1987 Topps Giants - Part 6 (traded set)

Matt Williams (#129T) was still mainly a shortstop in 1987. He played in 70 gams at short and 17 games at 3B. Matt didn't hit a whole lot in his rookie season -- .188 with eight homers in 245 AB. He was ready to be a starter by 1989 and really started to hit well in 1990. Williams was a five-time all star and won four Gold Gloves and three Silver Slugger Awards. Williams played for the Giants from 1987-1996, for the Cleveland Indians in 1997, and then retired after the 2003 season after playing his last six seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Chris Speier (#121T) batted .249 with 11 HR in 317 at bats as a backup infielder. He signed with the Giants as a free agent before the 1987 season. Chris finished his career with the Giants in 1989.

Kevin Mitchell (#81T) was acquired by the Giants in a big trade with the San Diego Padres on July 5, 1987. He batted .306 with 15 homers to finish the 1987 season. Mitchell was the 1989 MVP and was a two-time All Star for the Giants. He was traded to the Seattle Mariners after the 1991 season for Bill Swift, Dave Burba, and Mike Jackson (a good way to retool the pitching staff). After stints with several other teams, Mitchell finished his career with the Oakland A's in 1998.

Jim Gott (#39T) made 30 appearances for the Giants in 1987 and was 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA. He had been released by the Giants after the 1986 season and was resigned during spring training in '87. Jim was waived by the Giants on August 3 and was picked up by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

I'm surprised Dave Dravecky and Craig Lefferts weren't in this traded set. I picked up most of these images from Deanscards.com. I have the set but it's in a spot that's hard to access at the moment. :)

1987 Topps Giants - Part 5 (more pitchers)

Atlee Hammaker was 10-10 with an ERA of 3.58 in 31 games (27 starts). He pitched for the Giants from 1982 until his release on August 12, 1990.

Greg Minton was 1-0 with one save and a 3.47 ERA in 15 appearances. He was released by the Giants on May 28 after a long career (1975-1987) with the club. Greg was signed by the California Angels and he pitched there until his retirement after the 1990 season.

Mike Krukow was 5-6 with a 4.80 ERA in 30 games (28 starts). Krukow was the winning pitcher in game 4 of the NLCS. Mike pitched for the Giants from 1983 until he retired in June of the 1989 season.

Terry Mulholland didn't pitch for the Giants in 1987. He was 7-12 with a 5.07 ERA for AAA Phoenix.

Roger Mason was 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in five starts in 1987. He was 5-1 in 10 starts with AAA Phoenix.

Scott Garrelts was 11-7 with 12 saves and a 3.22 ERA in 1987. He spent his entire major league career (1982-1991) with the Giants.

Kelly Downs was 12-9 with 1 save and had an ERA of 3.63 in 41 games (28 starts). He pitched for the Giants from 1986-1992 and finished his career with the Oakland A's in 1993.

Jeff Robinson was 6-8 with 10 saves and a 2.79 ERA in 63 games. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Rick Reuschel on August 21. Why was the name section of his card red while the rest of the Giants were orange?

1987 Topps Giants - Part 4 (pitchers)

Juan Berenguer didn't pitch for the Giants in 1987. He was released by the Giants after the 1986 season and signed with the Minnesota Twins, where he won a World Series ring. Juan continued to pitch in the majors through the 1992 season.

Vida Blue didn't pitch for the Giants in 1987. He became a free agent after the 1986 season and signed with the Oakland A's. Vida abruptly retired during spring training in 1987 and it was rumored that he had failed a drug test.

Mike LaCoss led the Giants with 13 wins in 1987. He was 13-10 with a 3.68 ERA in 39 games (26 starts). LaCoss was picked up by the Giants in 1986 after he was released by the Kansas City Royals. He continued to pitch for the Giants until his release in 1991.

Frank Williams didn't pitch for the Giants in 1987. He and two minor leaguers were traded to the Cincinnati Reds after the 1986 season for Eddie Milner. Frank had a tough go of it after his playing career -- he was in a bad car accident in 1989 and ended up homeless in Vancouver, Canada after a divorce. He died of a heart attack in 2009.

Mark Davis was 4-5 with a 4.71 ERA in 20 games (11 starts) for the Giants in 1987. He was traded with Chris Brown, Keith Comstock, and Mark Grant to the San Diego Padres on July 5
for Kevin Mitchell, Dave Dravecky, and Craig Lefferts. He became an All-Star reliever with the Padres in 1988 and 1989. Mark was the NL Cy Young Award winner in 1989.

1987 Topps Giants - Part 3 (outfielders)

Joel Youngblood (#759) batted .253 in 91 at bats for the Giants as a utility player. Youngblood was a versatille bench player for the Giants from 1983-1988. He ended his career with the Cincinnati Reds in 1989.

Chili Davis (#672) batted .250 with 24 home runs and 76 RBI. He walked 72 times, giving him a .344 on base percentage. He became a free agent after the season and signed with the California Angels. Davis eventually finished his career with the New York Yankees in 1999.

Candy Maldonado (#335) batted .292 with 20 home runs and 85 RBI. He was acquired by the Giants in a rare trade with the Dodgers in 1986. He played for the Giants through the 1989 season and eventually finished up with the Texas Rangers in 1995.

Jeffrey Leonard (#280) batted .280 with 19 HR and 63 RBI. Leonard was the Giants' lone representative to the 1987 All Star Game. He and Chili Davis also led the Giants in stolen bases with 16. Jeffrey played for the Giants from 1981 until the middle of the 1988 season when he was traded to the Brewers for Ernie Riles. He finished his career with the Seattle Mariners in 1990.

Dan Gladden (#46) didn't play for the Giants in 1987. During spring training he was traded to the Minnesota Twins for Bryan Hickerson and two minor leaguers.

Mike Aldrete (#71) had a nice season as the 4th outfielder in 1987. He batted .325 with nine homers and 51 RBI in 357 at bats. Mike had a .396 on base percentage. Mike was traded to the Montreal Expos after the 1988 season for Tracy Jones. He played for a total of seven teams from 1986-1996.

1987 Topps Giants - Part 2 (infielders)

• Will Clark (#420) batted .308 with 35 HR and 91 RBI in 1987. He had a .580 slugging percentage. Will was 5th in NL MVP voting. How was he left off of the All Star team?
  
  

• Robby Thompson (#658) was the starting second baseman and batted .262 in 132 games. He spent his entire career (1986-1996) with the Giants.
  
  
  

• Jose Uribe (OOOO-ri-BE!!!!!) (#633) played in 95 games and batted .291, which was a career high. He didn't play from May 28 - July 3 (must have been hurt). He also missed time in early May (May 5-19).
  
  

• Luis Quinones (#362) didn't play for the Giants in 1987. He was released by the Giants on November 10, 1986 and he signed with the Chicago Cubs. He was the guy the Giants got from the Cleveland Indians for Johnnie LeMaster. Luis didn't bat any better than LeMaster. He batted .179 in 71 games for the Giants in 1986 (his only season with the club).
  
  

• Mike Woodard (#286) played in 10 games and batted .211 in 19 at bats. He was released by the Giants on June 29 and signed with the Houston Astros on July 2. Mike spent the rest of the season in AAA Tucson and then signed with the Chicago White Sox. He batted 48 times for the White Sox in 1988 then went back to the minors to stay. He played parts of four seasons (1985-1988) in the majors but spent most of his career (1978-1989) in the minors.
  
  
  
  
  

• Chris Brown (#180) started the season as the starting third baseman but was traded to the San Diego Padres as part of the big deal that netted the Giants Kevin Mitchell, Craig Lefferts and Dave Dravecky. In 38 games Brown batted .242 with six home runs. He struggled with the Padres in '87 and '88 and didn't do very well with the Tigers in '89. Chris was out of baseball after the 1989 season (except for a brief comeback attempt with AAA Indianapolis in 1995). He died of injuries sustained in a house fire in 2006.
  
  
  
  
  

• Harry Spilman (#64) batted .267 in 90 at bats as a utility player in 1987. He was at the tail end of his career at this point (the Giants were the fourth of his five teams). The Giants released Spilman in August 1988 and he signed with the Houston Astros, where he finished his career.

1987 Topps Giants - Part 1

• In 1987 (#231), the Giants became a fun team to watch again. They brought up several good young players and the pitching was much improved. Bob Brenly and Jeffrey Leonard were the only starting positon players over the age of 30. The Giants won the NL West and lost in seven games in the National League Championship Series.

• Team Record: 90-72 (1st in NL West, 6 games ahead of the Cincinnati Reds)
• Team Attendance: 1,917,168 (7th of 12 teams)
• Team Batting: .260 (7th in NL)
• Team Home Runs: 205 (2nd in NL)
• Team ERA: 3.70 (1st in NL)
• Team Fielding: .980 (3rd in NL)
• NL All Stars: Jeffrey Leonard (OF)
• NL Gold Gloves: Rick Reuschel (P for 2nd half of season)
• NL Championship MVP: Jeffrey Leonard
• League Leaders: Rick Reuschel (shutouts - 4)

• Roger Craig (#193) managed the Giants into the playoffs for the first time since 1971. The Giants became a fun team to watch again. Roger managed the Giants from the end of the 1985 season through the 1992 season. He stepped down after the '92 season.
  
  

• Bob Brenly (#125) was the starting catcher in 1987. He batted .267 with 18 home runs in 375 at bats. It was his last season as a regular. He batted .235 (4 for 17) in the National League Championship Series. Bob spent 1981-1988 with the Giants and then was released and went to Toronto to start the 1989 season. After being released from the Blue Jays in mid-July Bob went back to the Giants. He played for AAA Phoenix and then finished his career with the Giants in September. He retired after the '89 season.
  
  

• Bob Melvin (#549) batted .199 with 11 home runs in 246 at bats as the Giants' backup catcher. He had a .998 fielding percentage behind the plate. Bob went 3 for 7 (.429) in the NLCS. Melvin spent 3 seasons (1986-1988) with the Giants and was traded to the Baltimore Orioles for Terry Kennedy before the 1989 season.
• Others who caught for the Giants in 1987 but who didn't receive '87 Topps cards:
• Mackey Sasser (0 for 4 in 2 games)
• Kirk Manwaring (1 for 7 in 6 games)