San Francisco Giants Madness: 9-12 Seeds Announced
10 Seeds:
J.T. Snow was the best first baseman in San Francisco Giants history defensively. The six time gold glove winner won four gold gloves as a member of the Giants from 1997-2005. The former switch hitter changed to exclusively left handed during his time with the Giants. Despite the difficult transition, Snow maintained a slashline of .273/.369/.438 for an OPS of .807 with the Giants. Always a fan favorite, Snow never hit home runs at the same rate as other first baseman and was often criticized for a lack of power from a traditionally power hitting position. But Giants fans understood his value, especially in the field, and that is what made him such a popular Giant.
Saving the manager’s son certainly helps your popularity in the clubhouse.
Hitting a game tying three run home run in the post-season doesn’t hurt either.
Randy Winn is one of the more underrated Giants. From 2005-2009, there wasn’t a more consistent Giant, but those teams were anything but. Winn shined on a team that didn’t and that is why many fans think of other right fielders in the Giants recent history. Whether it’s the production of Burks or the inspiration of Pence, no right fielder has been more productive at AT&T Park than Winn. He never had the great power numbers of some but he maintained a slashline of .290/.345/.432 for a OPS of .776 with the Giants. While those numbers aren’t at the same level as other outfielders in team history, his versatility in the outfield and his versatility all over the lineup proved how valuable he truly was.
A splash hit for Randy Winn.
Bobby Bolin played his first nine seasons with the Giants from 1961-1969. Bolin was a big part of the bullpen during the Giants run to the World Series in 1962.
"“We got beat in the seventh game. But I got to pitch in two of the games, before more than 70,000 people. It was a thrill for this country boy.”"
Over 1282.1 innings, Bolin went 73-56 while maintaining an ERA of 3.26. Bolin appeared in 345 games and started 144, showing his versatility as both a starter and a reliever. Bolin also saved 22 games for the Giants.
Very rarely does a guy who has four errors in one inning make you a fan favorite. Part of the reason he was a fan favorite was also having four RBI’s in the same game including the walk off home run. The other part was actually being a good catcher for the Giants over nine seasons and filling in at third base that day. While he never was a great hitter, he was certainly a great backstop for Giants pitching in the 1980’s. That dramatic home run notwithstanding, Brenly wasn’t a power hitter and hit .250 over his career in San Francisco. He was also a part of both the 1987 and 1989 Giants that helped turn the franchise around. As we saw with David Ross and the Cubs in 2016, you can never have enough good catchers in your system.
Bob Brenly walk off on September 14, 1986 after a four error fourth inning.