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The San Francisco Giants began playing in 1883 in New York. The team would play in Manhattan until 1958. That time spent on Manhattan resulted in 17 NL Pennants, and five World Series titles.The Giants found success in the beginning under payer-manager John McGraw. His three decades of service ended in 10 pennants and three World Series. His teams featured stars like Christy Mathewson, Joe “Iron Man” McGinnity, Bill Terry, Jim Thorpe, Mel Ott, Casey Stengel, and Red Ames.that league ended up beating his club six times during his tenure.
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About The San Francisco Giants
Bill Terry took over after McGraw retired and took the team to three World Series in 10 years. His stars included Ott and pitcher Carl Hubbell. Hubbell threw a screwball that made him almost unhittable.
Terry was followed by another Giant’s star, Mel Ott. Ott had the luxury of playing with Willie Mays in center field. The star is famous for “The Catch” an over the shoulder catch that set the tone for the sweep of the Cleveland Indians in the 1954 World Series.
The Giants moved to San Francisco a few years after the 1954 World Series. The World Series victory would be their last.
In San Francisco the Giants played competitive baseball with great stars like Willie Mays, Orlando Cepeda, and Willie McCovey, but the team would not be able to reproduce the success of the New York years. From 1958 to 1990 the Giants were only able to win the NL or the NL West four times, only returning to the World Series twice (in 1962 and 1989).
The Giants are most famous in the last couple of decades for Barry Bonds. Bonds came to the Giants from the Pirate through free agency. Bonds already a few links to the Giants. He was raised in the area and his godfather was baseball legend Willie Mays.
Bonds first season with the Giant was a spectacular one. He finished with 46 home runs, 123 RBI, a .336 batting average, and his third NL MVP. Despite winning 103 games, his team landed in second place and out of the playoffs.
Bonds ended up taking the Giants to the playoffs four times, never reaching the World Series. He broke the home run record for a season and a career while playing for his boyhood home and earned four more MVP awards.
He brought scandal and distractions to the club as well. The steroid suspicions aired as he came closer and closer to Aaron’s records and, although it did not stop Bonds from playing, it created an alienating superstar who left a tense locker room behind him.
His last season with the Giants came in 2007 as the Giants continued their decline that started in 2004.
The San Francisco Giants gave fans little to cheer about at AT&T Park in year one of the post-Bond era. The club finished well below .500 with a 72-90 record despite posting an average team ERA. The major issue was driving in runs once they got on base. The team actually hit quite average, but their hitting with runners on base was abysmal.
The word right now is that the GM wants to sign hitting machine Manny Ramirez. Whether or not the team is able to meet the ridiculous contract demands of the aging superstar is unknown. That being said, the current signed roster is far from one player away from competing.
The big bat for the Giants was catcher Bengie Molina, who had 16 home runs. Molina also managed to drive in 95 runs. Centerfielder Aaron Rowand was the next closest with 70. This is not a club loaded with young players about to blossom. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval has shown some signs that he could be a very big deal, but with just 41 games to judge by, that guess has very little evidence.
Pitching wise, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and recently signed Randy Johnson are a very solid top three in the starting rotation. Unfortunately, Barry Zito is a disaster behind them and Jonathan Sanchez does not look much better. The bullpen looks pretty good until you get to closer Brian Wilson. His 4.62 ERA should have had him give up the role, but he managed to save 41 games while only blowing six opportunities. Still, a closer with an ERA that high is always a scary thing. The Giants could contend if they sign Manny since the Giants play in the NL West, but if they do not this will not be a pretty season.
