A Giant Tournament Round 1 - 1967 Giants vs. 1975 Giants

Game 1: Jim Ray Hart doubled and homered, but it wasn't enough for the 1967 Giants. In the 11th inning Frank Linzy walked Von Joshua with the bases loaded to force in the go-ahead run. Randy Moffitt walked the first two batters in the bottom of the 11th but was able to keep them from scoring and preserve the win for Jim Barr. 1975 4, 1967 3.

Game 2: Tom Haller homered in the bottom of the first inning to score the only run Mike McCormick would need. McCormick shut out the 1975 club on six hits. 1967 5, 1975 0.

Game 3: Juan Marichal pitched a complete game and Willie McCovey hit a grand slam in the 2nd inning to lead the 1967 team to victory. 1967 8, 1975 2.

Game 4: Jesus Alou hit a 2-run homer in the top of the 6th inning to help Ray Sadecki to a victory. 1967 2, 1975 1.

Game 5: Jim Barr got his second win of the series as he allowed one run in nine innings. The 1975 club stole four bases and hit four doubles in the victory. 1975 9, 1967 1.

Game 6: Marc Hill homered in the top of the 13th inning to lead the 1975 club to a win and a series tie. Charlie Williams pitched five innings of scoreless relief to earn the win. 1975 4, 1967 3 (13 innings)

Game 7: Juan Marichal decided that enough was enough and pitched a masterful 2-hit shutout. Willie Mays and Willie McCovey homered for the 1967 club. 1967 4, 1975 0.

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A Giant Tournament Round 1 - 1966 Giants vs. 1980 Giants

Game 1: The game started off badly for the 1966 Giants as a Tito Fuentes error allowed an unearned run to score. But Juan Marichal shut the 1980 team down the rest of the way and cruised to an easy win. Willie Mays, Jim Davenport, and Jim Ray Hart each homered for the 1966 team. 1966 8, 1980 1.

Game 2: Gaylord Perry left the game after seven innings with a 4-2 lead. Joe Gibbon was unable to hold the lead. Ollie Brown made a costly error that led to seven unearned runs and the 1980 club won 10-5. Jack Clark hit a 3-run homer during the big 7-run 8th inning. 1980 10, 1966 5.

Game 3: Willie Mays hit a 3-run homer in the top of the first inning and Bob Bolin allowed one run on three hits in a complete game victory. Tito Fuentes went 4 for 5 in the game. 1966 5, 1980 1.

Game 4: This was a tight one. The score was tied 2-2 in the bottom of the 12th inning when pinch hitter Rich Murray singled. Terry Whitfield singled Murray to third, then Mike Ivie singled to knock in the winning run. 1980 3, 1966 2 (12 innings).

Game 5: Another tight game. The game was scoreless in the bottom of the ninth inning as Juan Marichal and Vida Blue were engaged in a great pitcher's duel. Bill North walked, stole second, then scored the only run in the game when Terry Whitfield singled him in. 1980 1, 1966 0.

Game 6: The 1966 team jumped to a 5-0 lead after three innings with the help of a Jim Ray Hart 3-run homer. The 1980 club scored seven runs in the top of the 5th inning. Mike Ivie hit a 3-run homer and Bob Knepper helped himself out with a 2-run double. There was no more scoring the rest of the way and the 1980 club came away with the win. 1980 7, 1966 5.

This is the first upset of the tournament -- the #12 seeded 1980 team beat the #5 seeded 1966 team.

1980 Giants Batting Stats

1980 Giants Pitching Stats

1966 Giants Batting Stats

1966 Giants Pitching Stats

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A Giant Tournament Round 1: 1954 Giants vs. 1957 Giants

Game 1: 1957 Willie Mays hit a 2-run homer in the first inning and tripled in another run in the 7th to lead the 1957s to a 5-4 win. 1957 Ruben Gomez got the win and 1954 John Antonelli took the loss. 1957 5, 1954 4

Game 2: This time it was 1954 Willie Mays' turn to shine as he was 3 for 5 with a home run and two RBI. The 1954 club won 7-2. Oddly enough, 1957 John Antonelli won and 1954 Ruben Gomez was the losing pitcher. 1954 7, 1957 2

Game 3: This one was a slugfest won by the 1954 team 13-7. Curt Barclay and Ray Monzant combined to give up ten of the runs (5 each) in the first six innings. Hank Thompson hit two homers and teammates Alvin Dark and Davey Williams added homers to pace the 1954 club. 1954 13, 1957 7

Game 4: 1957 Willie Mays scored four runs, but it wasn't enough to win the game. The 1954 club broke a 10-10 tie in the top of the 10th inning with five runs to win the game 15-10. Both 1954 and 1957 Willie Mays homered, but the 1954 Willie went 3 for 5 with 5 RBI (his other two hits were doubles). 1954 15, 1957 10 (10 innings)

Game 5: 1954 John Antonelli and 1957 Ruben Gomez hooked up again but neither pitcher made it past the third inning. Willie Mays '54 went 5 for 5 with a home run, 3 runs scored, and 5 RBI. 1954 13, 1957 7

The 1954 Giants win the series 4 games to 1.

1954 Giants Batting Stats

1954 Giants Pitching Stats

1957 Giants Batting Stats

1957 Giants Pitching Stats

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A Giant Tournament Round 1 - 1962 Giants vs. 2005 Giants

Game 1: The 1962 club was in control the whole way. Jim Davenport tripled and Harvey Kuenn followed with a home run to put the 1962s ahead to stay. Billy O'Dell pitched a complete game and allowed two runs to earn the win. 1962 8, 2005 2

Game 2: Brett Tomko allowed only one unearned run in eight innings as the 2005 Giants beat the 1962 team 6-2. Jason Ellison homered for the 2005 Giants. 2005 6, 1962 2

Game 3: Harvey Kuenn homered twice and Willie Mays and Jose Pagan added homers of their own as the 1962 Giants won 10-2. Juan Marichal earned the win and Jason Schmidt took the loss. 1962 10, 2005 2.

Game 4: Harvey Kuenn hit two more home runs and knocked in five runs and the 1962 Giants won a laugher. Willie McCovey and Tom Haller also homered. Billy Pierce went the distance and earned the win. 1962 14, 2005 2.

Game 5: Orlando Cepeda, Felipe Alou, and Jim Davenport homered to lead the 1962 Giants to the series victory. Billy O'Dell pitched a complete-game victory. 1962 8, 2005 2.

1962 Giants Batting Stats

1962 Giants Pitching Stats

2005 Giants Batting Stats

2005 Giants Pitching Stats

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A Giant Tournament Round 1 - 1924 Giants vs. 1977 Giants

Game 1: Willie McCovey was 3 for 4 with a run and an RBI and Ed Halicki pitched eight strong innings to lead the 1977 Giants to a series-opening win. 1977 5, 1924 1

Game 2: Jim Barr pitched a shutout and several Giants contributed in the 1977 team's second straight win. 1977 10, 1924 0.

Game 3: Ross Youngs was 3 for 5 with two doubles and Irish Meusel was 4 for 5 with two doubles as they led the 1924 Giants to their first win. 1924 8, 1977 7

Game 4: Randy Elliott homered in the bottom of the seventh and four Giant pitchers combined to allow two runs as the 1977 club took a commanding 3 games to 1 lead. 1977 3, 1924 2.

Game 5: Ed Halicki lasted only 1/3 of an inning and allowed five runs as the 1924 club hammered the 1977s. Ross Youngs was 4 for 5 with three runs scored and two RBI. 1924 12, 1977 2.

Game 6: Hack Wilson (3 for 4, 2 runs, 1 RBI) and Frank Snyder (2 for 4, 1 HR, 3 RBI) led the 1924 Giants to a victory. Jake Bentley pitched a complete game and got the win. 1924 9, 1977 4.

Game 7: This series went right down to the wire. The score was tied 4-4 in the bottom of the 10th inning. With one out pitcher Rosy Ryan singled. Hank Gowdy singled him to second. After a wild pitch Ross Youngs was walked to load the bases. Frank Frisch flied to shallow center for the second out. Hack Wilson singled to score Ryan and win the series for the 1924 club. 1924 5, 1977 4

1924 Giants Batting Stats

1924 Giants Pitching Stats

1977 Giants Batting Stats

1977 Giants Pitching Stats

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A Giant Tournament Round 1: 1911 Giants vs. 1979 Giants

Game 1: Mathewson allowed six hits and walked three batters but didn't allow a run. Vida Blue allowed only one run in five innings but the bullpen gave up five runs in the 7th and 8th innings. 1911 6, 1979 0.

Game 2: Rube Marquard beat Bob Knepper 3-2. Chief Myers singled in Art Fletcher in the 7th inning and the 1911's held on for the win. 1911 3, 1979 2.

Game 3: The 1911 Giants made it three in a row as they won in the 10th inning. The score was tied 1-1 in the top of the 10th inning with one out when Art Fletcher singled, Jim Devore tripled, and Larry Doyle singled. Red Ames got the win and Charlie Faust got the save. 1911 3, 1979 1 (10 innings).

Game 4: John Montefusco allowed one earned run in 7 2/3 innings and the bullpen held on as the 1979 Giants finally got a win. Johnnie LeMaster went 1 for 4 and scored two runs for the 1979 club. 1979 3, 1911 2.

Game 5: The 1911 club came back with a vengeance. They scored five runs in three innings off of starter Vida Blue en-route to an 8-0 win. Christy Mathewson pitched his second shutout of the series. 1911 8, 1979 0. The 1911 team wins the series 4 games to 1.

1911 Giants Batting Stats

1911 Giants Pitching Stats

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1979 Giants Batting Stats

1979 Giants Pitching Stats

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A Giant Strat-O-Matic Tournament

Now that it's summer vacation I'm going to do a fun tournament involving the Giants ballclubs from most of the seasons I own. I left out a few clubs (1956, 1976, 2006, 2007, 2008).

Each round will be "best of 7." The teams were seeded according to winning percentage. The teams in red won the World Championship and the teams in blue reached the World Series. There are a few holes in this tournament, most notably the "Humm Baby" teams and the 1951 club. But it should be a fun tournament.

Giants teams tournament




#1 1911 (105-48 .688) vs. #16 1979 (71-91 .438)

#2 1954 (97-57 .630) vs. #15 1957 (69-85 .448)

#3 1962 (103-62 .624) vs. #14 2005 (75-87 .463)

#4 1924 (93-60 .608) vs. #13 1977 (75-87 .463)

#5 1966 (93-68 .578) vs. #12 1980 (75-86 .466)

#6 1967 (91-71 .562) vs. #11 1975 (80-81 .497)

#7 1920 (86-68 .558) vs. #10 1955 (80-74 .519)

#8 1978 (89-73 .549) vs. #9 2009 (88-74 .543)

The Last Strat-O-Matic Game is Going to Minnesota

Scott from Minnesota won the second (and last) Strat-O-Matic computer game. Congratulations!

A Giant Strat tournament is forthcoming in the next few days. :)

1982 Topps Baseball Stickers - Giants

Darrell Evans

Vida Blue

Milt May

Johnnie LeMaster

Greg Minton

Larry Herndon

Enos Cabell

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Jack Clark

The 1982 Topps Stickers. I like the 1981 stickers better, probably because I collected them. By 1982 I had started buying complete sets instead of buying from the packs. The packs were a lot more fun, but they were expensive if I wanted to collect more than 1-2 sets a year.

1981 Topps Stickers Giants

Greg Minton

Terry Whitfield

Larry Herndon

Milt May

Darrell Evans

Jack Clark

Vida Blue

Ed Whitson

Stickers are great! Here are the Giants stickers from the 1981 set. These were available in my area and I collected about 2/3 of the set. One of these days I need to get a box, open the packs, and stick them in an album. Fun! :)

1969 Topps Giants - Part 5 (Pitchers part 2)

Gaylord Perry (#484) made a club-high 39 starts and was like a second ace in the Giants' staff. He went 19-14 with a 2.49 ERA.

 

Bobby Bolin (#505) was 7-7 with an ERA of 4.43 in 30 games (22 starts)

 

Mike McCormick (#517) was the third starter in the Giants' rotation. He went 11-9 with a 3.34 ERA in 28 starts.

Others who pitched for the Giants in 1969 but didn't get a Topps Giants card:

• Ron Bryant (4-3, 1 save, 4.37 ERA)
• Rich Robertson (1-3, 5.38 ERA)
• Don McMahon (3-1, 2 saves, 3.04 ERA in 13 games)
• Ron Kline (0-2, 4.09 ERA in 7 games)
• Bob Garibaldi (0-1, 1.80 ERA in 1 start)
• Mike Davison (0-0, 4.50 ERA in 1 game)