September 6 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

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Yesterday


Here are the top 5 September 6 moments in San Francisco Giants history.



1962 at Los Angeles, doesn't get much bigger than this for a September 6, it's game 140 on the season, the two best teams in baseball are in the last game of a four game series, Marichal won last night to cut the Dodger lead to 2.5, it's a sold out Dodger Stadium on a Thursday night, over 50,000 paid, 5-5 with 2 out in the 9th inning, Orlando Cepeda draws a full count bases loaded walk against Ron Perranoski, we're gonna win this one 9-6 to cut the LA lead to 1.5.  San Francisco moves to 89-51 having won 3 of 4 in LA. This is the 5th San Francisco team, but only the second season we were really playing meaningful games in September, the '59 team was 3 up on September 6 and wound up finishing in third.

1965 at Los Angeles, remember 3 years ago?  Here we are again, game 135, 2 out of first, starting a series in LA against the first place Dodgers.  Sold out Dodger Stadium on a Monday afternoon, Don Drysdale against...are you ready...44 year old Warren Spahn who only has 3 starts left in his big league career.  Spahn's knocked out early, a 9th inning Tom Haller homer off of Drysdale ties it at 6, and a Jim Davenport single off Howie Reed in the 12th breaks that tie, we gave up 16 hits but still win 7-6 to move a game out of first place.  Spahn was 19 when he signed with the Braves (they were still the Bees) in 1940, and stayed in that organization nearly a quarter century, he signed with the Mets after the '64 season, they let him go at midseason '65 and we signed him for the last 16 games of his big league career.  He was fine, a 107 ERA+ in 71 IP.  He started 11 of those games.

July 22 home vs Reds, went 2 1/3, took the loss.
July 27 home vs. Cards, complete game, gave up just 2 earned but we got shutout.
August 8, at Cards, went 5 1/3, gave up 1 earned, got the win
August 13, home vs. Phils, went 6, nothing earned, but got the loss
August 19, home vs Dodgers, went 6 1/3, 3 earned, lost
August 23 (cause why give a 44 year old man more than 3 days rest? at Pittsburgh, 6 1/3, 4 earned, lost
August 27, at New York, 6 2/3, 2 earned, won
August 31, at Philadelphia - another complete game loss, we got shutout again.
This game, his worst start as a Giant, knocked out in the 2nd.
September 12, home vs. Cubs, complete game win, two earned
And then his last big league start, September 27, home against the Cards, goes 5, gives up 2 earned, gets the win

Walk off 2002 home vs. Diamondbacks, we're 8.5 out, but that's okay - we're 2 out of  the WC, it's game 141, we've dropped 2 straight, Friday night at Pac Bell, Kirk Rueter gets it done, 8 shutout innings, only 3 hits, it's scoreless in the 9th - 2 on, 1 out, Reggie Sanders singles home the winning run off of Mike Fetters and we maintain WC pace. Rueter, who is 2 months younger than I am, has been retired since 2005.  The Expos got him in the 18th round in '91 (the best player taken that round was Mike Cameron, 11 spots later - we drafted an Oregon HS pitcher named Kevin Brown who was not one of the Kevin Browns to make it).  We got him in his 4th big league season, at the deadline for Mark Leiter - he spent a decade in our rotation and was okay, had a 96 ERA+ in 1614 IP.  He was good this year (120 ERA+) and then began his slide, finishing his career in 2005.

Walk off 2003 home vs. Diamondbacks, it's not a pennant race because we're a dozen games up, 31 games over .500, 4-4 in the 11th, 2 out, bases loaded - Marquis Grissom draws a walk off walk from Matt Mantei and our march to October continues.  Grissom was Rueter's teammate in Montreal a decade prior, this is his first season as a Giant, he had been a Dodger the prior two seasons.  Grissom is okay in 3 Giants seasons, a 94 OPS+ in 1371 PA and, like Rueter, his career ends after the '05 season.

2010 at Diamondbacks, because who else would we be playing on September 6, we're a game out of first in the West, 7 Giants pitchers give up a total of 5 hits, we're scoreless in the 11th, 2 on, 2 out, Nate Schierholtz triples home the go ahead run off of Aaron Heilman, we win it 2-0.  15 triples for Schierholtz as a Giant, his career ends with the Nationals in 2014.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

September 5 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

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Yesterday

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

1982 home vs. Cards, 26 games left, we've walked the Cards off two straight games and are 8 games out of first in the West - who throws a complete game for us?  Fred Breining does.  We're 1-1 in the 8th, 2 outs, Champ Summers comes through with a pinch single off John Stuper to score the go ahead run and we win it 5-1.  Breining's a native, born in San Francisco, went to college in San Mateo, he pitched all but 4 games in his big league career for us, he was fine - 106 ERA+ in 430 IP.  We got him out of the Pirates system in the Madlock deal in mid '79 and sent him to the Expos in the Al Oliver deal just before the '84 season.

1983 home vs. Reds, there's no pennant race here, we're out of the fight, like the year before, Fred Breining is really good, he goes 8, giving up just runs, we're down 2-1 in the bottom of the 8th, Jeff Russell is throwing a no hitter against us, that gets broken up by a Joel Youngblood leadoff double, and that's followed by a Dave Bergman pinch hits a two run homer.  We win it 3-2.  We got Bergman in '81 in the deal that sent Ivie to Houston for Leonard. He was our main bench bat for three years and hit the ball, had a 121 OPS+ in 474 PA. We sent him to the Phillies just before the '84 season, but they moved him right to the Tigers, and that's where he spent the last 9 years of his career, finishing up in '92.

1997 home vs. Astros, 22 games left in the season, we're two off the lead in the West and a game up in the WC.  Small Friday night crowd at the Stick, it's 1-1 with 1 out in the 7th, Brian Johnson homers off Shane Reynolds, we go up 2-1 and will win it 4-1.  Johnson's from Oakland, went to Stanford, the Yankees drafted him in the 16th round in '89 (the spot before we took an Arizona St OF named Dan Rumey). We got him at the deadline this season from Detroit for Marcus Jensen and he got most of our at bats at catcher for the next year and a half.  He was fine, particularly in '97 - solid at the plate and good with the glove.  He left for the Reds in '99.  This was his 9th homer in about a month and a half as a Giant.

2004 home vs. Diamondbacks, 23 games left in the season, we're 4.5 out of the lead in the West, but just half a game out of the WC.  We're trying for the series sweep of the Snakes - and Brett Tomko beats Randy Johnson.  Tomko goes 7, gives up 1 - the big blow comes in the 6th, we're down 1-0, Edgardo Alfonzo hits a two run homer off the Unit, we're gonna win this one 4-1.  The Reds drafted Tomko in the 2nd round in '95 (the Royals took Beltran five spots prior, 3 spots before that we took a Vermont high school pitcher named Jason Brester).  We're Tomko's 5th team when he signs with us as a 31 year old prior to this season, he was fine in 2 Giants seasons, a 102 ERA+ in 384 innings. He left for the Dodgers in 2006 and finishes his career in Texas in 2011.

2010 at Los Angeles, 26 games left, we're 2 back in the West (behind the Padres, who had lost 9 straight) 2 back in the WC, Jonathan Sanchez goes 7, strikes out 9 and gives up just 4 baserunners, we shut the Dodgers out 3-0 and move to a game out of first place on a Sunday night.  The big shot was Uribe's, we were up 1-0 in the 7th and Uribe hit a 2 run homer for the final 3-0 score.  We drafted Sanchez out of Ohio Dominican in the 27th round in 2004, he was up in '06 and joined the rotation in '08.  This was his career year, a 129 ERA+, but he was gone after 2011, finishing his Giants career with a 97 ERA+ in 700 IP.  Other than '09 and '10, he never got close to a 100 ERA+ season again, we sent him to the Royals for Melky Cabrera and his last big league work was 2013 with the Pirates.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

September 4 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History.

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Yesterday


Here are the top 5 September 4 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

Walk off 1981 home vs. Cubs, we're 9.5 out with 29 games left in strike shortened '81, Tom Griffin went 7, it was 2-2 with 2 out in the 10th when - that man again - Jack Clark homered off Dick Tidrow to send everyone home.  We signed 31 year old Griffin at the beginning of the '79 season, he spent two years in our pen and then joined the rotation this season.  His best year was '80, with a 129 ERA+ and his career Giants totals were solid, 101 ERA+ in 331 IP.  Next year Griffin was in Pittsburgh for the last six games of his career.

Walk off 1982 home vs. Cardinals, less than 3 weeks before we were 4 back, now it's 9 here at game 135, we walked off the Cards the night before and do it again here, down 4-2 with 2 out in the 9th inning, 2 men on, Bruce Sutter on the mound...and Jack Freaking Clark hits a 3 run homer to win the game.  Of Clark's 8 career walk off home runs, this is the only one which came when his team was trailing.  Clark hit his first 163 homers as a Giant, we deal him at 29 years old to the Cards, he goes on to hit 9 homers against us.  2 off Vida in '85, he walked us off in '87 with a homer off Lefferts. He's a Padre in '89 and gets us 3 times against Reuschel and (in both ends of a doubleheader) Garrelts and Downs.  In '90 he gets us 3 times, all within a 9 day span in April - against Quisenberry, Reuschel, and Hammaker.

Walk off 1985 home vs. Phillies, this is a hundred loss club, so we're 25.5 out here, it's another big 9th inning comeback homer, we trail 3-1 with 2 out, 2 on, and Rob Deer, who hasn't gotten a mention yet, hits a 3 run homer off Freddie Tolliver for the 4-3 win. We drafted Deer in the 4th round as a 17 year old in '78 (the Angels got Mike Witt 7 spots later). He played in 91 games in San Francisco, had only 34 hits (a .183 BA) and struck out 81 times, but hit 11 homers and had a 97 OPS+.  We gave him to Milwaukee at the end of the season and that basically became his career - his career BA was .220, he led MLB in strikeouts 4 times but hit 230 career home runs for an OPS+ of 109.  A really remarkable feast or famine offensive player.  Deer finished his career as a Padre in '96.

Walk off 1987 home vs. Phillies, we moved into a first place tie on August 15 and are now 4.5 up in the West with 28 games to go.  Still only 16,000 paid on a Friday night at the Stick, Atlee goes 7, gives up 5 hits, 2-2 with an out in the 10th, Will Clark homers off of Wally Ritchie to send them all home happy.  Clark was 23 in '87, finished 5th in the MVP race.  The best two years of his Giants career are the subsequent two.  Will hit 176 Giants homers before leaving for Texas when he was 30, he hit two homers against us, both in '98, on back to back days in June, against John Johnstone and Kirk Rueter.  Less than a week prior, Will and Jeff Leonard fought in the clubhouse



2010 at Los Angeles, we were 6 back a week before but that number has been cut in half, we're also 3 out in the WC, so with 27 games left we are right there as we head down the stretch. Saturday night at Dodger Stadium, we trail 4-0 through 6, but have cut that to 4-3 with one on and one out in the 9th - Juan Uribe hits a 2 run homer off Jonathan Broxton and we're gonna win this thing 5-4.  Uribe was a utilityman in '09, the starting shortstop in 10, solid with the bat, a Giants career OPS+ of 107 in just over 1000 PA. He hit 9 career homers against us, three when he was with the Rockies (Rueter, Jensen, Foppert) then fast forward a decade, as a Dodger he got us 4 times (Kickham, Bumgarner, 2 off Lincecum) and then with the Braves, on consecutive days in May of 2015 (Machi and Bumgarner).

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

September 3 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

What is this all about?

Yesterday

Here are the top 5 September 3 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

1969 home vs. Expos on July 3 we were 6.5 back - on August 3 we were tied for first, we come into game 135 with a half game lead, fewer than 4,000 paid on a Wednesday afternoon at the Stick (hey, folks, maybe we would have won a title before 2010 if you bothered to come to the yard, not for nothing) Marichal throws a complete game cause of course he did, but in the 7th we still trailed 1-0, Jim Davenport hit a 2 run single off of Mike Wegener, and we somehow win a game in which we only got 2 hits, 2-1.

Walk off 1977 home vs. Cardinals, the season's over, 5600 paid get 4 hours of baseball on a Saturday night, Bill Madlock hits a couple of homers, it's 5-5 with 2 out in the 14th, Tim Foli singles home the winning run off of Pete Falcone.  This was Foli's season as our starting shorstop - you can get a look at every starting shortstop in San Francisco history a little below.

1978 home vs. Phillies, we're 2.5 out, that's as far as we've been out of first place since the end of April. We lost in extras the night before and host a Sunday doubleheader against the Phillies. The total game time for the entire day is less than 4 hours.  Bob Knepper throws a complete game in the opener, we win 4-1; it's Montefusco in game 2, he goes 8, gives up 6 baserunners, we still trail 2-1 with 2 out in the 8th when Hector Cruz (brother of Jose, uncle of future Giant Jose) hits a 2 run single off Warren Brusstar.  We hold on to that lead, win 3-2, and move 1 game out of first place with 25 left.  There should definitely be a 40th anniversary ceremony in 2018 for the '78 club.

Walk off 1982 home vs. Cardinals on July 31 we were 13 back, on August 15 we were 4 back, this is game 134 and we split it down the middle, 9 games out of first place and seemingly out of the race, Atlee Hammaker goes 7, gives up just 4 hits, it's 2-2 in the 10th, Chili Davis leads off with a triple off Bruce Sutter and then scores on a Darrell Evans sac fly.  Atlee's 24, in his first year with the Giants after coming over from the Royals in the Vida Blue deal. His great season is '83, he leads MLB in ERA+ with 159; over his 8 seasons with the Giants he's solid, a 101 career ERA+ in 1008 IP.  We let him go during the 1990 season, he finishes his career with the White Sox in '95.

Walk off 2012 home vs. Diamondbacks, we're 4.5 games up, that's good shape at game 135 in the season, 13 pitchers and 30 hits for both teams in a nearly 4 hour game.  8-8 with 2 out in the 9th, Marco Scutaro singles home Brandon Crawford off of Bryan Shaw with the winning run.  This was a 3 hit day for Crawford, we've looked at the history of every other position, plus aces and closers - here's San Francisco shortstop history, by OPS+ and PA.

58-Spencer 85, 2846
59-60 Bressoud 81, 1377
61-4 Pagan 69, 2242
65 Schofield 43, 439 (good god, the bats, from Pagan to Schofield)
66 Fuentes 80, 4183
67-70 Lanier 50, 3743 (the bats - I need someone to hear me, please, the bats)
71-6 Speier 93, 4284
77 Foli 53, 387
78-84 LeMaster 62, 3404 (it's just shocking how many bad bats we've had at short)
85-91 Uribe 76, 3283
92-5 Clayton 76, 1966
96, 98-03 Aurilia 98, 4879
97 Vizcaino 73, 766
04 - Deivi Cruz 88, 652 (one of the best San Francisco shortstop bats, so just sit with that)
05-8 Vizquel 75, 2185
09- Renteria 76, 777
10- Juan Uribe 107, 1007 (thank you Juan Uribe)
11-7 Crawford 96, 3465

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

September 2 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

What is this all about?

Yesterday

Here are the top 5 September 2 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

Walk off 1959 home vs. Cubs, the second San Francisco club has lost back to back walk offs but is still a game up.  3-3 in the bottom of the 9th, Jackie Brandt homers off Don Elston to send everyone home happy in the first San Francisco Giants pennant race.  Brandt was part of the big trade in '56 between the New York club and the Cards when the Giants sent Lockman and Dark for Schoendienst. Brandt finished that season in New York, went to Korea, returned for 18 games in '58 and was our starting left fielder this season.  After the season we send him to Baltimore for Loes and O'Dell.  Brandt hit 112 homers in his career, two were walk offs, this was his only one for the Giants.

 

Walk off 1962 home vs. Reds, we're 85-50 but still trail the goddamn Dodgers by 3.5 games, this is game 136 so it's getting late. 4-4 in the bottom of the 9th, Felipe Alou hits a 2 run homer, we win 6-4 and stay in this race.  Want a great September?  We're about to win 7 straight.

1965 at Philadelphia, after losing the front end of a doubleheader we've reached Game 132 and have never been in first place - but are only a game out of first right now, it's 2-2 in the ninth, men on second and third with one out, Jack Baldschun strikes out Matty Alou, but the ball gets away for a wild pitch and Ken Henderson scores the go ahead run.  We win it 5-2.  What's the hottest Giants September ever?  This '65 team is about to win 14 straight.

1986 at New York, we were in first as late as July 20, but it's all over now, we're 9 games back, but we beat Dwight Gooden in this one, we're up 4-3 in the 9th, 1 on, nobody out, Scott Garrelts facing...Kevin Mitchell, Garrelts gets him 1-4-3 and then gets Howard Johnson to fly out to end the game. Mitch would, of course, go on to great success as a Giant, a look at each left fielder in our history is next.

2014 at Colorado, game 139 and we are in the thick of it, 2 out in the West, 1.5 up in the WC, it takes 7 Giants pitchers to get us this one. the big moment is Gregor Blanco's, 7-7 with 2 out in the 7th, Blanco doubles home the go ahead run, we go on and win it 12-7.  Blanco was our left fielder in this one - here's every Giant starting left fielder by OPS+ and PA.

58 Sauer 117, 717
59 Brandt 104, 903
60 Cepeda 140, 4531
61-2  Kuenn 101, 2009
63-4 McCovey 149, 8523
65-6 Gabrielson 87, 568
67 - Jesus Alou 84, 2347
68 - Tony Cline 73, 443
69 - Dave Marshall 86, 515
70-2 Ken Henderson 109, 2483 (first San Francisco left fielder to start 3 straight years)
73-6 Matthews 123, 2479
77 Evans 119, 4406
78-80 Whitfield 108, 1688
81- Herndon 93, 2305
82-7 Leonard 111, 3170
88 Aldrete 115, 1111
89-91 Mitchell 151, 2516
92 - James 90, 267
93-04, 06-7 Bonds 199, 8351 (so close to a 200 OPS+)
05 - Feliz 84, 3027
08-9 Lewis 101, 1048
10- Burrell 128, 560
11-Ross 110, 543
12- Cabrera 157, 501 (it was only in 500 plate appearances, but look at that stick)
13-Blanco 98, 2054
14-Morse 123, 522
15-Aoki 103, 392
16 - Pagan 103, 2471

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!