San Francisco Giants Madness: 1-4 Seeds Announced
4 Seeds:
Madison Bumgarner won his third World Series ring in 2014 as a 24 year old, winning two games and saving Game 7 with a five inning relief appearance on three days rest. He won his first as a 20 year old throwing eight shutout innings in Game 4 of the World Series against the Texas Rangers. In his career in the World Series, he is 4-0 with a 0.25 ERA in 36 innings.
In his two one game Wild Card playoff starts, he has pitched two complete game shutouts. It seems the more is on the line, the better Bumgarner is.
Bumgarner’s first career grand slam gives the Giants the lead.
His 25.2 Wins Above Replacement as a pitcher already puts Bumgarner among the best pitchers in team history. His 3.9 WAR as a hitter is better than the career WAR’s of professional hitters Nate Schierholtz, Joel Youngblood and Glenallen Hill had as Giants.
Bumgarner’s story is still being written and his story is already legendary for his post-season success. We all look forward to watching the next several chapters unfold.
Bumgarner takes
deep for the second time in his career.
Jack “the Ripper” was the prototypical power hitter for the Giants from 1975-1984. Drafted in the 13th round of the 1973 amateur draft, Clark began his major league career as a 19 year old. He hit 163 home runs and drove in 595 runs and had 1034 hits in 1044 games played as a Giant. Clark slashed .277/.359/.477 for an OPS of .836 over his San Francisco career.
He was a four time All-Star in his career, going to the Midsummer Classic twice with the Giants in 1978 and 1979. Jack Clark was also the first recipient of the Willie Mac Award as the team’s most inspirational player.
Clark was traded to the rival St. Louis Cardinals in 1985 for Jose Uribe and three other players that didn’t have the impact Clark had in San Francisco. His best moment in the game was a three run home run he hit for the Cardinals in the NLCS that season to help clinch the pennant against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Even though it wasn’t with the Giants, it is always nice to Beat LA!
Jack Clark with the huge home run in the National League Championship Series.
Robby Thompson ended up playing his entire 11 year career with the San Francisco Giants. From 1986-1993, the Giants knew who their everyday second baseman was. Thompson’s consistency at the plate and in the field solidified the Giants lineup and defense throughout Thompson’s first eight seasons in orange and black. Injuries kept him off the field from 1994-1996, when he eventually retired from the game.
Thompson was often taken for granted by fans for not being as flashy as Will Clark, Kevin Mitchell, Matt Williams or Barry Bonds. What Thompson did do was give the Giants a number two hitter and second baseman that did his job day in and day out.
The two time All-Star was a key member of the 1987 and 1989 teams that finally ended both a playoff and pennant droughts in San Francisco history and was also one of the best players in baseball for the 1993 Giants team that won 103 games. Thompson went to the Midsummer Classic in 1988 and 1993. His 1993 season was his best, slashing .312/.375/.496 for an incredible OPS of .870 and an OPS+ of 136.
Tim Lincecum was the 10th pick in the 2006 June amatuer draft and was pitching in the major leagues in May of 2007. Lincecum would go on to win the Cy Young award in 2008 and 2009 and follow that up in 2010 by leading the Giants staff to the 2010 World Series as the team’s best pitcher.
Lincecum fans 14 Braves in his first post-season appearance.
Lincecum was a four time All-Star, going to the Midsummer Classic four straight seasons from 2008-2011. Lincecum’s start to his career rivals any pitcher in baseball history, let alone Giants history.
Lincecum’s first No-Hitter against the Padres in 2013.
Lincecum also threw no hitters in 2013 and 2014 against the San Diego Padres. For all of Lincecum’s inconsistency after 2011, there was no shortage of brilliance over the course of The Freak’s career in San Francisco. Some fans will always knock the Giants for hanging on to Lincecum too long but just as many will always remember “Big Time Timmy Jim” as one of the greatest pitchers in franchise history.
Lincecum’s second No-No against the Padres.