Giants Playoff Catchers

I decided to steal this idea from Capewood Collections (he's doing this for the Phillies).

1951 Wes Westrum (.219, 20 HR, 70 RBI in 124 games)

1954 Wes Westrum (.187, 8 HR, 27 RBI in 98 games) / Ray Katt (.255, 9 HR, 33 RBI in 86 RBI)

1954 Topps #180

1954 Bowman #121

1962 Tom Haller (.261, 18 HR, 55 RBI in 99 games) / Ed Bailey (.232, 17 HR, 45 RBI in 96 games)

1962 Topps #356

1962 Topps #459

1971 Dick Deitz (.252, 19 HR, 72 RBI in 142 games)

1971 Topps #545

1987 Bob Brenly (.267, 18 HR, 51 RBI in 123 games)

1987 Topps #125

1989 Terry Kennedy (.239, 5 HR, 34 RBI in 125 games)

1989 Topps #59T

1997 Rick Wilkins (.195, 6 HR in 66 games)

1997 Pinnacle #125

2000 Bobby Estalella (.234, 14 HR, 53 RBI in 106 games)

2000 Upper Deck

2002 Benito Santiago (.278, 16 HR, 74 RBI in 126 games)

2002 Topps #68

2003 Benito Santiago (.279, 11 HR, 56 RBI in 108 games)

2003 Topps #66

2010 Buster Posey (.305, 18 HR, 67 RBI in 108 games)

2010 Topps #2

1976 SSPC Giants - Part 5

1960 Topps Giants - Part 1

• After an exciting 1959 season that saw the Giants almost win the NL pennant, the Giants had a disappointing 1960 season. They finished 5th out of 8 teams with a 75-79 record.

• Record: 75-79 (5th in NL, 16 games behind the Pittsburgh Pirates)
• Team Batting: .255 (3rd in NL)
• Team HR: 130 (4th in NL)
• Team ERA: 3.44 (2nd in NL)
• Team Fielding: .972 (8th in NL)
• League Leaders: Willie Mays (hits, 190); Mike McCormick (ERA, 2.70); Jack Sanford (wild pitches, 15; shutouts, 6)
• All Stars: Willie Mays (starting CF); Orlando Cepeda (OF); Mike McCormick (P)
• Gold Gloves: Willie Mays (OF)
• Attendance: 1,795,356 (2nd of 8)
  
  

• Bill Rigney (#225) was replaced after starting the season 33-25. He had been the Giants' manager since 1956. Bill would go on to manage the Los Angeles/California Angels from 1961-1969, the Minnesota Twins from 1970-1972, and have another run with the Giants in 1976. Tom Sheehan managed for the rest of the 1960 season and was 46-50.

• Wes Westrum (#469) was a catcher for the Giants from 1947-1957. He coached for the Giants until the New York Mets came along, then he coached for the Mets for a few years. He replaced Casey Stengel as Mets' manager in 1965 and managed the Mets until he was replaced with 11 games to go in the 1967 season. Wes had a run as Giants' manager in 1974 and 1975.

• Salty Parker was a longtime coach in the majors and in the minors. He replaced Wes Westrum as the Mets' manager for the last 11 games of the 1967 season. He also managed the Houston Astros for one game in 1972.

• Bill Posedel had two interesting nicknames -- "Barnacle Bill" and "Sailor Bill." This probably had to do with him being from San Francisco, or his two stints in the US Navy (1925-1929 and 1942-1945). Bill pitched in the majors for a few years before World War II. By the time the war was over Bill was 40 years old and turned to coaching after a short comeback attempt. He coached and scouted for several teams from the late 1940s - early 1970s.
  
  
  
  

• Bob Schmidt (#501) was the Giants' starting catcher in 1960. He batted .267 with 8 HR and 37 RBI in 110 games. Schmidt came up with the Giants in 1958 and made the NL All Star team that year. He was traded to the Cincinnati Reds early in the 1961 season and caught in the majors for several teams through the 1965 season.
  
  
  
  

• Al Stieglitz (#144) didn't play for the Giants in 1960. He played in the Giants' organization from 1953-1960 but never made it to the major leagues. Al had a good glove -- in 1960 his fielding percentage was .996 in 77 games, but he had 7 passed balls.
  
  
  

• Hobie Landrith (#42) was the backup catcher in 1960. He batted .242 in 190 AB. It seems like every year Topps mentioned that Hobie was a good defensive catcher.
• Neil Wilson (.000 in 10 AB) also played catcher for the Giants for a week in 1960. It was his only time in the majors.
  
  
  
  
  

1975 Topps Giants Part 1

• The Giants had an 80-81 record in 1975 and finished in 3rd place in the NL West (27.5 games behind the dominant Big Red Machine).
• Team Batting: .259 (5th in NL out of 12 teams)
• Team HR: 84 (9th in NL out of 12 teams)
• Team ERA: 3.74 (8th in NL out of 12 teams)
• Team Fielding: .976 (4th in NL out of 12 teams)
• Attendance: 522,919 (12th in NL out of 12 teams)
• Awards: John Montefusco (Rookie of the Year), Garry Maddox (Gold Glove), Bobby Murcer (All Star)

Wes Westrum (#216) took over for Charlie Fox in the middle of the 1974 season and had a 38-48 record. He managed the Giants through the whole 1975 season (80-81 record). I don't know whether he was fired or quit. As a favor to Hank Aaron, Wes served as pitching coach for Richmond (managed by Tommie Aaron). He then was an advance scout for the Braves for the next 17 years. An interesting 2001 Baseball Digest article is here.

John Boccabella (#553) did not play for the Giants in 1975. He played his final game on September 19, 1974.

Dave Rader (#31) caught in 94 games in 1975 and batted .291 with 5 home runs.

Other players who did not get 1975 Giants cards but played catcher for the Giants:

• Marc Hill batted .214 in 182 at bats. He was acquired by the Giants from the St. Louis Cardinals in October 1974 but didn't get a card (he had only batted 28 times in the previous two seasons).
• Mike Sadek batted .236 in 106 at bats. He spent the first two months of the season in AAA Phoenix. He was a fixture in Phoenix for several years (1970-1972, 1974-1975).
• Gary Alexander played 2 games late in the season and was 0 for 3.