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There have been 8,072 Giants home runs since the team moved to San Francisco. I'm in Baseball-Reference.com hyper-factoid mode, so they're going to come at you quickly.
- The Giants hit more off Warren Spahn (45) than any other pitcher. Don Drysdale is second on the list with 43
- The Giants have hit more homers in Safeco Field than Nationals Park
- There have been 126 walk-off home runs in San Francisco. One of them was by Guillermo Quiroz
- There have been 126 homers on 0-2 counts, and just 28 in 3-0 counts
- Giants pitchers are responsible for 98 of the homers, while Giants DHs are responsible for just 16
- The Giants have hit 251 pinch-hit homers since 1958
This is actually me exercising restraint. I could look this stuff up all day. The Giants have hit 109 homers in Shibe Park and 32 at Parc Jarry. I don't even know what that last one is!
Oh, damn, that's gorgeous. Got it. Jarry Park in Montreal. Look for the bad seat in that picture. This is worth a read if you're interested in the first home of the Expos.
But I digress. We were talking about dingers. And I'm thinking about dingers because I had no idea what to write about another Giants/Dodgers series. It'd be easy if the season weren't already decided. The Dodgers are winners. The Giants are losers. The Dodgers are going to have bunting all around their stupid stadium in a couple weeks. The Giants are just waiting for the next monster-truck rally or Dave Matthews concert before baseball season.
Instead, let's look at every Giants home run hit against the Dodgers. That's nourishing. The first 10 homers they hit in San Francisco were against the Dodgers, for example. And the Giants have hit 846 home runs against the Dodgers -- 60 more than against any other opponent. Every time a Giants player hit a home run against a Dodger, that Dodger muttered something like "Dammit" or "Aw, nuts."
So we must celebrate these events.
Here's the first 500, and here's everything after that. Now let's pay attention to a few categories.
First!
That would be Daryl Spencer off Don Drysdale in the first game in San Francisco. The Giants won 8-0 at Seals Stadium. Up yours, Kevin Elster.
Willie Mays
The Giants played back-to-back two-game series against the Dodgers in May, 1958. Willie Mays hit seven home runs in those four games, possibly because the left-field porch in Los Angeles was just a liiiiitle short.
Mays had more homers against the Dodgers than any other Giant, 56. The full list:
1. Mays, 56
2. Barry Bonds, 53
3. Willie McCovey, 41
4. Matt Williams, 27
5. Orlando Cepeda, 24
6. Bobby Bonds, 20
7. Jim Ray Hart, 19
8. Jim Davenport, 17
9. Jeff Kent, 16
9. Jeffrey Leonard, 16
9. Darrell Evans, 16
Will Clark had 15, in case you were wondering. Three more than Pedro Feliz.
Win probability
The highest WPA for any Giants homer against the Dodgers was in 1959, when Leon Wagner hit a pinch-hit, walk-off grand slam. Sandy Koufax loaded the bases and was pulled for a reliever.
The second-highest WPA? Why, we can watch that one.
One of my favorite games ever. Sniff.
Grand slams
Hunter Pence's grand slam last week was the 19th against the Dodgers since 1958. Here's the full list. No Barry Bonds. No Orlando Cepeda. But Pedro Feliz.
Pitchers
The last Giants pitcher to homer against the Dodgers was Noah Lowry in 2006. Man, I miss that guy. And his changeup. The list of pitchers to hit a homer against the Dodgers. There was an 18-year gap between Ed Halicki and William VanLandingham.
Ruben Rivera hit a homer for the Giants against Troy Brohawn
Damn. I don't remember that. Well, you don't remember Troy Brohawn, but I do. People were kind of annoyed at the Giants for trading him to the Diamondbacks for Felix Rodriguez. Yet there he was, just a few years later, giving up home runs to Ruben Rivera, the Jeff Francoeur of his time.
Walk-offs
The full list:
| Yr# | Date | Batter | Opp | Pitcher | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1959-05-26 | Leon Wagner | LAD | Art Fowler | down 4-2 |
| 2 | 1961-08-18 | Orlando Cepeda | LAD | Larry Sherry | tied 1-1 |
| 3 | 1970-05-28 | Dick Dietz | LAD | Jim Brewer | tied 3-3 |
| 4 | 1973-08-04 | Tito Fuentes | LAD | Jim Brewer | tied 2-2 |
| 5 | 1973-09-03 | Bobby Bonds | LAD | Jim Brewer | down 8-7 |
| 6 | 1992-07-28 | Will Clark | LAD | Roger McDowell | tied 3-3 |
| 7 | 1997-09-18 | Brian Johnson | LAD | Mark Guthrie | tied 5-5 |
| 8 | 2000-07-02 | Marvin Benard | LAD | Mike Fetters | tied 5-5 |
| 9 | 2007-09-07 | Daniel Ortmeier | LAD | Jonathan Broxton | tied 4-4 |
| 10 | 2009-08-12 | Juan Uribe | LAD | Guillermo Mota | tied 2-2 |
| 11 | 2013-05-03 | Buster Posey | LAD | Ronald Belisario | tied 1-1 |
| 12 | 2013-05-04 | Guillermo Quiroz | LAD | Brandon League | tied 9-9 |
It's a shorter list than you might think. And check out how the Giants went almost two decades between Bobby Bonds and Will Clark. They had walk-off homers in back-to-back games against the Dodgers this year. Weird. A third of those were hit by catchers. Also weird.
Also, damn, Jim Brewer. Get your act together. I don't know whether to make a Felipe Alou warm-the-same-pitcher-up-six-times-in-the-same-game joke or a Half Baked reference, but I have a feeling there aren't a lot of vintage Brewer jerseys in the stands these days.
The last come-from-behind, walk-off homer against the Dodgers? Over 40 years ago. I'm not saying there's a way to salvage this season, Giants. But if you wanted to try to make amends, that would be a heckuva start. Especially if it bounces off Yasiel Puig's ego and over the fence. Man, I have some ideas.
Thanks for indulging me. Dingers against the Dodgers? Why, that's just about my favorite subject. Here's hoping for a bushel of them this week. Or maybe just one. Could we get one? That's not too much to ... okay, that's probably too much to ask.