July 19 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

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Here are the top 5 July 19 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

1964 home vs. Houston, Sunday doubleheader, we come in having lost 5 straight and are a game out of the lead in the NL.  This is Game 1 - both starting pitchers (Marichal and Farrell) throw complete games, it's 2-2 in the 8th when Jim Ray Hart hits a 2 run homer.  We win it 4-2 and then go on to take the back half as well.

Walk off 2001 home vs. Rockies, 5.5 out of first, 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th, Ramon Martinez had just singled to tie the game - Jeff Kent works a bases loaded 2 out walk off of Juan Acevedo to win it.  Four of the top ten second base seasons in franchise history are Kent's, this is the 7th best

Walk off 2005 home vs.Atlanta, 9.5 out, 4-4 with two out in the 9th, Jason Ellison singles home the winning run off of Jay Powell. Ellison was a career 5th OF who got fewer than 600 at bats in his career, but this year he was our primary CF, getting more plate appearances than the rest of his 6 year career combined. He was bad, had a 77 OPS+, which was his career best, and was nothing special with the glove. We sent him to Seattle before the 2007 season for a non prospect.

Walk off 2006 home vs. Milwaukee, it's game 95, we're 2.5 games out, down 6-5 in the bottom of the 9th, Ray Durham wins the game with a base hit that scores 2 off of Derrick Turnbow.  2 years later, almost to the day, it's to the Brewers where we send Durham to finish his career.

2011 home vs. Dodgers, it's game 98 and we've got a 4.5 game lead in the west - we're in good shape here in in mid July, bottom 7, bases loaded, Brandon Belt doubles the first pitch he sees from Hung Chih Kuo down the left field line, scoring 2, putting us up 5-3 and that holds up as the final score. Belt homered earlier in the game, It's Belt's rookie year, he broke camp with the club but got sent down after 19 games (the Giants have never entirely appreciated Belt's value) this was his first game back after a month and a half in AAA. Through 2016, here are the first baseman with more San Francisco WAR than Brandon Belt.

Willie McCovey
Will Clark

That's it.  That's the list.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

July 18 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

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Yesterday


Here are the top 5 July 18 Moments in San Francisco Giants history.

1959 at Pittsburgh, it's game 90 on the season and we're 2 up, our biggest lead of the season, Harvey Haddix throws a complete game 6 hitter for the Bucs, we're down 3-2 with 2 out in the 8th - and Willie Mays hits a 2 run homer - those are the last runs scored, we win it 4-3.  That gives us a 3 game lead - which was, to that date, the largest lead in San Francisco history.  Homer #232 for Mays.

1967 at Pittsburgh, back half of a doubleheader (lost first game) we're 5 games off the lead, so still in it as of game 91 of the season, we're down 2-1 in the 7th when Willie McCovey hits a 2 run homer off his longtime teammate Billy O'Dell to give us what turned out to to be the final margin of a 3-2 victory.  It's homer #215 for McCovey.  O'Dell was better both before coming to and after leaving San Francisco, he did five years as a Giant, '60-4, most of which in the rotation, finishing with a Giants ERA+ of 101. We got him for Jackie Brandt, dealt him for Ed Bailey.

1980 at St Louis, it's game 90, we just got swept in Pittsburgh but we're not quite dead yet, 7.5 games out of the lead (we were ten out less than two weeks before) but in the 9th inning, we trailed 7-4 and that's an almost certain loss - but Milt May (three hits on the day) hit a grand slam homer off Kim Seaman to put us up 8-7, and that's the final score.  May hit 3 grand slams in his career, this is the only one in his 4 Giants seasons.

Walk off 1985 home vs. Cubs, now, this is a dead season, we're coming out of the break, 22 games under .500 and 16.5 out of first, Mike Krukow throws a complete game shutout against his longtime team, but it's still scoreless in the bottom of the 9th when Jeff Leonard doubles home Chili Davis off of Lee Smith to win the game.  There aren't too many people more closely associated with the Giants than longtime broadcaster Krukow, he started with the Cubs, drafted in '73, up in '76, in their rotation from '77-'81 (he was okay, career ERA+ just under 100) They dealt him to the Phillies for Keith Moreland and Dickie Noles before the '82 season (has his career best ERA+ 118) and before the '83 season he came to San Francisco with Mark Davis for Al Holland and Joe Morgan. He was okay, a Giants career ERA+ of 92, his best year coming in '86 when he wins 20 games and finishes third in the Cy Young race.  He's in the Giants rotation really until breaking down in '89, the last season of his career.  

Walk off 2000 home vs. Texas, we're a game and a half out of first place on a Tuesday night in our first season at Pac Bell, we trail 3-2 with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, Armando Rios hits a 3 run homer off of John Wetteland, to thrill the crowd and move us to a half game off the lead.  A year later Rios is gone with Vogelsong in the deadline deal with the Pirates that gets us Jason Schmidt.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

July 17 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

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Here are the top 5 July 17 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

1969 home vs. Dodgers, we're two games out of first place in our 93rd game of the year and starting a 4 game series against LA. We trail 13-11 in the 7th, 2 out, Bob Burda hits a 3 run homer off Jim Brewer and we win it 14-13.  Burda spent four seasons pinch hitting for the Giants, he hit 13 career homers in a seven year career, 6 of them as a Giant.  This is his 3rd.

2000 home vs. Texas, it's game 90, we're 1.5 out of first, down 5-4 in the 7th, JT Snow hits a 3 run homer off Doug Davis.  We win this one 10-8. It was his second homer of the day. Snow's in year 3 of his 9 season run as Giants first baseman.  Will left after the '93 season, Snow arrived in '97.  Between that:

'94-Benzinger
'95-Carreon/Phillips
'96-Carreon/McCarty

These were homers 144-145 in Snow's career.

2002 at St Louis, it's game 94, we open up a series in St Louis 2 games out of first place, We're up 5-4 in the 9th, but they've loaded the bases against Robb Nen with Tino Martinez at the plate.  Nen gets him 6-4-3 to end the game.  We fleeced Nen from the Marlins after the '97 season for Joe Fontenot, he kills it immediately, has a 266 ERA+ and 40 saves in '98.  It's worth 5 and a half WAR, the second best season for a relief pitcher in franchise history.  Nen remained the closer throughout his 5 year Giants career, which ends after this season, also a good year (all he had were good years) he had 43 saves and a 177 ERA+ in '02, which, through 2016, is the 12th best season a Giants reliever ever had.  Robb Nen killed it is my point.  Through 2016 Nen's the 26th best San Francisco Giant ever.

2005 at LA, we're 10 games out of first, finishing up a series at Dodger Stadium, 1-1 in the 9th, 2 out, Michael Tucker hits a 3 run homer off Yhency Brazoban, and that does it, we win 4-1.  (Entirely by happenstance, I'm writing this on Tucker's 46th birthday).  Tucker's two year Giants stint is just about over, we send him to Philly in a month and a half.  This is his last Giants homer.

2015 at Arizona, it's our first game after the break, we're 4.5 off the lead, this one goes a dozen innings, we use 10 pitchers.  The last one is Ryan Vogelsong, He's on the mound in the 12th, we're up 6-5, they have a man on - Yasmany Tomas at the plate, he grounds into a 4-3 double play and we're gonna win this game.  It's his first relief win in almost a decade.  Vogelsong was 20 when the Giants drafted him in '98, he pitched in 34 innings for us before getting moved to Pittsburgh in '01 as part of the Jason Schmidt trade.  After being out of the league for 5 years, he came back to San Francisco in 2011 and had the best year of his career, with a 129 ERA+.  By 2013 his productive career was over, he had an ERA+ of 60. He went back to Pittsburgh after the 2015 season and finished up his big league career as a Pirate.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

July 16 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants history

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Here are the top 5 July 16 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

1959 at Philadelphia, a game up in the west despite our losing the front end of this doubleheader, both Johnny Antonelli and Gene Conley throw complete games, it's scoreless in the 9th, 2 on, 1 out, Dusty Rhodes pinch singles home Leon Wagner to put us up 1-0 in the only run that would be scored.  Rhodes was a folk hero for the New York Giants, up in '52, was a pinch hitter through the end of the New York run in '57, most notably as a star in the '54 Series.  He was in AAA the entire '58 season, so wasn't part of the inaugural Giants, but played 54 games for San Francisco this season, which turned out to be his last in the big leagues.  In those 54 games - he had 54 plate appearances.  Rhodes had 9 hits as a San Francisco Giant.

1963 at Pittsburgh, 4 years later it's another doubleheader in Pennsylvania, we're 7 out of first (we lose the second half) Don Cardwell throws a complete game for the Pirates, it's 2-2 with two out in the 9th and it's Willie McCovey - he homers for what turns out to be the winning run.  McCovey played just 59 games in '59 and was still the unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year. A 188 OPS+ will do that.  He led the league in homers in '63 with 44, it's his first All Star Game performance.  This is McCovey's 91st career homer, he hits #92 in the second game.

1969 home vs. Padres, it's game 92 on the season, down 2 in the west, only 3200 paid on a Wednesday afternoon.  Gaylord looking for the complete game win, we're up 4-3 in the 9th, the Padres have the runners on the corners with one out, Perry gets John Sipin to go 1-6-3 to end the game.  Gaylord signed with the Giants at 19 in the summer of '58, four years later he was up with the big club. He's in the rotation in '64 where he stays through '71. This is his second best Giants season, he's got a 142 OPS+ and is worth a half dozen WAR.  

Walk off 1976 home vs. Phillies, we're 18.5 out, the season is over, this is a 92 minute game on a Friday night at the Stick, complete game win for Ed Halicki, complete game loss for Jim Kaat - it's the bottom of the 9th, 2 out in a scoreless game, Bobby Murcer sends everyone home with a walk off homer.  It's Murcer's 163rd career homer, he'd have 4 walk offs but this was the only one as a Giant.  This is the 49th San Francisco Giants walk off homer.

Walk off 1995 home vs. Astros, we're 6 out, having dropped four games to the lead over the past 2 weeks, it takes us 5 hours and 14 innings to get a game back, it's 6-6 in the bottom of the 14th, JR Phillips leads off with a homer off of Doug Brocail to send everyone home. JR Phillips was bad, subreplacement for his career, OPS+ of 60 as a first baseman.  He broke in with us in '93 after washing out in the Angels system. This is the only year he got more than 150 plate appearances, splitting time at first with Mark Carreon. He went 1-6 in this one, was hitting .157 at game's end. This is his 7th career homer and the only walk off he'd ever hit.  We deal him to the Phillies for nothing early the next season and he's out of the league before the turn of the century.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

July 15 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

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Yesterday

Here are the top 5 July 15 moments in San Francisco Giants history.  I get a good deal of satisfaction when they're from all different decades as that wasn't engineered, just sort of happened that way.

1958 home vs. Phillies, the inaugural San Francisco Giants are a game out of first, starting a series against the Phillies, We get 3 hits, a couple harmless singles and a 6th inning Willie Kirkland double that will lead to the only run of the game.  This spot is the 9th inning, we're up 1-0 but the Phillies have two on with one out, Mike McCormick trying to finish off a complete game shutout win - he gets Carl Sawatski to go 4-6-3 to give us the victory.  It's McCormick's first year in the rotation, he got some action as a 17 year old in '56 and was in the pen in '57.  He moved west with the club and in '60 has a strong year, with a 130 ERA+ and 6+ WAR, through 2017 that's the 53rd best season for a starting pitcher in franchise history.

1978 at Pittsburgh, 18 over .500 with a 3 game lead, we're down 5-4 with 2 out in the 9th inning, Darrell Evans singles home the tying run off of Kent Tekulve and we win this game in 11.  This is a great lost season for the Giants as it didn't really lead to anything.  We won the west back in '71, but here's how many games out we finished between then and '78:

72 - 26.5 out
73 - 11 out
74 - 30 out
75 - 27.5 out
76 - 28 out
77 - 23 out

And then after this season

79- 19.5 out
80- 17 out
81 - 11.5 out

But, here we sit in 1978, 89 games into the season with the best record in the National League.

1983 home vs. Cards, we're 11.5 out, Joaquin Andujar throws a complete game, but we get him in the 8th, down 4-3, Chili Davis hits a 2 run homer.  That will do it, we win 5-4.  This is Davis's worst career year with the bat, he's 23, in his second full season, and has an OPS+ of 85.  He'll never be under 100 again the rest of his career.

1997 at San Diego, we've got a 3 game lead, and scored all the runs there are to score in the 7th, 13 of them, that ties the San Francisco record. Just an inning prior we were down 2-1 when Barry Bonds hit his second homer of the game, a 2 run shot off of Andy Ashby.

Here's the seventh inning (Stan Javier bats 3 times, yes he does, we may still be up)

Javier single
Wild pitch
Javier steals third.
Lewis doubles.  Javier scores.  Lewis takes third on a Rickey Henderson error.
Wilkins walk.
Rueter safe on a Caminiti error. Lewis scores.  Wilkins to third.
Ashby's replaced by Pete Smith.
Hamilton walks. Bases loaded.  Still nobody out.
Vizcaino singles.  Wilkins scores.  Bases still loaded.
Bonds singles.  Rueter scores.  Hamilton scores.  Vizcaino to third and Barry to second on the throw.
Kent singles.  Vizcaino scores.  Bonds scores.  
Snow grounds to first, it's the first out of the inning. Kent moves to second.  And we've turned the lineup over.

Javier singles again. Kent scores.
Smith's replaced by Rich Batchelor.
Lewis gets hit.
Wilkins walks again.  Loads the bases.
Hill pinch hits for Rueter, 'cause why not?  Single.  Javier scores again. Bases still loaded.
Hamilton walks again. Lewis scores again. Bases still loaded.
Sean Bergman replaces Batchelor.
Aurilia pinch hits for Vizcaino.  Single.  Wilkins scores again. Hill scores. Hamilton to third.
Benard pinch hits for Bonds.  Repeat-Benard pinch hits for Bonds. Single.  Hamilton scores again. 
Kent walks.  The bases are loaded again.
Snow strikes out.  He's made both outs in the inning.  And we've turned the lineup over again.

Javier grounds out.  We score 13 runs with only one extra base hit.  9 hits for the good guys on the inning.

2004 at Colorado, we just swept Arizona and are a half game back in the west, this one goes 3 and a half hours, it's 4-4 in the 9th, bases loaded, two out, Shawn Chacon hits JT Snow to drive in the go ahead run.  We win the game 7-5.  At the age of 36, this was Snow's best year with the bat as a Giant, he hit .327 with a 146 OPS+.

See you tomorrow. Go Giants!