1982 Topps Giants - Part 4 (pitchers)

Vida Blue (#430) didn't pitch for the Giants in 1982. He was traded to the Kansas City Royals on March 30, 1982.

Al Holland (#406) was 7-3 with 5 saves and a 3.33 ERA in 58 games (7 starts).

Allen Ripley (#529) didn't pitch for the Giants in 1982. He was traded to the Chicago Cubs before the season for Doug Capilla.

Doyle Alexander (#364) didn't pitch for the Giants in 1982. He was traded to the New York Yankees on March 30 for Andy McGaffigan and Ted Wilborn.

Gary Lavelle (#209) was 10-7 with 8 saves and a 2.67 ERA in 68 games. This is a cool card (in fact it was my vote for "best Gary Lavelle card"). I can imagine him signing one for me -- I went to a lot of spring training games during that time period.

Fred Breining (#144) was 11-6 with a 3.08 ERA in 54 games (9 starts) in 1982.

1982 Topps Giants - Part 3 (outfielders)

Jerry Martin (#722) didn't play for the Giants in 1982. He was traded to the Kansas City Royals before the 1982 season for Rich Gale and Bill Laskey.

Jack Clark (#460) batted .274 with 27 HR and 103 RBI in 1982. Clark was 7th in MVP voting.

Larry Herndon (#182) didn't play for the Giants in 1982. He was traded to the Detroit Tigers before the 1982 season for Dan Schatzeder and Mike Chris.

Jim Wohlford (#116) batted .256 with 2 HR and 25 RBI in 250 at bats. He got the majority of the playing time in LF while Jeffrey Leonard was injured.

Champ Summers (#115T) batted .248 with 4 HR and 19 RBI in 125 at bats. He started several games in LF in May and July while Jeffrey Leonard was out.

Jeff Leonard (#47) batted .259 with 9 HR and 49 RBI in 80 games. He missed a big chunk of the season from early May to late July.

Chili Davis (#23T) was the starting center fielder and batted .261 with 19 HR and 76 RBI in 154 games. He finished fourth in NL Rookie of the Year voting behind Steve Sax, Johnny Ray, and Willie McGee.

Others who played outfield for the Giants in 1982 but didn't get a 1982 Topps card:

Max Venable (.224 in 125 at bats)

John Rabb (1 for 2)

Trivia Time

Can you name the players who made the most opening day starts at each position for the NY/SF Giants since 1954?

How did you do? How long did it take?

1982 Topps Giants - Part 2 (infielders)

Joe Morgan (#754) batted .289 with 14 HR and 61 RBI in his last good year. He also had a .400 on base percentage.

Reggie Smith (#110T) batted .284 with 18 HR and 56 RBI in 106 games.

Joe Morgan (#755) in action

Enos Cabell (#627) didn't play for the Giants in 1982. He was traded with cash to the Detroit Tigers before the season for Champ Summers.

Billy Smith (#593) didn't play for the Giants in 1982. He was purchased by the Philadelphia Phillies on March 23, 1982. There is no record of Smith playing for anyone after the 1981 season and no transaction saying that he was released, so perhaps he retired after the deal.

Joe Pettini (#568) batted .205 in 39 AB. He spent most of the year in AAA Phoenix and batted .325 there. Joe usually put up good offensive numbers in the minors but couldn't stick in the majors. He played parts of four seasons (1980-1983) with the Giants and went on to play a few more years in the minors before managing in the minors from 1989-1996.

Dave Bergman (#498) batted .273 with 4 HR in 121 at bats as a backup first baseman.

Johnnie LeMaster (#304) batted .216 in 130 games as the starting shortstop.

Rennie Stennett (#84) didn't play for the Giants in 1982. He was released by the Giants on April 2. Stennett tried a minor league comeback in 1983 but didn't get back to the majors.

Darrell Evans (#17) split time between third base and first base in 1982. He even played a few games at shortstop. Evans batted .256 with 16 HR and 61 RBI. He also walked 77 times for a .360 on base percentage.

Duane Kuiper (#60T) batted .280 in 218 at bats as the backup second baseman.

Others who played infield for the Giants in 1982 but didn't get a 1982 Topps Giants card:

Tom O'Malley (.275 in 92 games) - starting 3B for part of the season

Guy Sularz (.228 in 101 AB as a backup shortstop)

Jose Barrios (1B - .158 in 19 AB)

Brad Wellman (2B - 1 for 4)

1982 Topps Giants - Part 1

After three rough years, the Giants had a very nice year in 1982 and almost managed to steal the NL West title. On September 1 they were 9 games out of first place. The Giants went 20-7 in September and got to within 1 game of the lead on September 26. They finished 2 games behind but it was an exciting last couple of weeks. The most memorable moment for me was the final weekend of the 1982 season. The Braves, Giants, and Dodgers were all within two games of each other. The Dodgers knocked the Giants out of contention on Saturday. The Giants returned the favor on the last day of the season when Joe Morgan hit the game-winning home run to knock the Dodgers out.

The time between the departure of Willie Mays and the Roger Craig "Humm-baby" years was a tough time to be a Giants fan. The 1978 and 1982 seasons were the only rays of sunshine during that era.

The Giants managed to win 87 games despite not having many guys even in the top ten in statistical categories. As seen below, the Giants were fair at best in most of the team statistics. One thing that helped the Giants in '82 was their patience at the plate. They were first in the NL in walks and second in on base percentage.


Team Record: 87-75 (3rd Place in NL West, 2 games behind Atlanta)

Team Batting: .253 (9th in NL)

Team Home Runs: 133 (4th in NL)

Team ERA: 3.67 (7th in NL)

Team Fielding: .973 (11th in NL)

Awards: Joe Morgan (Silver Slugger - 2B)

NL All Stars: Greg Minton (P)



Milt May (#242) batted .263 with 9 HR and 39 RBI in 114 games.

Bob Brenly (#171) batted .283 with 4 HR in 180 at bats.

Others who caught for the Giants but did not receive a 1982 Topps Giants card:

Jeff Ransom (.159 in 44 at bats)

Card Tribute: Chris Speier

1972 Topps #165

1972 Topps #166

1973 Topps #345

1973 Topps #273

1974 Topps #129

1975 Topps #505

1976 Topps #630

1977 Topps #515

1987 Topps #115T

1988 Topps #329

1989 Topps #94

1990 Topps # 753

• The winner of the "Best Gary Lavelle Card" poll was 1975 Topps. Those multi-player rookie cards drove me nuts. I never knew which team to put them with. Finally I made a "micellaneous" category where I put the leader cards, rookie cards, etc.

• Don't forget to vote on the "Best Topps Chris Speier Card" poll on the right. :)

Thanks On Card Autos

Chris from On Card Autos sent me a cool shipment of Giants cards a couple of weeks ago. It had all sorts of Giants goodness from the 80s to the 00s. I don't have my camera here so I'll post a picture of one of the cards (Carl Hubbell Donruss Hall of Fame Heroes). Thanks Chris -- I'll be on the lookout for Cubs stuff or other stuff you can use! :)

Thanks 1207 Consecutive Games

1207 Consecutive Games sent me another shipment of Giants goodness. I left my camera at my sister's house over Christmas and haven't gotten it back yet, so a scan of the top card in the stack will have to suffice for now. It's Night Owl's favorite player! The shipment was about 100 miscellaneous Giants from the 80s and 90s. Quite a few of them will fit in my team set collection. Thanks again! :)

Trivia Time

Can you name the top ten all-time Giants hit leaders?

(several of these are from the NY era)

1980 Topps Giants - Part 5 (more pitchers)

Tom Griffin (#649) was 5-1 with a 2.76 ERA in 42 games (4 starts) as a right-handed setup man in 1980.

Pedro Borbon (#627) didn't pitch for the Giants in 1980. He was released at the end of spring training in 1980. Borbon signed with the St. Louis Cardinals on April 30 and was 1-0 with 1 save in 10 games before being released on May 27. That was Borbon's last stint in the major leagues.

Greg Minton (#588) was 4-6 with 19 saves and a 2.46 ERA in 68 games.

Ed Whitson (#561) was 11-13 with a 3.10 ERA in 34 starts. He was an NL All Star but didn't pitch in the game.

Randy Moffitt (#359) was 1-1 with a 4.86 ERA in 13 games. He didn't pitch between May 10 and August 17.

Ed Halicki (#217) was 0-0 with a 5.40 ERA in 11 games (2 starts). He was placed on waivers and selected by the California Angels on June 20, 1980. Ed finished the season with the Angels then was released after the season.

Others who pitched for the Giants but did not receive a 1980 Topps Giants card:

Allen Ripley (9-10, 4.15 ERA, 23 games-20 starts)

Alan Hargesheimer (4-6, 4.32 ERA, 15 games-13 starts)

Al Holland (5-3, 7 saves, 1.75 ERA, 54 games)

Mike Rowland (1-1, 2.33 ERA, 19 games)

Bill Bordley (2-3, 4.70 ERA, 8 games-6 starts)

Fred Breining (0-0, 5.40 ERA, 5 games)

Phil Nastu (0-0, 6.00 ERA, 6 games)

Jeff Stember (0-0, 3.00 ERA, 1 start)

1980 Topps Giants - Part 4 (pitchers)

John Montefusco (#195) was 4-8 with a 4.37 ERA in 22 games (17 starts). He missed six weeks from mid-July to late August and also didn't pitch in the last three weeks of the season.

Bob Knepper (#111) was 9-16 with a 4.10 ERA in 35 games (33 starts).

Gary Lavelle (#84) was 6-8 with 9 saves and a 3.42 ERA in 62 games.

Vida Blue (#30) was 14-10 with a 2.97 ERA in 31 starts. He was on the NL All Star team but didn't pitch in the game.

John Curtis (#12) didn't pitch for the Giants in 1980. He became a free agent after the 1979 season and signed with the San Diego Padres.