San Francisco Giants Madness: 1-4 Seeds Announced
1 Seeds:
Stretch debuted for the Giants on July 30, 1959 hitting third behind Mays and in front of Cepeda and had four hits off future Hall of Famer Robin Roberts.
McCovey’s batting average plummeted after that day from 1.000 to .354 that season. McCovey would still go on to win the 1959 Rookie of the Year. Overall, the 1969 MVP hit .274 over his 19 seasons with the Giants. However, with a Giants career that included 469 home runs and 521 home runs overall, I don’t think many noticed. His slashline of .274/.377/.524 for an OPS of .900 is one of the most impressive stat lines in franchise history. McCovey would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986.
Willie McCovey’s acceptance speech to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
The Giants honored McCovey by naming the water along AT&T Park McCovey Cove and building a statue in a park across the cove. Included around the statue is the collection of winners of the Willie Mac award, which honors the Giants most inspirational player.
Madison Bumgarner honored in 2014 with the Willie Mac Award
The Dominican Dandy is the greatest pitcher in San Francisco Giants history. Along with McCovey, Marichal’s debut may have been just as impressive. In Marichal’s first start, he threw a complete game one hit shutout while striking out 12.
Marichal would go onto win 238 games in 14 years with the Giants. He maintained a 2.84 ERA, while starting 446 games over 3443.2 innings. He also struck out 2,281 batters with a WHIP of 1.095. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983. He became the first player from the Dominican Republic to be inducted into the hall of fame.
The nine time All-Star went to eight straight from 1962-1969. 1965 was arguably Marichal’s best, with a 10.1 WAR which included 22 wins, a 2.13 ERA, 24 complete games including ten shutouts and 240 strikeouts over 295.1 innings pitched.
Marichal is also remembered for his distinctive, high leg kick, described by sportswriter Ron Bellamy: “The symbol of his artistry … was the windup, with the high, graceful kick that left the San Francisco Giant hurler poised precariously on one leg like a bronzed Nureyev before he swept smoothly forward and propelled the baseball toward the plate.”
Juan Marichal’s Hall of Fame Bio
Barry Bonds is the greatest player of his generation and maybe even the greatest Giant of them all. Willie Mays is the only player in the conversation among all-time Giants greats. Bonds’ godfather is often referred to as the greatest living ballplayer. The debate between these two will likely be challenged again in this game as well.
Bonds is not yet in the Baseball Hall of Fame, although he deserves to be in Cooperstown. Bonds is an all-time great, the home run king and has shattered the record books in many other areas as well.
His 112.3 WAR over 15 seasons with the Giants is higher than the entire careers of Rickey Henderson, Mickey Mantle and Mel Ott among others.
His staggering slashline of .312/.477/.666 for an unthinkable career OPS of 1.143 with the Giants shows just how dominant he was. Ultimately, if it wasn’t for Mays, Bonds would be in a class by himself. However, Mays is also one of the main reasons Bonds was so elite, as the Say Hey Kid consistently talked to Barry about hitting throughout his career.
Barry was so good, he would get walked intentionally with the bases loaded.
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The “Say Hey Kid” is the greatest living ballplayer. He began his career in 1951 and spent his first six seasons in New York. He had already earned a 40.6 WAR before ever playing a game on the West Coast. The 24 time All-Star went to four in New York and also won the MVP in 1954.
In San Francisco, Mays continued his brilliance. He was the best center fielder in the game, the best power bat and the best on the basepaths during his career. In 21 seasons in the Giants organization, he slashed .304/.385/.564 for an OPS of .949. His WAR of 113.9 in San Francisco is slightly higher than Bonds at 112.3.
Ultimately, Bonds and Mays are the standard for the greatest players in the organization’s history. When comparing their time in the city by the Bay, it gets even tighter.
#SFGiantsMadness will begin March 16 and 17 to coincide with the NCAA March Madness games. Be sure to go to Twitter and vote for your favorite San Francisco Giants.
Next: Sound the Foghorn, Podcast Episode One
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