May 14 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

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What is this all about?

Top 5 May 14 moments in San Francisco Giants history.



Walk off 1965 home vs Astros, complete game 4 hitter by Gaylord Perry, but it was 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th when Jim Ray Hart led off with a homer off of Ken Johnson.  In his 12 year career Hart hit two walk off homers - the second one comes a month later.

Walk off 1967 home vs Astros, we had already taken the first half of a doubleheader but trailed 3-0 headed to the 8th.  We got two in that frame but were still down 3-2 with a man on and 2 out in the bottom of the 9th when Ollie Brown hit a 2 run homer off Claude Raymond (Brown took a Raymond fastball off the face two days prior). Brown signed with the Giants at 18, came up to the club when he was 21 in 1965 - he was an adequate starting right fielder in '67 and was drafted away by the Padres a year later, becoming their first ever player.

Walk off 1978 home vs Cardinals, first game of a Sunday doubleheader and it goes a dozen innings, 4-4 in the 12th, 2 out, Terry Whitfield hits a game winning homer off Mark Littell. The Giants had to score two runs late to force extra innings.   Whitfield did four reasonable years as our left fielder in the 70s before heading off to Japan in 1981.  This was the only walk off home run of his big league career.

Walk off 1978 home vs Cardinals, not the same game as the one before - this is the second half of the doubleheader, we walked off the Cardinals in extra innings in both ends of a doubleheader in 1978. Bottom of the 10th inning, runners on the corners with 2 out in a 3-3 game, Marc Hill singles home Terry Whitfield off of Mark Littell (losing pitcher in both games) to complete the doubleheader sweep.  The Giants had to score two runs late to force extra innings.  We played the same game twice on May 14, 1978.  In a 14 year career Hill was his club's primary catcher twice, with the Giants in '77 and '78 and they were his two best seasons, with positive WAR and OPS+ in the mid 80s.  He spent backup catcher-ish level of productive years with the Giants.

Walk off 1995 home vs Pittsburgh, we scored a run in the first, they scored a run in the second - that was it until the bottom of the 10th when Darren Lewis singled home Royce Clayton off of Dan Miceli to win the game.  D-Lew didn't finish the season in San Francisco, he went to Cincinnati in the big Deion Sanders deadline deal.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

May 13 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

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What is this all about?

Here are the top 5 May 13 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

1966 at Mets, 56,000 paid for a 17 inning Friday night game at Shea, the Giants had to score three in the 7th and 1 in the 8th to tie the game at 4-4 and force extra innings, the Mets stranded the winning run at third in both the 12th and 14th - in the 17th Jim Davenport hit a two run homer off Dave Eilers to break the tie and 5-4 would be the final score.  Two years before, almost to the day, Davenport homered in the 15th against the Mets to break a 4-4 tie.  Back in '59 he homered against the Dodgers in the 13th to break a 4-4 tie.

1976 at Cubs, down 5-4 in the 9th, Willie Montanez triples off Bruce Sutter, scoring Derrel Thomas with the tying run.  We won 9-5.  Montanez played for 9 teams in his career, spending just a year and change in San Francisco - we got him for Garry Maddox in the middle of the '75 season and moved him to Atlanta a month after this game.

1978 home vs Cardinals, 4-4 with two on and two out in the 7th, Mike Ivie scores them both with a double off Mark Littell.  We held on to win 7-6. This was Ivie's first season in San Francisco, we got him for Derrel Thomas from the Padres and he smacked the ball around pretty good with a 137 OPS+

1997 at Cincinnati, scoreless in the third, bases loaded - Jeff Kent hits a grand slam off former Giant Dave Burba, we go up 4-0 and win the game 4-1 to move to 22-13 on the season.  This was Kent's first season as a Giant, we got him from the Indians for Matt Williams in the offseason. Through 2016, Kent's the 8th greatest San Francisco Giant of all time.  This was Kent's 8th Giants homer and the 4th grand slam of his career.

Walkoff 2006 home vs Dodgers, 5-5 in the 9th, Omar Vizquel drives in the Giants third run of the inning with a sacrifice fly that scores Jose Vizcaino with the winning run.  In a 24 year big league career Vizquel spent 4 seasons in San Francisco; he was 39 in '06, this was his best season with the bat as a Giant (93 OPS+).

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

May 12 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

Yesterday

What is this all about?

Here are the top 5 May 12 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

Walk off 1985 home vs Cardinals, 4-4 in the 10th, facing his old squad David Green singled home Chili Davis off of Neil Allen with the winning run.  Green had three hits on the night, raising his batting average to .127

1990 at Philadelphia down 1-0 in the third, Matt Williams hits a three run homer off Bruce Ruffin, we win the game 6-2.  This was Matt's first full season as the starter at third; he's the greatest third baseman in San Francisco history and through 2016 the 12th best San Francisco Giant ever.

1996 at Pittsburgh, 2-2 in the 6th, we had the bases loaded, Allen Watson hitting for himself, he singles to score two off Jon Lieber, we go on to the 7-2 win and Watson throws a complete game.  I'm less than two months older than Watson - he's been retired for 17 years and I have two jobs.

2005 at Houston, up 4-3 in the 8th, the Astros had two on with one out, Scott Munter strikes out Jose Vizcaino and Mike Matheny throws out Jason Lane attempting to steal.  We picked up a couple more in the 9th and won 6-3. Munter had 22 big league strikeouts in his 3 years in the majors (all with us) this was his second K.

Walk off 2009 home vs Nationals, down 7-6 in the bottom of the ninth, 2 on, 2 out, down to our last strike - Pablo Sandoval hits a game winning 3 run homer off Joe Beimel.  Sandoval hit .330 in 2009, his first full season as the starter at third, it's the fifth best season for a third baseman in San Francisco history.  This was his fifth career home run.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

Edit, Walk off 2017 home vs. Reds can I interest you in a 5 and a half hour game from the worst team in baseball, your 2017 San Francisco Giants?  In our longest game since 2001, Buster Posey homered took the first pitch of the 17th inning over the wall in left to give us a 3-2 win.  It was Posey's 122nd homer and third career walk off. In organization history we've never had a walk off homer as late as the 17th inning.

May 11 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

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What is this all about?

Here are the top 5 May 11 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

1974 at Atlanta the Giants had an 8-7 lead in the bottom of the ninth, but the Braves threatened with 2 on and one out, Randy Moffitt got Frank Tepedino to ground into a 6-4-3 double play. Billie Jean King's little brother Randy came up through the system and was a member of the Giants pen for a decade until his release during the '81 season.

1979 home vs Phillies, yes Bob Knepper beat Steve Carlton, yes, of course he did.  Up 2-1 in the 9th, bases loaded - Gary Lavelle gets Bake McBride to hit into a 3-2-3 game ending double play.  Through 2016 Gary Lavelle remains one of the 20 greatest San Francisco Giants of all time; his average ERA+ in an 11 year Giants career was 128.

1988 at St Louis, 16 innings and nearly 5 hours at Busch, 4-4 with an out in the 16th, Kevin Mitchell homered off Bob Forsch and that was the game winner.  It was Mitch's 20th ever Giants homer; through 2016 he remains one of the 25 greatest San Francisco Giants ever.

Walk off 2001 home vs Mets, 2-2, bases loaded, 2 out, 2 strikes in the bottom of the tenth - Benito Santiago singles home Bonds off of Armando Benitez for the 3-2 walk off.  Santiago had a two decade big league career, played for 9 big league clubs - was only traded once, and not until 2004 when he was 39.

2008 home vs Phillies, down 3-2 with 2 out in the 7th, Steve Holm (SteveHolm!) hits a two run homer off JC Romero, that 4-3 lead will be the final score.  This was the only home run of Holm's big league career.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

May 10 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

Yesterday

What is this all about?

Here are the top 5 May 10 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

Walkoff 1958 home vs Dodgers, the first time we walked off the Dodgers on the west coast, 2-2 with 2 outs in the 9th, Don Taussig singles home Cepeda off Johnny Podres to win the game.  Taussig had 10 hits in his one season as a Giant.

1966 at Pittsburgh, 15 innings in front of 6700 paid on a Tuesday night in Pittsburgh (with temperatures dipping into the 30s by game's end) the Giants and Pirates were tied at 1 through 5 innings and that's where it stayed until the top of the 15th when we pushed one across.  The Pirates put runners on the corners with one out, but Joe Gibbon got former Giant Andre Rodgers (pinch hitting for Willie Stargell) to ground into a 6-4-3 game ending double play.  This was Gibbon's first of four Giants seasons, he came over from the Pirates along with Ozzie Virgil for Matty Alou.  It was a terrible trade; Virgil only played 43 games as a Giant, while Alou doubled his OPS+ in his first Pirate season and kept hitting throughout his Pittsburgh run.  Rodgers was an original San Francisco Giant, having come over from New York 8 seasons prior.  We moved him to the Braves for Alvin Dark in 1960 and he's nearing the end of his career in '66.

1996 at Pittsburgh, 30 years later we're back in Pittsburgh, 4-4 with 2 out in the 10th, Glenallen Hill doubles home Matt Williams off of Francisco Cordova, 5-4 will hold up as the final score.  With a 124 OPS+ this was Hill's best season with the bat as a Giant.

Walkoff 2011 home vs Arizona, scoreless in the bottom of the 9th (Kennedy v. Lincecum) Cody Ross singles home Darren Ford off of David Hernandez.  Ross was picked up off the scrap pile for the last month of the 2010 season, hit in September and kept hitting during the postseason on the road to the World Series.  This was his last season as a Giant.



Walkoff 2015 home vs Marlins, 2-2, 2 out bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th, Matt Duffy singles home Gregor Blanco off of Steve Cisek and we win 3-2.  It was Duffy's 57th career big league game.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!