1980 Topps Giants - Part 4 (pitchers)

John Montefusco (#195) was 4-8 with a 4.37 ERA in 22 games (17 starts). He missed six weeks from mid-July to late August and also didn't pitch in the last three weeks of the season.

Bob Knepper (#111) was 9-16 with a 4.10 ERA in 35 games (33 starts).

Gary Lavelle (#84) was 6-8 with 9 saves and a 3.42 ERA in 62 games.

Vida Blue (#30) was 14-10 with a 2.97 ERA in 31 starts. He was on the NL All Star team but didn't pitch in the game.

John Curtis (#12) didn't pitch for the Giants in 1980. He became a free agent after the 1979 season and signed with the San Diego Padres.

1979 Topps Giants - Part 5 (more pitchers)

• Ed Halicki (#672) was 5-8 with a 4.58 ERA in 33 games (19 starts).
  
  
  

• John Curtis (#649) was 10-9 with a 4.18 ERA in 27 games (18 starts). He didn't pitch after September 4. After being with the Giants from 1977-1979, Curtis became a free agent and signed with the San Diego Padres.
  
  

• John Montefusco (#560) was 3-8 with a 3.94 ERA in 22 starts. John missed about six weeks from late April to mid June.
  
  

• Bob Knepper (#486) was 9-12 with a 4.64 ERA in 34 starts in 1979.
  
  

• Jim Barr (#461) didn't pitch for the Giants in 1979. He became a free agent after the 1978 season and signed with the California Angels. Barr started with the Giants in 1971. After two years with the Angels (1979 and 1980) and a year in the minors (1981) Jim came back to the Giants for two years (1982 and 1983) before retiring.

Others who pitched for the Giants in 1979 but who didn't receive Topps cards:

• Ed Whitson (5-8, 3.95 ERA in 18 games/17 starts)
• Tom Griffin (5-6, 2 saves, 3.91 ERA in 59 games/3 starts)
• Pedro Borbon (4-3, 3 saves, 4.89 ERA in 30 games)
• Phil Nastu (3-4, 4.32 ERA in 25 games/14 starts)
• Dave Roberts (0-2, 3 saves, 2.57 ERA in 26 games/1 start)
• Al Holland (0-0, 0.00 ERA in 7 innings)
• Joe Coleman (0-0, 0.00 ERA in 3.2 innings)
• Ed Plank (0-0, 7.36 ERA in 4 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)

1990 Topps Giants - Part 4

Randy McCament was 0-0 with a 3.00 ERA in six innings. He pitched in three games in May and spent the rest of the year with AAA Phoenix.

Steve Bedrosian was 9-9 with 17 saves and an ERA of 4.20 in 1990.

Mike Krukow didn't pitch for the Giants in 1990. His last game was June 4, 1989. He tore his rotator cuff and had surgery on June 10, 1989. Mike retired in March of 1990.

Don Robinson was 10-7 with an ERA of 4.57 in 25 starts in 1990.

Rick "Big Daddy" Reuschel was 3-6 with a 3.93 ERA in 13 starts. He didn't pitch from late May until mid-September. Rick was released on June 19, 1991 and retired after going 0-2 in four April appearances.

Craig Lefferts didn't pitch for the Giants in 1990. He became a free agent after the 1989 season and signed with the San Diego Padres.

Dave Dravecky didn't pitch for the Giants in 1990. He pitched in his last game on August 15, 1989. His career came to an abrupt end after his humerus bone snapped as he made a pitch to Tim Raines. He had had an operation to remove a cancerous tumor a year earlier. The arm and shoulder had to be amputated in 1991. Here is an article about Dave's recent return to San Francisco and what happened that day in 1989.

Bob Knepper was 3-3 with a 5.79 ERA in 12 games (7 starts). Bob also made four starts for AAA Phoenix. He was released on June 26 and didn't pitch in the majors again.

Mike LaCoss was 6-4 with a 3.94 ERA in 12 starts in 1990. He didn't pitch from April 26 until August 11.

John Burkett was the top starter on the staff in 1990. He was 14-7 with a 3.79 ERA in 32 starts and was the only pitcher to pitch more than 200 innings.

1981 Topps Giants Part 4

Gary Lavelle was 2-6 with an ERA of 3.84 and 4 saves.





Randy Moffitt was 0-0 with a 7.94 ERA in 10 games. He was released on August 4.

Tom Griffin was 8-8 with a 3.76 ERA in 22 starts. He was the only SF pitcher to hit a home run in 1981.

Bob Knepper did not pitch for the Giants in 1981. He was traded to the Houston Astros before the season.

Allen Ripley was 4-4 with a 4.07 ERA in 19 games (14 starts).

Vida Blue was 8-6 with a 2.45 ERA. He was the only All Star for the Giants in 1981.

John Montefusco did not pitch for the Giants in 1981. He was traded to the Atlanta Braves before the season for Doyle Alexander.

Greg Minton was 4-5 with a 2.88 ERA and had 21 saves in 1981.

Ed Whitson was 6-9 with a 4.02 ERA in 22 starts.

Al Holland was 7-5 with a 2.41 ERA and had 7 saves.

Other pitchers for the Giants who didn't get 1981 Topps Giants cards:

Doyle Alexander (11-7, 2.89, 24 starts, led the Giants in wins)

Fred Breining (5-2, 2.55, 45 games)

Bob Tufts (0-0, 3.52, 11 games)