Thursday, February 4, 2010

1983 Topps Giants - Part 1



After a promising 1982, the Giants (#171) stumbled in 1983. Joe  Morgan signed with the Philadelphia Phillies and his replacements (Brad Wellman and Duane Kuiper) didn't exactly strike fear into opponents. Other players weren't as productive in 1983 as they were in 1982, and the pitching faltered a bit. The Giants finished 79-83 and fell to 5th in the NL West.

Team Record: 79-83 (5th in NL West, 12 games behind the LA Dodgers)
Team Attendance: 1,251,530 (9th of 12 teams)
Team Batting: .247 (10th in NL)
Team Home Runs: 142 (2nd in NL)
Team ERA: 3.73 (9th in NL)
Team Fielding: .973 (12th in NL)
League Leaders: Atlee Hammaker (ERA, 2.25)
NL All Stars: Darrell Evans (1B), Atlee Hammaker (P), Gary Lavelle (P)


Frank Robinson (#576) managed the Giants from 1981 until the bottom fell out in 1984. He had some success at first (.558 and 3rd place in the second half of 1981, .537 and 3rd place in 1982), but the Giants struggled in 1983 (79-83) and fell down hard in 1984 (42-64, .396) before Frank was dismissed. Robinson also managed the Cleveland Indians from 1975-1977, the Baltimore Orioles from 1988-1991, and the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals from 2002-2006.

Milt May (#84) batted .247 with 6 HR and 20 RBI in 66 games. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates on August 19 for Steve Nicosia.


Bob Brenly (#494) was the starting catcher and batted .224 with 7 HR and 34 RBI in 104 games.

Others who caught for the Giants in 1983 but didn't receive a 1983 Topps Giants card:

John Rabb (.231 with 1 HR and 14 RBI in 40 games)
Steve Nicosia (.333 in 15 games)
Jeff Ransom (.200 in 6 games)

No comments: