San Francisco Giants Madness: 9-12 Seeds Announced
11 Seeds:
Kirk “Woody” Rueter may have looked like a Toy Story doll and may have had a career ERA well over four, but he won 105 games. He is the winningest left handed starting pitcher in team history. Some of the Giants teams that he pitched for were some of the best offenses in team history as well, but there is no denying that Rueter will forever be labeled a winner. He seemed to embody all the compliments you give a pitcher that numbers couldn’t explain. “He works quickly” and “he is easy to play behind” were said throughout his career. “He kept us in the ballgame” and “he gave us a chance to win” were said countless times as well. For any other statistic we could look at, it was clear that 105 wins is the one that will forever stand out.
Robb Nen finished his career with the Giants. The three time All-Star had his best seasons in a Giants uniform, including 206 of his 314 career saves. No Giant has ever had more saves. His 10.8 K/9 is the best in San Francisco Giants history. His career ended abruptly after the 2002 World Series as injuries forced him to retire. Nen “pitched until his arm fell off” for the orange and black. Closers in Giants history are forever compared to Beck and Nen and for that, the pressure to be great is even more difficult. Both closers did their job at an elite level during their time as Giants and nobody was better overall than Nen.
Gary Matthews, or Sarge as we was known throughout his career, played 16 seasons in the Major Leagues. A first round pick of the Giants in the 1968 amateur draft, Matthews spent his first five seasons in San Francisco from 1972-1976. In his first 594 games, Matthews hti for a slashline of .287/.367/.443 for an impressive OPS of .810. The Giants produced several excellent outfielders in the 1960’s and 1970’s and Sarge was no exception. However, with free agency, the Giants lost their power hitting outfielder to the Atlanta Braves. His career highlight came a few seasons later for the Philadelphia Phillies, winning MVP honors in the NLCS versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. Matthews finished his career with 234 home runs and 183 stolen bases, proving to be one of the most versatile outfielders in the league.
Jack Sanford pitched seven seasons for the Giants from 1959-1965, but it was his 24-7 record during the 1962 season that was most memorable. The Giants lost the World Series to the New York Yankees in seven games that season and Sanford was one of the biggest reasons they pitched until the final day of the season. Sanford went 1-2 in the World Series, but over 23.1 innings pitched, he had an ERA of 1.93 and struck out 19. Sanford pitched a complete game shutout in Game 2 and gave up a single run in seven IP in Game 7. The Giants lost Game 7 1-0. Sanford won 89 games in his career with the Giants over 1405.2 IP where he maintained an ERA of 3.61.