1976 SSPC Giants - Part 2

1977 Topps Giants - Part 4 (pitchers)

Ed Halicki (#343) was 16-12 with a 3.32 ERA in 37 starts in 1977.

John Curtis (#324) was 3-3 with 1 save and a 5.49 ERA in 43 games (9 starts) in 1977.

Dave Heaverlo (#97) was 5-1 with 1 save and a 2.55 ERA in 56 games in 1977.

Charlie Williams (#73) was 6-5 with a 4.00 ERA in 55 games in 1977. He averaged more than 2 innings per appearance.

Rob Dressler (#11) didn't pitch for the Giants in 1977. He pitched for AAA Phoenix and was 10-10 with a 5.29 ERA.

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).

1976 Topps Giants - Part 5 (more pitchers)

Gary Lavelle was a big part of the Giants' bullpen for many years in the 70s and 80s. In 1976 Gary was 10-6 with 12 saves and a 2.69 ERA in 65 games.

Dave Heaverlo was 4-4 with one save and a 4.44 ERA in 61 games in 1976.

Charlie Williams was 2-0 with a save and an ERA of 2.96 in 48 games (2 starts). The Giants acquired Charlie from the New York Mets in exchange for Willie Mays in 1972.

Randy Moffitt was the main right-handed reliever in 1976. He was 6-6 with 14 saves and a 2.27 ERA in 58 appearances.

Tom Bradley didn't pitch for the Giants in 1976. He was waived by the Giants during spring training in 1976 and selected by the Oakland A's. He spent 1976 with AAA Tucson but never made it back to the majors. Tom pitched his last major league game in September 1975.

Rob Dressler (#599) had the shortest career out of the four pitchers on this card. He made his debut in late 1975. In 1976 he was 3-10 with a 4.43 ERA in 25 games (19 starts). He was 5-1 with a 1.12 ERA in six starts for AAA Phoenix. Rob spent the 1977 season with Phoenix and also spent time in the minors in 1978 and 1979 after being traded from the Giants. Rob finished his career with the Seattle Mariners in 1980.

Pitchers who didn't receive a 1976 Topps Giants card:

Greg Minton (0-3, 4.91 ERA in 10 games - 2 starts)

Bob Knepper (1-4, 3.24 ERA in 4 starts)

Frank Riccelli (1-1, 5.62 ERA in 4 games - 3 starts)

Tommy Toms (0-1, 1 save, 6.23 ERA in 7 games)

1978 Topps Giants - Part 4

Pitching definitely was the strong point of the 1978 Giants. They had three guys (Knepper, Blue, Montefusco) who pitched over 200 innings. Ed Halicki (199) came very close, and fifth starter Jim Barr pitched 163 innings. This helped the bullpen, as no reliever pitched over 100 innings. Only nine pitchers had over 20 innings pitched.

For some reason the John Montefusco (#142) card wasn't in my team set. I grabbed this image off the web. John was 11-9 with a 3.81 ERA in 36 starts.

Longtime Giant reliever Gary Lavelle (#671) was 13-10 with 14 saves and a 3.32 ERA in 67 appearances.

Bob Knepper (#589) was 17-11 and led the Giants with a 2.63 ERA. He also had 16 complete games. He and Vida Blue combined to make a great 1-2 punch at the top of the Giant rotation.

Lynn McGlothen (#581) pitched in five games (one start) and had no record. He was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Hector Cruz on June 15. Lynn's last game was in 1982 and he died in a mobile home fire in 1984 at the age of 34.

Charlie Williams (#561) was 1-3 with a 5.44 ERA in 25 appearances (1 start). The 1978 season was Charlie's last one in the major leagues. He was famous for being the guy the Giants got from the New York Mets in exchange for Willie Mays in 1972.

John Curtis (#486) was 4-3 with a 3.71 ERA and one save in 46 appearances.

Dave Heaverlo (#338) didn't pitch for the Giants in 1978. He was sent to the Oakland A's as part of the Vida Blue trade before the season.

What is up with this card???? Greg Minton (#312) was 0-1 with an 8.04 ERA in 11 appearances in 1978. Greg wasn't used much when he was on the Giants' roster. He started 13 games for AAA Phoenix and came up to the majors to stay in 1979. Greg spent parts of 1973 and 1975-1978 in Phoenix, so he was familiar to us Phoenix Giants fans.

Randy Moffitt (#284) was the other part of the bullpen 1-2 punch for the Giants. He was 8-4 with 12 saves and a 3.31 ERA in 70 appearances. He and Gary Lavelle were very valuable as guys who could finish games.

Ed Halicki (#107) was 9-10 with a 2.85 ERA in 28 starts and earned a save in his only relief appearance.

Jim Barr (#62) was the Giants' fifth starter. He was 8-11 with one save and a 3.53 ERA in 32 games (25 starts).

Others who pitched for the Giants in 1978 but didn't get Topps Giants cards:

• Vida Blue (18-10, 2.79 ERA, 3rd in Cy Young voting, 12th in MVP voting)
• Phil Nastu (0-1 in eight innings)
• Ed Plank (0-0 in 6.2 innings)
• Terry Cornutt (0-0 in three innings)

1975 Topps Giants Part 4

John Morris did not pitch for the Giants in 1975. He pitched in his final major league game on October 2, 1974. He didn't make the club in 1975 and was released on March 31.

Ed Halicki was 9-13 with a 3.49 ERA . He pitched a no-hitter against the New York Mets on August 24.

Charlie Williams was 5-3 with a 3.49 ERA in 55 games (2 starts). He was used mostly as a middle reliever and set-up man. The photographer must have liked that spot for taking pictures--the left field bleachers at Phoenix Municipal Stadium are in the background on quite a few '75 cards.

John D'Acquisto (how is that pronounced?) was 2-4 with a 10.29 ERA in 10 games (6 starts).

Mike Caldwell was 7-13 with a 4.79 ERA in 38 games (21 starts).

Ron Bryant didn't pitch for the Giants in 1975. He was traded to the St. Louis Cardinals on May 9 for Larry Herndon and a minor leaguer. Ron was released by the Cardinals on July 31.

Tom Bradley was 2-3 with a 6.21 ERA in 13 games (6 starts). He spent part of the season in AAA Phoenix. His last major league game was on September 15, 1975. Tom didn't make the club in 1976 and was selected off of waivers by Oakland, but he spent the whole year in AAA and didn't make it back to the big leagues.

Randy Moffitt was 4-5 with a 3.89 ERA and 11 saves in 55 games in 1975. He led the team in games finished and saves.

Jim Barr was 13-14 with an ERA of 3.06 in 33 starts for the Giants in 1975.

Others who pitched for the Giants but didn't get cards in 1975:

• John Montefusco (15-9, 2.88 ERA, 215 strikeouts, Rookie of the Year, 4th in Cy Young balloting)

• Pete Falcone (12-11, 4.17 ERA, 32 starts in his rookie season, traded after the season for Ken Reitz)

• Dave Heaverlo (3-1, 2.39 ERA in 42 games---rookie season)

• Greg Minton (1-1, 6.88 ERA as a September call-up)

• Rob Dressler (1-0, 1.10 ERA in 3 games as a September call-up)

• Tommy Toms (0-1, 6.10 ERA in 7 games -- he spent most of the season in AAA Phoenix)