June 19 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

Yesterday

What is this all about?

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

Walk off 1980 home vs. Mets, we're 11 out, only 5000 paid on a Thursday afternoon, 3-3 in the bottom of the 10th, Jack Clark triples home Joe Strain off Neil Allen with the winning run.  153 OPS+ and 4 WAR for Jack in 1980.

Walk off 1996 home vs. Marlins, on Sunday we walked off the Astros, on Monday we beat the Marlins 1-0, on Tuesday we walked off the Marlins in 15 innings, this is Wednesday and we're going to walk off the Marlins in 15 innings again.  1996! 4-4 with 2 out in the 15th, Tom Lampkin (whose 2 run double off Robb Nen tied the score in the 9th) wins the game with a 3 run homer off of Terry Mathews.  Yes, we won our second 15 inning game in as many days on a 5 RBI night by Tom Lampkin.  Lampkin was primarily a career backup, but was our primary backstop in '96 (we signed him prior to the '94 season and then dealt him after this year to the Cardinals for Rene Arocha)

2004 home vs. Red Sox, 2.5 out of first, facing Pedro Martinez - he's out of the game by the 8th, 4-4 with two out, Edgardo Alfonzo hits a 2 run homer off former Giant Alan Embree, we win it 6-4.  Alfonzo spent 3 not particularly good seasons in San Francisco and then we traded him to the Angels after the 2005 season for Steve Finley.



2013 home vs. Padres, 70 games into the season, a game and a half out of first, rubber game against the Padres, down 2-1 in the 7th, Gregor Blanco triples home 2 off of Luke Gregerson, we're gonna win this game 4-2.  Blanco did 5 years in San Francisco, not really productive enough to be a starting left fielder, as he was in 2012 and this year, but could hold down a 4th OF spot just fine.  He signed with Arizona for the 2017 season. The benches cleared in this one, which is always a good time.

2015 at Dodgers, 2 and a half out and starting a weekend series at Dodger Stadium in front of 52,000 paid, down 1-0 with 2 out in the third, Buster Posey hits a grand slam off Mike Bolsinger, we go on to win the game 9-5. Posey also stole a base in this one, the first Giant catcher to do both in the same game since Bresnahan in 1903.  A 133 OPS+ season for Posey in 2015, he was a 7 WAR player, it's his second best season, meaning the second best season for any catcher in Giants franchise history.  This was Posey's third grand slam, he has four as of this writing.  It was his 93rd homer. He's at 123 as of this writing.  As of this writing, Posey's career OPS+ is 137. Catchers with higher career OPS+?  Piazza (142) King Kelly (138).  That's it.  That's the list.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

June 18 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

Yesterday

What is this all about?

Here are the top 5 June 18 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

Walk off 1971 home vs. Padres, 17 over .500 and 5.5 games up after taking the front end of the doubleheader, we were up 5-4 headed to the 9th, in the top, the Padres scored 5 to go up 9-5, but in the bottom, now down 9-7 with 2 out and the bases loaded, Dick Dietz clears them with a game winning double off of Fred Norman.  Dietz got blackballed.  The best season for a San Francisco catcher not named Posey was Dietz in 1970 and he kept hitting the ball in '71 with an OPS+ of 130, so of course, 3 days before the '72 season we released him.  We didn't have a season from a catcher better than Dick Dietz in 1971 for another 13 seasons, but we cut a 29 year old starting catcher coming off a very good season and just a year removed from, at that point, the best season for a Giants catcher since the move to San Francisco.  And then he signed with the Dodgers.  Why did we do it?  Dietz was our player rep and was active in the labor stoppage that postponed the season in '72.  Here's what happened to those player reps.

Among the 24 player representatives who authorized the 1972 strike, four were given their release before the end of the season (including Billy Cowan, Jack Aker, Jim Merritt, and Russ Gibson). Five others were traded within a year (Ray Fosse, Joe Keough, Don Mincher, Dal Maxvill, and Bob Barton), making a total of nine players who were sent packing within a 12-month period of time. 

We let our starting catcher go as union busting.  Goddamn Giants. Dietz only played 27 games with the Dodgers before breaking his wrist and was out of the league after his age 31 season.

Walk off 1977 home vs Pirates, 12.5 games out, it's 5-5 in the bottom of the 12th (a Jack Clark homer tied it in the 11th) Gary Thomasson hits a 2 run homer off of Terry Forster and we win it 7-5.  We drafted Thomasson when he was 17, brought him up for a cup of coffee when he was 20, this is 5 years later, it's his best season as a Giant, it's not great, he has a 117 OPS+, but he's worth two and a half wins and gets 500 plate appearances backing up at 4 spots.  We sell him high, he moves with a half dozen other players to the A's for Vida Blue before the next year (yeah, dog, we trade 7 guys for a 28 year old Vida Blue and not for nothing, even though he's never the guy he was when he was 21, it was a good trade.)

Walk off 1978 home vs. Mets, 18 over .500 with a 2 game lead in the west, we won the front half of this doubleheader on a Sunday afternoon, 3-3 in the 10th inning, Rob Andrews singes home Mike Sadek off of Dale Murray with the winning run.  We got Andrews from Houston the year before for Willie Crawford and made him our starting second baseman, he was replacement level and moved to the bench in '78 - '79 was his last season in the bigs, we released him and he never made it back up



1996 home vs. Marlins, we're 2 out of first, we beat the Marlins 1-0 the day before, this one goes 4 and a half hours, 15 innings, the two teams combining for 34 hits.  It ended with a wild pitch - former Giant Pat Rapp threw one away pitching to Matt Williams with 2 out in the bottom of the 15th, allowing Marvin Benard to score and the Giants to win 9-8.  Rapp came up through the system and threw 10 innings for us as a 24 year old in '92, the Marlins then took him in the expansion draft and he stayed in their rotation until coming back to the Giants in a deadline deal in '97.  He got a half dozen starts, didn't pitch well, and was gone again after the season.

2016 at Tampa, 16 over .500, 6.5 games up, 3-3 with 2 outs in the 9th, Joe Panik hits a 3 run homer off of Alex Colome, we win it 6-4.  In the 5th, Panik was hit in the head by future teammate Matt Moore, resulting in a concussion that cost him a month of games. Panik was 4th in the Rookie of the Year race in 2014 and then was better in 2015, his 3 and a half WAR made for the 32nd best season for a second baseman in franchise history.  But his bat gave way in both '16 and to this date, even more in '17.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

Top 50 NFL Wide Receivers/Tight Ends Ranked - 2017

Not a fantasy list, just an early ranking of the top 50 pass catchers, receivers and tight ends, in the NFL for 2017.



1. J.Jones Atl
2. A.Brown Pit
3. R.Gronkowski NE
4. AJ Green Cin
5. O.Beckham NYG
6. M.Evans TB
7. T.Kelce KC
8. G.Olsen Carol
9. D.Bryant Dal
10. D.Hopkins Hou
11. D.Baldwin Sea
12. TY Hilton Ind
13. L.Fitzgerald Ariz
14. J.Landry Mia
15. E.Sanders Den
16. J.Nelson GB
17. J.Edelman NE
18. A.Cooper Oak
19. A.Robinson Jax
20. M.Thomas NO
21. D.Thomas Den
22. P.Garcon SF
23. K.Allen LAC
24. T.Eifert Cin
25. J.Graham Sea
26. A.Jeffery Phi
27. S.Diggs Min
28. S.Watkins Buff
29. T.Pryor Wash
30. K.Benjamin Carol
31. J.Reed Wash
32. C.Beasley Dal
33. R.Matthews Ten
34. M.Wallace Balt
35. Q.Enunwa NYJ
36. B.Marshall NYG
37. G.Tate Det
38. R.Cobb GB
39. M.Crabtree Oak
40. M.Lee Jax
41. D.Jackson TB
42. B.Cooks NE
43. D.Parker Mia
44. M.Sanu  Atl
45. KBritt Cle
46. K.White Chi
47. OJ Howard TB
48. D.Moncrief Ind
49. J.Matthews Phi
50. W.Snead NO

Top 30 NFL Running Backs Ranked - 2017

Not a fantasy list, just an early ranking of the top 30 rinning backs for the upcoming NFL season.

1. L. Bell Pitt
2. D.Johnson Ari
3. E.Elliott Dall
4. J.Ajayi Mia
5. L.McCoy Buff
6. M.Gordon LAC
7. D.Freeman Atl
8. T.Gurley LAR
9. D.Murray Tenn
10. C.Hyde SF
11. L.Fournette Jax
12. S.Ware KC
13. L.Miller Hou
14. J.Howard Chi
15. M.Lynch Oak
16. F.Gore Ind
17. C.McCaffrey Carol
18. L.Murray Min
19. A.Peterson NO
20. M.Ingram NO
21. M.Forte NYJ
22. E.Lacy Sea
23. T.West Balt
24. I.Crowell Cle
25. T.Riddick Det
26. T.Montgomery GB
27. D.Martin TB
28. J.Stewart Carol
29. J.White NE
30. D.Sproles Phi

Every NFL Starting Quarterback Ranked - 2017

Normally I'd wait until July to do this stuff, but I'm here now, you're here now, so here's my ranking of the 2017 NFL Starting Quarterbacks.  Not a fantasy list.



1. T.Brady NE
2. A.Rodgers GB
3. A. Luck Ind
4. R.Wilson Sea
5. C.Newton Carl
6. M.Ryan Atl
7. D.Carr Oak
8. D.Brees NO
9. B.Roethlisberger Pit
10. M.Stafford Det
11. K.Cousins Wash
12. R.Tannehill Mia
13. A.Dalton Cin
14. A.Smith KC
15. D.Prescott Dall
16. C.Palmer Ariz
17. S.Bradford Min
18. J.Winston TB
19. M.Mariota Ten
20. T. Taylor Buff
21. P.Rivers LAC
22. C.Wentz Phi
23. J.Flacco Balt
24. E.Manning NYG
25. B.Hoyer SF
26. M.Glennon Chi
27. C.Kessler Cle
28. B.Bortles Jax
29. J.Goff LA
30. T.Savage Hou
31. J.McCown NYJ
32. T.Siemian Den