Card Tribute: Mike Sadek

I figured it would be cool to see a run of cards of longtime Giants. I'll do this about 2-3 times a month. We'll start with Mike Sadek. He was up and down between the SF Giants and the AAA Phoenix Giants for most of his career. I had a poster of the 1975 Phoenix Giants in my bedroom and he was one of them. So here goes:

1974 Topps #577


Mike didn't get a card in 1975

1976 Topps #234

1977 Topps #129

1978 Topps #8

1979 Topps #256

1980 Topps #462

1981 Topps #384

Edit: Make sure you vote on which Mike Sadek card is the best. The poll is on the right. :)

2004 Topps Giants - Part 4 (pitchers)

Jerome Williams (#580) was 10-7 with a 4.24 ERA in 22 starts.

David Aardsma (#676) was 1-0 with a 6.75 ERA in 11 appearances.

Jason Schmidt (#447) was 18-7 with a 3.20 ERA in 32 starts.

Robb Nen (#422) didn't pitch for the Giants in 2004. He missed all of the 2003 and 2004 seasons due to injury and retired after the '04 season.

Jesse Foppert (#387) pitched in one game (one inning) with no record.

Kirk Reuter (#155) was 9-12 with a 4.73 ERA in 33 starts.

Tim Worrell (#38) didn't pitch for the Giants in 2004. He became a free agent after the 2003 season and signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Others who pitched for the Giants in 2004 without receiving a 2004 Topps Giants card:

Brett Tomko (11-7, 4.04 ERA in 31 starts)

Noah Lowry (6-0, 3.82 ERA in 14 starts)

Matt Herges (4-5, 23 saves, 5.23 ERA in 7o games)

Jim Brower (7-7, 1 save, 3.29 ERA in 89 games)

Scott Eyre (2-2, 1 save, 4.10 ERA in 83 games)

Felix Rodriguez (3-5, 3.43 ERA in 53 games)

Jason Christiansen (4-3, 3 saves, 4.50 ERA in 60 games)

Dustin Hermanson (6-9, 17 saves, 4.53 ERA, 47 games/18 starts)

Tyler Walker (5-1, 1 save, 4.24 ERA, 52 games)

Wayne Franklin (2-1, 6.39 ERA, 43 games/2 starts)

Brad Hennessey (2-2, 4.98 ERA, 5 starts)

Brian Cooper (0-2, 8.78 ERA, 5 games/2 starts)

Dave Burba (1-0, 5.68 ERA, 6 games)

Melvin Valdez (2 games, 27.00 ERA)

Kevin Walker (5 games, 16.20 ERA)

Leo Estrella (2 games, 27.00 ERA)

eBay Pickup - Post and Jello Cards

1961 Jello #149 - Jim Davenport

1961 Jello #150 - Hobie Landrith

1961 Jello #151 - Bob Schmidt

1961 Jello #153 - Andre Rogers

1962 Post #135 - Harvey Kuenn (I got two of these)

1963 Jello #110 - Jack Sanford

I picked up these cards from eBay about a week ago. Cool stuff -- I wish the cereal/snack companies still made cards. I might actually eat Jello if I saw cards on the boxes. :)

2004 Topps Giants - Part 3 (outfielders)

Barry Bonds (T221) batted .362 with 45 HR, 101 RBI, and 232 walks

• Marquis Grissom (#601) batted .279 with 22 HR and 90 RBI in 145 games.
  
  
  

• Michael Mooney (#212T) didn't play for the Giants in 2004. He has been in the Giants' organization since 2003 but has yet to make it to the major leagues.
  
  

• Jose Cruz Jr. (#249) didn't play for the Giants in 2004. He became a free agent after the 2003 season and signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
  
  
  

• Carlos Sosa (#190) didn't play for the Giants in 2004. He played in the Giants' system from 2001-2008 without making it to the majors.
  
  
  

• Dustin Mohr (#34T) batted .274 with 7 HR and 28 RBI in 263 at bats.
  
  
  

• Michael Tucker (#27T) batted .256 with 13 HR and 62 RBI in 140 games.
  
  
  

Others who played OF for the Giants but didn't receive a 2004 Topps Giants card:

• Jeffrey Hammonds (.211, 3 HR, 6 RBI in 95 AB)



• Ricky Ledee (.113 in 53 AB)



• Todd Linden (.156 in 32 AB)



• Jason Ellison (2 for 4)

2004 Topps Giants - Part 2 (infielders)

• J.T. Snow (#523) batted .327 with 12 HR and 60 RBI in 346 at bats. He missed about five weeks from late May to late June. He was batting only .238 on May 21 and came back to raise his average almost 90 points by the end of the year.
  
  

• Rich Aurilia (#225) didn't play for the Giants in 2004. He signed with Seattle as a free agent after the 2003 season.
  

• Ray Durham (#205) batted .282 with 17 HR and 65 RBI. He scored 95 runs.

• Tim Hutting (#125T) didn't play for the Giants in 2004. He's never made it to the major leagues. Tim was drafted by the Giants in 2003. He played in the Giants' system through the 2006 season and has played for Independent teams since then.
  
  

• Brian Dallimore (#112T) batted .279 in 43 AB as a 30-year-old rookie. He was in AAA Fresno for most of the season and batted. 324.
  
  

• Edgardo Alfonzo (#4) batted .289 with 11 HR and 77 RBI in 519 at bats.

Others who played infield in 2004 but who didn't get Topps Giants cards:

• Deivi Cruz (starting SS - .292 in 127 games)
• Neifi Perez (utility - .232 in 103 games)
• Cody Ransom (utility - .250 in 68 AB)
• Damon Minor (1B - .241 in 58 AB)
  

Secret Santa Goodies

This is a repeat of what I wrote on my 1976 blog. I figured I'd also do it in this blog in case someone reads one blog but not the other.

McCann Can Triple from A Rookie (baseball) Card Collector organized a Secret Santa activity for our little blogosphere. It was fun for me to figure out what my blogger would like for Christmas. Hopefully he/she will like what I sent. Here is what I got:



At first glance one might say, "whoopee--a bunch of commons." But these cards complete my 1980 and 1981 Topps sets and get me much closer to filling the gaps in my 1975 Topps set (I need three more cards for that one). Cool!

An assortment of various Giants. Some from my wantlist (the Donruss and Fleer cards) and some that I hadn't heard of -- an Andres Galarraga jersey card, a very thick Fred Lewis autograph card, and a Bowman chrome Pablo Sandoval. I guess the two football cards were thrown in because Santa thought I was from the Bay Area (I'm actually from Phoenix).


Thanks for the cards, whoever you are! And thanks to McCann Can Triple for organizing this. I'm looking forward to doing this again next year. :)

2004 Topps Giants - Part 1

• Team Record: 91-71 (2nd in NL West, 2 games behind Los Angeles)
  
  
  Attendance: 3,256,824 (3rd in NL)
  
  
  Team Batting: .270 (4th in NL)
  
  
  Team Home Runs: 183 (9th in NL)
  
  
  Team ERA: 4.34 (12th in NL)
  
  
  Team Fielding: .984 (7th in NL)
  
  
  NL MVP: Barry Bonds
  
  
  NL All Stars: Barry Bonds (starting LF); Jason Schmidt (P)
  
  
  Silver Sluggers: Barry Bonds
  
  
  TSN Pitcher of the Year: Jason Schmidt
  
  
  NL Batting Leaders: Barry Bonds (batting .362; on base % .609; slugging % .812; bases on balls 232)
  
  
  NL Pitching Leaders: Jim Brower (appearances 89); Jason Schmidt (shutouts 3)
  
  
  Team Leaders:
  
  
  Batting: Barry Bonds .362
  
  
  Home Runs: Barry Bonds 45
  
  
  RBI: Barry Bonds 101
  
  
  Wins: Jason Schmidt 18
  
  
  Losses: Kirk Reuter 12
  
  
  Saves: Matt Herges 23
  
  
  
  

• Felipe Alou (#291) was in the second year of his four-year tenure as manager of the Giants. In 2003 the Giants won the NL West. They were 2nd in 2004, then 3rd in 2005 and 2006. Alou stepped down after the 2006 season. Alou managed a total of 14 years in the majors -- Montreal (1992-2001) and San Francisco (2003-2006). He was NL Manager of the Year in 1994.
  
  
  

• A.J. Pierzynski (#T14) batted .272 with 11 HR and 77 RBI in 131 games

• Yorvit Torrealba (#407) batted .227 in 64 games (172 AB). He homered 6 times and had 23 RBI.

Others who caught for the Giants in 2004:

• Justin Knoedler (0 for 1)

1979 Topps Giants - Part 5 (more pitchers)

• Ed Halicki (#672) was 5-8 with a 4.58 ERA in 33 games (19 starts).
  
  
  

• John Curtis (#649) was 10-9 with a 4.18 ERA in 27 games (18 starts). He didn't pitch after September 4. After being with the Giants from 1977-1979, Curtis became a free agent and signed with the San Diego Padres.
  
  

• John Montefusco (#560) was 3-8 with a 3.94 ERA in 22 starts. John missed about six weeks from late April to mid June.
  
  

• Bob Knepper (#486) was 9-12 with a 4.64 ERA in 34 starts in 1979.
  
  

• Jim Barr (#461) didn't pitch for the Giants in 1979. He became a free agent after the 1978 season and signed with the California Angels. Barr started with the Giants in 1971. After two years with the Angels (1979 and 1980) and a year in the minors (1981) Jim came back to the Giants for two years (1982 and 1983) before retiring.

Others who pitched for the Giants in 1979 but who didn't receive Topps cards:

• Ed Whitson (5-8, 3.95 ERA in 18 games/17 starts)
• Tom Griffin (5-6, 2 saves, 3.91 ERA in 59 games/3 starts)
• Pedro Borbon (4-3, 3 saves, 4.89 ERA in 30 games)
• Phil Nastu (3-4, 4.32 ERA in 25 games/14 starts)
• Dave Roberts (0-2, 3 saves, 2.57 ERA in 26 games/1 start)
• Al Holland (0-0, 0.00 ERA in 7 innings)
• Joe Coleman (0-0, 0.00 ERA in 3.2 innings)
• Ed Plank (0-0, 7.36 ERA in 4 games)
  

More cool stuff from a Steve Garvey Fan

1969 Topps #370 - Juan Marichal

1969 Topps #572 - Two HOFers and a high number to boot! Cool!

A couple more HOFers on this Donruss card

This one just about finishes my 1982 Donruss Giants set.

Thanks again! Goodies are on the way! :)

1979 Topps Giants - Part 4 (pitchers)

Gary Lavelle (#311) was 7-9 with 20 saves and a 2.51 ERA in 70 games. Gary was an underrated reliever in the late 70s and early 80s.

Charlie Williams (#142) didn't pitch for the Giants in 1979. He retired after the 1978 season. Charlie started with the New York Mets in 1971 and then was traded to the Giants in 1972 for Willie Mays. Williams pitched for the Giants from 1972-1978.

Vida Blue (#110) was 14-14 with a 5.01 ERA in 34 starts. He led the Giants in both wins and losses.

Greg Minton (#84) had a nice season as a set-up man. He was 4-3 with 4 saves and a 1.81 ERA in 46 games.

Randy Moffitt (#62) was 2-5 with 2 saves and an ERA of 7.71 in 28 games. Randy was injured and pitched only three times after June 19 (once in August and twice in September).