San Francisco Giants 60 Seasons from Worst To Greatest: 1984

We continue counting down 60 seasons of San Francisco Giants baseball from worst to greatest with the fourth-worst 1984.

The mid 1980s weren’t a very fun time in Giants Land. The Giants played at a frigid ballpark, no one came to games and the team hadn’t made the playoffs in over a decade.

So the organization thought they’d spice things up a bit. Mascots became the thing in the ’70s, so the Giants decided to counter it and create an anti-mascot in the ‘Crazy Crab.’ The Crazy Crab would come out,  and fans, as well as players on both teams, would throw whatever they could find on him. The Crab was even in commercials, including one where Manager Frank Robinson was physically restrained from going after him. The Crab was really someone who Giants fans could take their anger out on over a cold ballpark and the horrible play on the field.

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The official slogan for the season was “Hang in there,”  and it was obvious from the beginning of the season that the team was going nowhere. The Giants lost their first three games, and the only two crowds they drew over 30,000 the entire season were both during the first week. On May 1, they were 7-17 and 10 games back in the National League West.

There were issues with Frank Robinson, especially between he and the face of the franchise Jack Clark, who only appeared in 57 games in 1984. In a book KNBR host Brian Murphy released in 2008 commemorating the Giants’ 50th anniversary in San Francisco, he told the story of how Robinson got rid of all of the food in the clubhouse and how the players rebelled.

There were good things, however. Bob Brenly and Chili Davis both made their first all-star team, and the All-Star Game itself was played at Candlestick Park. 57,756 fans came to the Stick on July 10 to see stars such as Tony Gwynn, Doc Gooden, Dave Winfield, George Brett and many others. To top it off, the National League won by a final of 3-1.

As for Frank Robinson, he was fired on Aug. 4 and replaced by Danny Ozark. By then, the Giants were 42-64 and 22 games back. Things didn’t get much better the rest of the season, as the Giants ended up going 66-96, which was their worst record since moving out to San Francisco.

However, little did fans know that 1985 would be even worse.

Though, to end things on a good note, the Giants’ 66-96 record resulted in the draft pick of Will Clark in 1985.