FanPost

Your Top 10 Best and/or Favorite SF Giants Teams

I was watching the MLB Network's "40 Greatest Teams" last night, which included many of the best since 1961. I had a big problem with their list though; it didn't include the 1962 Giants. But instead of typing out our own list of the 40 greatest teams of the last 50 years, let's focus on our list of the 10 best SF Giants teams. They don't necessarily have to be the best, they can instead be your 'favorite' teams if you like. This is my list, which I believe to be somewhat grounded in truth but it also has a lot of elements of 'going with my heart'.

1) 1962 - Definitely the best SF Giants team. This team had 5 Hall of Famers on it, 4 of which played a big role in the season. Gaylord Perry was only somewhat involved. They won 103 games, 101 if you don't count the 2 extra they got by beating the Dodgers in a best-of-3 playoff series. What Giants fan isn't going to count those extra 2 wins? They battled the Yankees in a 7 game World Series that ended in heartbreak. Their offense was truly special. They had 8 players with 115 OPS+ or better. The catching duo of Ed Bailey and Tom Haller combined for 35 homeruns and an OBP above .355. Willie Mays hit 49 bombs, Orlando Cepeda hit 35 bombs, Felipe Alou hit 25 bombs and Willie McCovey hit 20 bombs in limited playing time. Jim Davenport and Chuck Hiller managed to not suck so bad with the bats that year. Marichal had good success despite bad peripherals; something that would surely change in later seasons. Lefty Billy O'Dell was the true ace that season, striking out 6.3 per 9, walking 2.1 per 9, giving up 0.6 homeruns per 9 and managing a 107 ERA+, which seems underwhelming considering his peripherals. Jack Sanford and Billy Pierce were also pretty good that year.

2) 1993 - They won 103 games and missed the playoffs. This team had a combination of Bonds era players, and Humm Baby era players. Robby Thompson had a career year. Matt Williams dominated. Barry Bonds walked away with an MVP. Clark wasn't as good, but he was Clark. Willie McGee was solid. Darren Lewis could field and steal bases, and I'm sure his mom didn't care about his OBP, which counts for something. Bill Swift and John Burkett were beastly. Rod Beck came into his own as a closer.

3) 2010 - I don't know if you know this already, but the Giants won the World Series. I was surprised to find this out too.

4) 2002 - Surprisingly finished 4th on my list despite Shinjo being a DH. Maybe the Giants should have thrown a couple million at Galarraga in the offseason to help offset Snow's suckiness and Shinjo BEING A DH. Anyways... I'm over it. But I'd be lying if I were to say this wasn't the team of my youth. I loved every bit of this team, including Shinjo being the DH.

5) 2000 - Unfortunately I didn't follow this team much. I'd end up becoming a legitimate Giants fan in 2001. They won 97 games that year. Bonds, Burks and Kent were absolutely incredible offensively. Wish I could have watched Burks bat .344 and hit 24 bombs, but I think I was playing WWF SmackDown! all day back then.

6) 1987 - I prefer this team to the 1989 team because of the offense really. And Dave Dravecky's presence. After he was aqcuired by the Padres, he'd take over as the ace of the staff. Downs, LaCoss and Hammaker were all solid pluses in the rotation. Krukow didn't have a good season, but he pitched a very good game in the NLCS. They should have beat the Cardinals dammit. Nobody in the lineup was an easy out that year, and they all managed OPS+ over 100. That includes Jose Uribe (.343 OBP FTW!?) and Mike Aldrete. A really complete all-around lineup that also included Chili Davis in his final season with the Giants :( and a midseason acquisition of 1989 MVP Kevin Mitchell :)

7) 2003 - They won 100 games and went wire-to-wire and I don't know how. But those two things bumps them up a few spots. They weren't that special of a team. Edgardo Alfonzo hit .259/.334/.391 with 13 homeruns as our starting 3rd baseman. They no longer had Jeff Kent or Robb Nen. Ray Durham was injured all the time. Rich Aurilia's 2001 season felt like it was 8 years ago rather than 2. Neifi Perez played in 120 games. Damian Moss stunk. Kurt Ainsworth was traded for Sidney Ponson. Jose Cruz Jr. dropped a routine flyball and the Giants lost to the Fish. There were certainly some good things. Bonds was still incredible, Schmidt was dominant, Grissom managed to be a bit above average offensively, Jerome Williams looked promising :(, Benito wasn't so bad for a catcher, and Galarraga had some nice AB's in limited playing time.

8) 1989 - This team wasn't as sexy and complete all-around as the 1987 team, but they were just as good really. They got their offensive value from really dominant seasons by Clark and Mitchell. Also, Butler, Riles and Thompson managed decent seasons with the bat. Williams could hit a homerun and Oberkfell came in and helped out in the second half, but the lineup just wasn't airtight. Rick Reuschel and Scott Garrelts both had very good seasons. The bullpen was pretty good with Lefferts, Bedrosian and Gossage. They beat the Cubs to bring home the second San Francisco pennant, but they were just overmatched by the A's.

9) 1965 - Underrated season. Giants won 95 games but finished in 2nd place in the NL behind the 97 win Dodgers. If only there were a wild card. Willie Mays won the MVP, which he probably deserved a few other times in the 1960's. Especially in 1962 when Maury Wills beat him out in the voting despite Mays being better in every aspect of the game other than stolen bases that season. Mays would bat .317/.398/.645 with 52 homeruns in 1965. McCovey would finally settle into 1st base that season while Cepeda was out with an injury. He'd blast 39 homeruns and had an OBP of .381. Jim Ray Hart was in his heyday with the Giants and pumped out a 130 OPS+. Marichal was incredible with a 2.13 ERA. Bob Shaw was pretty damn good too. Warren Spahn came on board and pitched decent for the Giants. Murakami, Linzy and Bolin were all pretty good out of the bullpen.

10) 1971 - A good season with a new face of the franchise; Bobby Bonds. Dude could get on base, steal bases and hit homeruns. Mays was still a very good player. McCovey was very good but injured for a while. Dick Dietz could hit. Ken Henderson was pretty good. Dave Kingman was a solid young player and hit a timely homerun in game 162 that allowed the Giants to go to the NLCS and lose to the Pirates, a team that they beat 9 out of 12 times in the regular season. Dammit.

Honorable Mentions: 1997, 1982, 2004 & 1966



Go ahead and post your own lists!

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