 8 left, former Giant David Bell beats us by driving home what turns out to be the game winning run in the 8th.

2009-Arizona beats us 10-8, the Rockies win - we fall 5 out in the WC with 11 to play, we were up 3-0, they scored 6 in the third, we closed with 4 in the final two innings but its not enough.

2010-the Cubs beat us 2-0, the Padres win, we fall half a game out in both the West and the WC with ten games to go. We got 5 hits.

2011-the Dodgers beat us 8-2, Bumgarner is knocked out after 4 innings, the Braves also lose so we stay 4 out in the WC, but with just 6 to go.



2012-home vs. Padres, we came into this one having won 9 of 10, we scored in the first and kept scoring, putting it away in the 4th, with a 3-1 lead Marco Scutaro hit a 2 run single off Andrew Werner, we'd go on to win 8-4 and clinch the NL West for the 8th time.

2014 at Los Angeles, Jake Peavy and 4 relievers 4 hit the Dodgers in 13 innings, at 2-2 in the 13th Andrew Susac hits a 2 out single off former Giant Kevin Correia to drive home the go ahead run, we win this game 5-2 and with just 6 games left we have a 5.5 game WC lead.

2015 at San Diego, we win, moving 6 out with a dozen left, a 2 run Angel Pagan homer in the 7th turned a 2-1 lead into a 4-1 lead and we held on for the 4-2 victory.

2016- at San Diego, we're scoreless in the 8th, Angel Pagan singles home the first run of the game off of Brad Hand, we win it 2-1, we move half a game up in the WC with 9 to play.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!