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)

1977 Topps Giants - Part 5 (more pitchers)

Jim Barr (#609) was the #2 starter for the Giants in 1977. He had a bit of an off-year --- Jim was 12-16 with a 4.76 ERA in 38 starts.

Greg Minton (#489) was 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in two starts in 1977. He spent most of the season in AAA Phoenix where he was 14-6 with a 4.86 ERA.

Randy Moffitt (#464) was 4-9 with 11 saves and a 3.59 ERA in 64 games.

Gary Lavelle (#423) was the Giants' lone representative to the 1977 All Star game. He pitched the 4th and 5th innings allowing one hit and striking out two batters. Gary was 7-7 with 20 saves and a 2.05 ERA in 70 games in 1977.

John Montefusco (#370) was 7-12 with a 3.49 ERA in 26 games (25 starts). He missed about six weeks from late May to early July.

Others who pitched for the Giants in 1977 but didn't receive a 1977 Topps Giants card:

Bob Knepper (11-9, 3.36 ERA in 27 starts)

Lynn McGlothen (2-9, 5.62 ERA in 21 games - 15 starts)

Terry Cornutt (1-2, 3.86 ERA in 28 games - 1 start)

Tommy Toms (0-1. 2.08 ERA in 4 games)

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)

1973 Topps Giants - Part 4 (pitchers)

• Ron Bryant (# 298) had his best season in 1973. He was 24-12 with a 3.53 ERA in 39 starts and finished 3rd in NL Cy Young balloting. He had a serious back injury due to an alcohol-related diving board accident in the spring of 1974 and his career never recovered. He was 3-15 in 1974 and asked to be put on the voluntary retired list in April of 1975. He tried a comeback later in 1975 with the St. Louis Cardinals, but was ineffective in 10 games. After going 2-7 with a 7.99 ERA for four minor league teams in 1976 he hung 'em up for good.

Jerry Johnson (# 248) didn't pitch for the Giants in 1973. He was waived by the Giants on March 6, 1973 and was selected by the Cleveland Indians. Jerry pitched in the majors through the 1977 season.

Steve Stone (# 167) didn't pitch for the Giants in 1973. He and Ken Henderson were traded to the Chicago White Sox before the season for Tom Bradley. Steve went on to have some success with the White Sox and with the Baltimore Orioles, where he won a Cy Young award in 1980.

Jim Willoughby (# 79) was 4-5 with a 4.68 ERA in 39 games (12 starts) in 1973. He went on to pitch one more season with the Giants, then he pitched for the Boston Red Sox for three years before finishing his career with the Chicago White Sox in 1978.

Randy Moffitt (# 43) was 4-4 with 14 saves and an ERA of 2.42 in 60 appearances. He was a reliever for the Giants from 1972-1981 and made only one start during that time. Randy was released by the Giants after the strike in 1981 and finished his career with Houston (1982) and Toronto (1983).

1974 Topps Giants -- Part 4

Juan Marichal did not pitch for the Giants in 1974. He was purchased by the Boston Red Sox in December 1973.

Jim Barr was 13-9 with a 2.74 ERA and two saves in 44 games (27 starts). He led the Giants in innings pitched with 239.1.

Randy Moffitt led the Giants with 15 saves. He was 5-7 with a 4.50 ERA in 61 games (1 start).

Ron Bryant had a big comedown from his league-leading 24 wins in 1973. He was 3-15 with a 5.61 ERA in 41 games (23 starts).

Edit: I just picked this up from Baseball Chronology:
March 15 - Giants 24-game winner Ron Bryant is injured in a swimming pool accident in Yuma‚ AZ. His record will drop to 3-15 and he will never again be a consistent winner.

Elias Sosa was 9-7 with a 3.48 ERA and six saves in 68 appearances.

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)

1977 Burger Chef Giants

I don't remember this issue. Burger Chef wasn't in Arizona. I picked this set up off of eBay a few weeks ago for a buck or two.

The backs had Burger Chef cartoon characters.
Here are the rest of the Giants in the set: