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San Francisco Giants: Remembering the 1989 NL pennant winners

By Joel Reuter
SAN DIEGO - JUNE: Kevin Mitchell #7 of the San Francisco Giants swings at a pitch during a June 1988 game against the San Diego Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO - JUNE: Kevin Mitchell #7 of the San Francisco Giants swings at a pitch during a June 1988 game against the San Diego Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego, California. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images) /
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SAN FRANCISCO – 1989: Will Clark #22 of the San Francisco Giants high fives teammates during a game in the 1989 season at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO – 1989: Will Clark #22 of the San Francisco Giants high fives teammates during a game in the 1989 season at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images) /

1989 San Francisco Giants: Starting Lineup and Bench

The Giants offense was one of the best in the league during the 1989 season, pacing the NL in slugging (.390) and OPS (.706) while finishing second in home runs (141) and runs scored (699). Their 4.31 runs per game were ninth in the majors and trailed only the Chicago Cubs (4.33) among NL teams.

The most frequent lineup during the 1989 season was as follows:

  1. CF Brett Butler
  2. 2B Robby Thompson
  3. 1B Will Clark
  4. LF Kevin Mitchell
  5. 3B Ernie Riles
  6. RF Candy Maldonado
  7. C Terry Kennedy
  8. SS Jose Uribe

The one-two punch of Will Clark (175 OPS+, .333 BA, 38 2B, 23 HR, 111 RBI) and Kevin Mitchell (192 OPS+, .291 BA, 34 2B, 47 HR, 125 RBI) in the middle of the lineup was as good as any in baseball.

Those two did a lot of the heavy lifting for the team’s high-powered offense.

Speedy center fielder Brett Butler was the catalyst, hitting .283 with a .349 on-base percentage, swiping 31 bases and scoring 100 runs. Second baseman Robby Thompson had 26 doubles, 11 triples, 13 home runs and 12 steals while scoring 91 runs.

Ernie Riles (115 OPS+, 7 HR, 40 RBI) and a 23-year-old Matt Williams (98 OPS+, 18 HR, 50 RBI) split time at third base, while rookie Kirt Manwaring started to carve out a chunk of the catching duties from veteran Terry Kennedy.

Outfielders Donell Nixon and Pat Sheridan, and third baseman Greg Litton, were the other reserves to see semi-regular playing time.

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