July 22 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History.

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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!

July 21 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

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Yesterday

Here are the top 5 July 21 moments in San Francisco Giants history

Walk off 1965 home vs. Cincinnati, we're 5.5 out of first, 4-4 in the 11th, Bob Schroder pinch singles home Jim Ray Hart off of Roger Craig, Schroder was a Pureblood, the Giants were his only big league club - he was a defensive replacement for 4 totally unproductive seasons, his career OPS+ was 57.  This is his first season, he plays in 31 games but only gets 10 plate appearances.  This is his 14th big league game and his 2nd big league hit.

1971 at Pittsburgh, it's game 98 and we're up 7 in the west, that's a nice lead, we came into the 9th down 4-2, but tied it up, and now the bases are loaded, it's two out - and Willie McCovey hits a grand slam off of Dave Giusti.  McCovey hit 18 grand slams (16 with the Giants) this is the 13th.  It's the only one he ever hit in the 9th inning.

Walk off 1976 Chicago, we're 19 out, the season is over, and we're playing in front of 4000 paid on a Wednesday afternoon at the Stick.  The Count throws a complete game 3 hitter, but we still trail 1-0 when Bobby Murcer bunts his way into a double past a charging Bill Madlock.  That drives home Marty Perez with the tying run - and we'd go onto win it 2-1.  We signed Montefusco at 22 in '72, he got a cup of coffee in '74 and then won the Rookie of the Year and finished 4th in the NL Cy Young in '75 (he was good, nearly 6 WAR and a 133 ERA+ and then was a little bit better in '76, they were his career years).  The Count stayed in the rotation through the '80 season and then was dealt to Atlanta for Doyle Alexander.  He finishes his career as a Yankee in '86.

1980 at Chicago, we're 6.5 out, still in this thing, we go 15 in Wrigley (actually, we go 13 and finish the next day) and it's scoreless through 14 of them.  With an out in the 15th, Larry Herndon hits a 2 run homer off Bill Caudill, we win it 2-0 and live another day.  This is Herndon's last season as our primary center fielder, he moves to left in '81 and is off to Detroit for Dan Schatzeder before the '82 season.

2002 at Los Angeles, we're 2 games out of first and a game and a half behind LA, it's a Sunday night at Dodger Stadium, 4-4 in the 9th, Tom Goodwin hits a 2 run homer off Giovanni Carrara and we're gonna win it 6-4.  Goodwin spent a year as a backup OF with the Giants, he was coming off his second stint with the Dodgers when we signed him as a free agent before the season.  He never hit the ball, had a career OPS+ of 73 and he never reached 90 in any one of his 14 seasons.  He signs with the Cubs after the season which is where he finishes his career.  Goodwin had 24 career homers, this is #23, the only one he hit as a Giant.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

July 20 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

Yesterday

What is this all about?

Here are the top 5 July 20 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

1968 home vs. Houston, we're 13 out of first place, so the season almost certainly has gotten away from us, Ray Sadecki throws a 2 hitter, gives up only one walk and strikes out 11.  We only score a run (Mays scored from first on a single) so in the 9th, we're up 1-0 and the Astros have the tying run on first with Rusty Staub at the plate and two outs - Sadecki strikes him out to end the game.  Sadecki, of course, was the return for Cepeda early in the '66 season and we sell him short to the Mets after the '69 season.  This is a rough year for Sadecki, he loses 18 games - '69 is worse, he has an 84 ERA+.  '67 was his career year, a 121 ERA+ and 3 WAR.  Not so much Orlando Cepeda, no.

1983 at Chicago, we're a dozen games back, this one goes 10 innings, 3-3 in the 10th, Jack Clark hits a 2 out homer off of Lee Smith, and 4-3 is your final score. This is Clark's 147th career homer.  He'll only hit 16 more as a Giant.

Walk off 1996 home vs. Dodgers, we're 9.5 out, we're well under .500, but any day you walk off the Dodgers it's a good day, particularly here - 50,000 paid at the Stick on a Saturday afternoon, they get their $$ worth - we're down 6-5 in the bottom of the 9th, bases loaded with one out - Robby Thompson singles home the tying and winning runs off of Todd Worrell, we win it 7-6.

How many times have we walked off the Dodgers since the move west?

Twice in '58, a Taussig 9th inning single in May and then a game in September that I won't spoil here.
Once in '59, a Wagner 9th inning homer, the first walk off home run to beat LA.
Once in '61, a Cepeda homer in an August game that we'll get to in a month.
Once in '64, Dell Crandall with a 13th inning homer in June.
Once in '66, on an error in May
Once in '67, Mays hits a 10th inning homer in early July.
A September error in '69
Once in '70 - a Dick Dietz homer in late May
A September error in '72,
Three times in '73, an error in May, and then games in August and September we won't spoil
5 years pass, Darrell Evans gets them in August of '78.
McCovey gets them in back to back years, April of '79 and then June of '80.  Whitfield also got them in June of '80.
Jack Clark in April of '83
Dan Gladden gets them in August of '85.
One in '86, a September game we'll talk about then.
How about Eddie Milner in '87?
Once in '89, Brett Butler in late September.
A wild pitch in 1990
Kevin Mitchell gets hit by a pitch in '91
3 times in 1992.  Bass in April and in June, Matt in September.
Matt again in May '94.
Matt again in May '95
This game.  Robby, July '96.  So this is our 30th ever walk off against the Dodgers.

The Brian Johnson game in '97 (31)
Marvin Benard in early July of 2000 (32)
Barry gets one, in April of 2002 (33)
Back to Benard, April 2003. (34) and then Santiago gets them in June (35)
Cody Ransom in June of '04 (36)
Todd Linden in September '05 (37)
Vizquel in June of '06 (38)
Daniel Ortmeier in September '07 (39)
Like 1973 and 1992, we get them 3 times in 2008.  Rowand and Velez in August and then Dave Roberts in September.  (42)
Juan Uribe in August, '09 (43)
We get them back to back games in May of 2013, a Posey homer and then a Guillermo Quiroz homer. (45)
April, 2014 - Hector Sanchez (46 - the last 3 are all from catchers)
Like '73, '92 and 2008 - how about 3 more in 2015 (and we added one against the Angels for good measure).  Panik in April, Justin Maxwell the next day, and then Alejandro De Aza in late September (49)
Twice in 2016, a Crawford homer in April and Posey in June (51)
And, as of this writing, one more, April of 2017, Pence (52)

2004 at Arizona - even though we've won 6 of 8 we've actually dropped 2 games off the pace and are 2.5 out of the lead.  here, we're up 3-1 in the bottom of the 9th, but the Snakes have loaded the bases with just one out and Robby Alomar at the plate. Jason Christiansen gets him to ground into a 5-3 game ending double play.  This is Alomar's last season, he played in 38 games for Arizona.  He only has 24 games left in his career after this one.  Christiansen was in our pen for five seasons, his best effort coming in '01, where he was lights out in 17 innings after we got him from the Cards.  Other than that, he was subreplacement for us, we sent him to the Angels near the end of the '05 season.

2010  at Los Angeles, we've won 6 out of 7 and are 4 games off the lead, we're down 5-4 with the bases loaded in the 9th, Andres Torres doubles home 2 off of George Sherrill, we win this one 7-5. We had some brushbacks in this one, Clayton Kershaw and Joe Torre got ejected - and this is the one where Don Mattingly, as acting manager, inadvertently made two visits to the mound in the 9th, meaning he had to pull Jonathan Broxton and insert Sherill.   This is Torres' middle year of his first Giants stint, he gets dealt to the Mets after 2011 for Angel Pagan.  Torres comes back in 2013 as a 4th outfielder, it's his last season in the bigs.

Torres takes over as the center fielder this year, in '08-09 it was Aaron Rowand, it was Dave Roberts in '07, Steve Finley in '06, Jason Ellison in '05, Marquis Grissom in '03-04, Shinjo and Kenny Lofton split time in '02, Calvin Murray and Marvin Benard split time in '01, and Benard held the job by himself in 2000.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

July 19 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

Yesterday

What is this all about?

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

What is this all about?

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!