Sloane Stephens. Runners-up: Rafael Nadal, Corey Kluber, Aaron Judge
2017 is 3/4 of the way gone. Who will be named Athlete of the Year?
January - Deshaun Watson February - Tom Brady March - Russell Westbrook April - A'ja Wilson May - Stephen Curry June- Kevin Durant July - Roger Federer August - Giancarlo Stanton September - Sloane Stephens
Here are all the September 27 games that mattered in San Francisco Giants history.
1959 - it's the last day of the season, we're in 3rd, 1.5 behind the Braves and Dodgers - but we have a doubleheader in St Louis today - so, if both the Braves and Dodgers lose, and we win both games against the Cardinals, we've forced a 3 way tie. None of that happens, the Dodgers win, the Braves win and we lose both games to St Louis. Eliminated.
1962 - we lose to the Cardinals, fortunately the Dodgers also lose, so with 3 games left we remain 2 out.
1964 - we lose both ends of a doubleheader in Wrigley to drop 4.5 out of first with 6 to play. We're in 4th place, so it's going to be a tough haul to make it.
1965 - home vs. Cardinals, we come in dead tied with LA with 6 to play, we win on a Monday afternoon, Tom Haller hits 2 homers, the first a 3 run shot off of Tracy Stallard in the second to score the game's first runs. We win 8-4. LA wins too. With 5 left - we remain tied.
1966 - at Atlanta, we're 4 behind the Dodgers with 6 left - we win, Lindy McDaniel went 6 scoreless in relief. Down 3-1 in the 6th, Willie Mays hit a 3 run homer off Pat Jarvis, we win it 6-3. LA wins, we're 4 back with 5 left.
1969 - the Dodgers walk us off, 2-1 in 11, former Giant Len Gabrielson beats Don McMahon with a run scoring single. The Braves win - we fall to 2.5 out with 4 left.
1971 - off day, we stay 1 up with 3 left.
1982 - a tough Monday night, we're tied with the Braves for second, a game behind LA, Atlanta comes to the Stick in front of 45,000 and Phil Niekro shuts us out 7-0. The Dodgers lose, so now there are 6 left and LA and Atlanta are tied for first and we're still 1 game out.
1987 at Atlanta - we're 7 up with 8 left and beat the Braves 15-6, we get 19 hits, we have two 6 run innings, Jose Uribe gets 4 hits - we actually trailed in this one and by a decent amount, 5-2 in the 4th inning, but Candy Maldonado hit a pinch grand slam and then we rolled to victory. The Reds win, so with 7 games to go we have a 7 game lead.
1989 at Los Angeles, the Dodgers beat us 1-0, the only time we were swept in a series all season, but down in San Diego the Padres lost in 13 innings and that gave us the NL West Title. The A's clinched the AL West on the same day.
1993 home vs. Padres, the Braves weren't losing so we needed every single game down the stretch and we nearly got it, this was our 10th of 11 and cut the deficit to 1 game with 6 to play. We got 14 hits, including 3 from Will Clark and Jeff Reed, Matt Williams got it going with a 2 run first inning homer.
1997 home vs. Padres, it had been 8 years since the last time the Giants could say they were NL West champs, but it happens here, Wilson Alvarez goes 7, gives up 2 hits and strikes out 9 and we win 6-1. Glenallen Hill got it going with a run scoring single in the 4th off of Sterling Hitchock to break the scoreless tie.
1998, it's the last day of the regular season, we're in Denver, Neifi Perez walks us off with a homer off Robb Nen. Meanwhile - the Cubs lost to Houston in 11 (Rod Beck was the losing pitcher) so the Wild Card race would be decided at Wrigley tomorrow on Game 163.
2000 NL West Champs (clinched 9-21)
2001 off day, we're 2 out with 9 to go.
2002 home vs Astros, we've won 5 straight, Jason Schmidt goes 7 1/3, gives up 1 earned, 4 hits, 8 strikeouts. Houston had the tying run at third in the 8th, but Tim Worrell got Craig Biggio to fly to center to end the inning. We win 2-1. Our magic number to get the WC and eliminate LA is 1. 2003 NL West Champs (clinched 9-17)
2004 off day, we're a game out in the WC, 3 out in the West, 6 games left.
2005 - we lose to the Padres, we're 4 out with 5 left. Brett Tomko started, gave up 5 earned in 3 innings.
2009 - home vs Cubs we end a 3 game slide and keep the season alive another day, 5 out of the WC with 6 to play. Cain goes 8, gives up 3 hits, no runs and strikes out 8. Eli Whiteside had a pair of run scoring doubles, we beat the Cubs 5-1.
2010 off day, we're 1 up with 6 left.
2012 NL West Champs (clinched 9-22)
2014 NL Wild Card (clinched 9-25)
2015 at Oakland, we beat the A's to stay alive, 6 out with 7 left, 5-4 in the bottom of the 9th, 2 out, the winning run at the plate - Santiago Casilla strikes out Billy Burns.
2016 home vs. Rockies, we come in 1 up for the final WC with 6 to go and blast the Rox, 12-3, Matt Moore goes 7 2/3 and strikes out 11. Brandon Crawford has 4 hits, Brandon Belt is a homer short of a cycle. We stay 1 up in the WC with 5 to go.
