Forever Giants:1988 San Francisco Giants Year 31 (106)

1987 is here.

My WAR calculation is a combination of Baseball-reference and Clay Davenport; I believe it to be the "best" WAR number available for historical comparison. 8 WAR is an MVP quality season.  The record is pythagorean adjusted for 162 games.

1988 86-76

C Bob Melvin .95 

1B Will Clark 7.4

2B Robby Thompson 3.35 

SS Jose Uribe 1.3

3B Kevin Mitchell 3.25 

LF Mike Aldrete 1.85 

CF Brett Butler 6.95

RF Candy Maldonado .55

C Bob Brenly -.3

2B Chris Speier 1.15

3B Ernie Riles 2

LF Jeffrey Leonard -.2

3B Matt Williams .85

OF Joel Youngblood .1

C Kirt Manwaring .25

SP Rick Reuschel  4.1

SP Mike Krukow 1.2 

SP Kelly Downs 2.2

SP Mike Lacoss .4

SP Don Robinson 2.8

SP Atlee Hammaker 0

RP Craig Lefferts 1.25

-The Dravecky cancer season.  

Forever Giants:1987 NL West Champion San Francisco Giants Year 30 (105)

1986 is here.

My WAR calculation is a combination of Baseball-reference and Clay Davenport; I believe it to be the "best" WAR number available for historical comparison. 8 WAR is an MVP quality season.  The record is pythagorean adjusted for 162 games.

1987 93-69 NL West Champions (lost to Cards in NLCS in 7 games)

C Bob Brenly 3.9

1B Will Clark 4.6

2B Robby Thompson 1.55

SS Jose Uribe 3.2 

3B Kevin Mitchell 2.75

LF Jeffrey Leonard .9

CF Chili Davis 1.55 (17.05) Last season

RF Candy Maldonado 2.5 

1B Mike Aldrete 3.7

SS Chris Speier 1.9

SS Matt Williams .4

C Bob Melvin 1.05 

CF Eddie Milner .75

3B Chris Brown -.2

1B Harry Spillman -.1

SP Kelly Downs 2.05

SP Mike LaCoss 1.9 

SP Atlee Hammaker  2.25 

SP Mike Krukow  -.25 

SP Dave Dravecky 2.2

RP Scott Garrelts 2.3

RP Jeff Robinson 2.5

-93 pythagorean wins, there hadn't been a better Giants club since '62.  The Giants had a 3-2 NLCS lead but couldn't close out the Cardinals to win their first pennant since that season.  We made the Mitchell deal, Matt Williams came up - they joined Clark and Thompson from the year before and we see the core of this next phase of Giants clubs.  Speier returns after a decade; Minton and Chili are done.  Something interesting is that there were no drags on the entire roster; not a single Giant was worse than -.2 WAR. 

Tendown March 1 2015

Tendown 164 is here. This is Tendown 165

1. They still spank kids in some Florida public schools; which, juxtaposed with a 2015 reality that some parents in this country get police at their doors for letting their kids walk home from the park, is sort of astonishing.  Not astonishing - the race of the kids who get spanked.

2. O'Reilly tells so many lies. Falklands.  Kennedy.  El Salvador.  LA Riots. Also - all of this.

3. Here's the craziest right wing thought I've heard in awhile.

Walker argued that when Reagan fired the PATCO air-traffic controllers over their illegal strike, he was sending a message of toughness to Democrats and unions at home as well as our Soviet enemies abroad. Similarly, Walker believes his stance against unions in Wisconsin would be a signal of toughness to Islamic jihadists and Russia’s Vladimir Putin.

Lest you think this was a one off...he said it again.

4. What's Taibbi writing about this week? The NFL Combine.

5. What the hell is going on In Chicago?

6. I'll hold out for Bernhard Langer's breakfast burrito.

7. Two guys having good years.

    

8. I also, liked season one of Parks and Rec.

9. 30 Survivors. 30 Real Worlds. 30 Wrestlemanias.

10. I thought it was blue and brown.

And one more...

11. 

Lived long.  Prospered.

                    That's all for this time.  I'll be back next time.  If there is a next time...

Your pal,

                                                                              Jim.                                                                                                                               

Forever Giants:1986 San Francisco Giants Year 29 (104)

1985 is here.

My WAR calculation is a combination of Baseball-reference and Clay Davenport; I believe it to be the "best" WAR number available for historical comparison. 8 WAR is an MVP quality season.  The record is pythagorean adjusted for 162 games.

1986 90-72

C Bob Brenly  3.4

1B Will Clark  2.8

2B Robby Thompson 3.55

SS Jose Uribe 2.65 

3B Chris Brown 2.7 

LF Jeffrey Leonard 1.15 

CF Dan Gladden 3.2 

RF Chili Davis 3.9

OF Candy Maldonado  1.5

C Bob Melvin 1.1

1B Mike Aldrete 1.5

OF Joel Youngblood .55 

CF Randy Kutcher .95

1F Luis Quinones -.85

1B Harry Spillman .75

SP Mike Krukow 3.8 

SP Mike LaCoss .8

SP Vida Blue 1.55 (16.55) Last season

RP Scott Garrelts 2.8 

RP Jeff Robinson .05

-A 20+ pythag improvement over the previous season; this is the first 90 win pythag, sort of amazingly, since '68.  18 years without a Giants team as good as this one from a franchise that used to have 90+ pythags every season.  Will Clark homers off Nolan Ryan in his first big league at bat. Vida wins his 200th game and ends his Giants run. Steve Carlton is signed at midseason; Mike Scott no hit us on my 16th birthday to knock us out of the division race.

Forever Giants:1985 San Francisco Giants Year 28 (103)

1984 is here.

My WAR calculation is a combination of Baseball-reference and Clay Davenport; I believe it to be the "best" WAR number available for historical comparison. 8 WAR is an MVP quality season. The record is pythagorean adjusted for 162 games.

1985 – 67-95

C Bob Brenly 1.4

1B David Green -.4

2B Manny Trillo .45 

SS Jose Uribe .65

3B Chris Brown  2.7

LF Jeffrey Leonard -.85 

CF Dan Gladden .65 

RF Chili Davis 3.4

OF Joel Youngblood  .9 

1B Dan Driessen -.65

IF Brad Wellman -.9 

UT Rob Deer -.1

C Alex Trevino .35

RF Ron Roenicke  1.65

IF Ricky Adams -.3

1B Scot Thompson -.85  

1B Gary Rajsich -.6

SP Dave LaPoint 2.05

SP Mike Krukow 3.7 

SP Atlee Hammaker 1.15

SP Jim Gott 1.65

SP Vida Blue .3 

SP Bill Laskey 1.15 

RP Scott Garrelts 2.95 

RP Mark Davis 1.45

RP Greg Minton 1.15

-The worst San Francisco team; there are clearly two distinct eras in San Francisco baseball to this date, the Mays teams were good to great, pretty consistently, for nearly 15 years, and post Mays, the teams have been mediocre to poor for almost that same length.  This is the worst Giants club since '56 and there hasn't been a worse Giants team since '43.  Davenport gives way to Roger Craig by the end of the season, and Tom Haller loses his GM job.  The Giants drew under a million in attendance. This it for Kuiper, now, Kuiper was bad, 600 PA and a negative two and a half WAR.  But that's far overshadowed by, to this date, the worst Giant in 103 years; Johnny LeMaster soaked up 3400 PA as a Giant and produced -5.8 WAR.  He's Bizarro Mays, the least valuable Giant to date.