September 8 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

What is this all about?

Yesterday

Here are the top 5 September 8 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

1978 at Atlanta - we've lost 3 straight, dropping from 1 back to 4.  We're up 6-5 in the 8th, 2 on, 2 out - Dale Murphy at the plate...and Jim Barr strikes him out.  We win it 8-5 to move 3 back with 21 left.  Unfortunately, this is the last breath we draw in '78, we drop the next 7 games and fall out of the race. This is Jim Barr's only save of the year and only one of a dozen in his career.

1979 at Houston, no pennant race in '79, we're down 1-0, 1 on, 2 out in the 8th inning - when, of all people, Johnny LeMaster hits an inside the park homer off of Joe Sambito. 2-1 is the final. In 3191 big league at bats LeMaster hit 22 homers, 21 with the Giants, and this was not his only inside the park homer.  LeMaster's first big league homer was an inside the parker in his very first big league at bat (only one other guy ever did that, Luke Stuart, who only had 2 more big league at bats) against Sutton in '75.  4 years and 6 days later is this one, LeMaster's 5th career homer. LeMaster homers off some guys you know, LaCoss, Bedrosian, Knepper in his Giants career.

1987 at Houston, 4.5 up in the West, the Astros are in second and beat us the night before. 4-4 in the 9th, 2 out, bases loaded, 2 balls, 2 strikes - Mike Aldrete doubles home 2 runs off of Larry Andersen, we win it 6-4.  We drop the next two games and with 21 left, our lead stood at 4. The Giants hadn't seen the postseason in 16 years - so up 4 with 21 left, you could see the finish line coming into view.

Walk off 1990 home vs. Astros, 8.5 back so the season is almost certainly over, Kelly Downs goes 9, gives up just 4 baserunners, 1-1 in the bottom of the 10th - Matt Williams sends everyone home with a bomb to beat Brian Meyer.  Matt had five career walk offs, 3 with us, this was his first.

2004 at Colorado, 4.5 out in the West, half a game out in the WC, game 141 on the season, five Giants pitchers give up a total of 5 hits, down 3-2 in the 8th, Deivi Cruz doubles home 2 off of Steve Reed, we win this game 5-3 and move into a tie for the WC with 21 games to go.  The night before Barry hit #698.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

September 7 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

Here are the top 5 September 7 moments in San Francisco Giants history.

What is this all about?

Yesterday

1962 home vs. Cubs, we're 89-51 and a game and a half behind the Dodgers after taking 3 of 4 from them in LA.  Fewer than 15,000 paid on a Friday night at the Stick, Jack Sanford goes 7 1/3, gives up 3 earned, we're up 6-5 in the 8th, 1 on, 1 out, Ernie Banks at the plate - Stu Miller gets him to line to Cepeda at first, Cepeda steps on the bag for the double play to end the inning.  We win 6-5.  Meanwhile, the Dodgers lose to Pittsburgh, we cut the deficit to a half game, the closest we've been since the Break.

1966 at Los Angeles, we're 80-59, a game and a half behind the Pirates and tied with the Dodgers for second.  Tuesday night at a sold out Dodger Stadium, it's the rubber game of a 3 game series, 2-2 with 2 out in the 12th, Frank Johnson singles home the go ahead run (Roseboro dropped the throw on the play at the plate allowing Mays to score) off Joe Moeller.  We go on and win 3-2.  Johnson's a Pureblood, 6 seasons in the bigs, all in San Francisco, he only played in a total of 196 major league games as a utilityman.  He had an abysmal career 52 OPS+.  This was Johnson's first big league game, his second big league at bat.  The Pirates lost to the Braves, we move to 1/2 game out of first

Walk off 1967 home vs. Astros, we're out of the race, this is a 15 inning, 4 and a half hour game, bottom of the 15th, 2-2, 2 on, 2 out, Jesus Alou singles home the winning run off of Dave Eilers. It was a 4 hit night for Alou. Alou played for both the Giants and A's.  136 other guys played for both franchises (full franchise history, not just west coast) including Felipe and Matty.  Orlando Cepeda was an A (3 at bats) Tito Fuentes was an A (13 games).  Gary Lavelle too (6 games). Even Johnny LeMaster (20 games with Oakland). Darren Lewis played in 25 games with the A's. Willie McCovey was in 11 games with Oakland. Kevin Mitchell was an A (51 games) And Jack Sanford (10 games). Dave Righetti pitched in 7 games for the A's. Goose Gossage is not known for either team but played for both.  So did Don Larsen. And Joe Morgan.  Dave Henderson played in 15 games for the Giants.

How about 200 games for both Oakland and San Francisco?  Let's do that.

Mike Aldrete
Santiago Casilla
Stan Javier
Dave Kingman
Bill North
Barry Zito

How about guys who only played in Oakland and San Francisco?  Both - but nowhere else.

Bill Bathe
Doug Clark
Kelly Downs
Santiago Casilla
Brian Kingman
Keiichi Yabu
Barry Zito

1973 home vs. Astros, we're 5 back, that's the closest we've been since the end of July, that's the result of a 6 game winning streak. Despite that - fewer than 5000 paid at the Stick on a Friday night. We trailed 6-2 through 6, but cut it to 6-5 in the 8th, bases loaded, one out - Garry Maddox singles off Jim Ray, scoring 2...and then a third on a Bob Watson error...and then Maddox himself came all the way around to score...on his own single...on an error by Doug Rader. We win 9-6 and move to 4 out of the lead with 23 remaining.

Walk off 2002 home vs. Diamondbacks, this is game 142 on the season, we are two behind the Dodgers for the WC spot after walking the Diamondbacks off the night before - this is a 4 hour Saturday afternoon game, 3-3 in the bottom of the 9th, Benito Santiago singles home the winning run off of Byung-Hyun Kim. LA also wins - so with 20 games left in the season, we remain two out.

See you tomorrow.  Go Giants!

2017 NFL Predictions

AFC East
1. NE   12-4
2. Mia   7-9
3. Buff  6-10
4. NYJ  4-12

AFC North
1. Pittsburgh 10-6
2. Cin            9-7
3. Balt           8-8
4. Cle            5-11

AFC South
1. Tenn          9-7
2. Hou           7-9
3. Ind            7-9
4. Jax            7-9

AFC West
1. KCity                             10-6
2. Oakland                         9-7
3. LAC                              8-8
4. Denver                           7-9

NFC East
1. Dallas                             10-6
2. NYG                               9-7
3. Philly                              9-7
4. Wash                              7-9

NFC North
1. GBay                      10-6
2. Minn                       8-8
3. Det                          7-9
4. Chi                          6-10

NFC South
1. Atlanta                  10-6
2. Carolina                9-7
3. Tampa                   8-8
4. NO                        7-9

NFC West
1. Seattle                  10-6
2. Ariz                      9-7
3. LAR                     6-10
4. Niners                  5-11

Super Bowl: New England vs. Green Bay

September 6 - Top 5 Moments in San Francisco Giants History

What is this all about?

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

What is this all about?

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!