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Favorite SF Giants by number, No. 21 - 30

By Jeff Young |
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There are a lot of ways to highlight and identify your favorite SF Giants players. We have recently begun running a poll on Twitter to choose your favorite Giants player by jersey number. This will be the first series that looks at who the winners are thus far

Favorite SF Giants by number, No. 21 - 30

One note to mention is that there may be some recency bias present as some voters did not see some players perform before a certain era. That said, it is a fun exercise to sit back and reflect on some great players to don the Orange and Black uniform.

No. 21 Jeff Kent

Jeff Kent ran against Jim Hearn, Candy Maldonado, and Freddy Sanchez. He won with 63.8 percent of the vote, but Sanchez received substantial support as well, earning 31.9 percent of the vote.

Kent was a quality second baseman before arriving in San Francisco in 1997, but his career took the next step once he joined a lineup that featured Barry Bonds. Few players in franchise history have had as dominant of a stretch as the plate as Kent's six-year run. In a Giants uniform, the power-hitting second baseman slashed .297/.368/.535 (136 OPS+) with 175 home runs and 689 RBI. He holds the record for most home runs by a second baseman in baseball history.

No. 22 Will Clark

Will Clark's number has not been officially retired yet, but it is no longer in circulation. Several popular players have worn No. 22 including Jack Clark, Jake Peavy, and Andrew McCutchen. However, Will Clark, not surprisingly, won in a landslide vote as he received 77.9 percent of the vote.

The left-handed slugger was originally drafted with the second overall pick in the 1985 draft out of Mississippi State University. By 1986, he was hitting home runs off of legendary pitcher Nolan Ryan and blasting grand slams off of Greg Maddux in the 1989 postseason. He helped to turn around an organization that struggled mightily in the early 1980's.

No. 23 Bobby Thomson

Bobby Thomson ran against several notable Giants players including Tito Fuentes, Felipe Alou, Ellis Burks. It was a cluttered ballot, but Thomson won with 33 percent of the vote.

Across 15 seasons, the right-handed bat slashed .270/.332/.462 (110 OPS+) with 264 home runs and 1,026 RBI while being worth 33.8 WAR. Of course, he is more commonly known for his clutch three-run blast against Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca in the ninth inning of a decisive game to win the 1951 NL pennant. That home run was coined as the shot hear 'round the world.

Sports Contributor Archive 2020
Sports Contributor Archive 2020 / Ron Vesely/GettyImages

Favorite SF Giants by number, No. 21 - 30

No. 24 Willie Mays

The next couple of numbers will not be surprising. Of course, Mays ran unopposed as his No. 24 has been retired since 1972. He wore that number in a Giants uniform for 21 seasons beginning in 1951.

There is no one quite like Mays. The way he impacted the game on offense and with the glove is unrivaled in baseball history. He appeared in 24 All-Star games, took home 12 Gold Glove awards, and earned two MVP awards. He finished his career with 3,293 hits, 660 home runs, and 1,909 RBI across 23 seasons.

No. 25 Barry Bonds

Barry Bonds ran unopposed as his No. 25 has been retired since 2018. Of course, it has been out of circulation since he "retired" in 2007.

Like Mays, Bonds was such a unique player in baseball history. However, reflecting on his legacy is impossible to do without mentioning his past connections to PED-use. With that being said, he was the greatest player of his era and holds the home run record with 762.

No. 26 Mark Gardner

This one caught me by surprise. Mark Gardner ran against Dave Kingman, John Montefusco, and Bill Swift and he won with 39.6 percent of the vote. Montefusco received 28.3 percent of the vote, so it was a close race.

Gardner spent six of his 13 seasons in a Giants uniform. In that time, he recorded a 58-45 record with a 4.71 ERA. He was never the ace of the rotation, but he was a much-needed workhorse as he made at least 30 appearances in four of his six seasons with San Francisco. His career came to an end after 2001, but he became the Giants bullpen coach in 2003 and held onto that role until 2017.

No. 27 Juan Marichal

Marichal ran unopposed as his No. 27 has been retired since 1975. He pitched for 16 seasons including 14 with the Giants. In a Giants uniform, he registered a 238-140 record with a 2.84 ERA while earning 10 All-Star nods.

The right-handed hurler was known for a lot of things on the mound including his signature leg kick. However, he played a role in reigniting the Dodgers-Giants rivalry that has spanned centuries. In 1965, he got into a physical altercation with Dodgers catcher John Roseboro. Interestingly, Marichal and Roseboro became friends after the altercation.

Division Series - Los Angeles Dodgers v San Francisco Giants - Game One
Division Series - Los Angeles Dodgers v San Francisco Giants - Game One / Ezra Shaw/GettyImages

Favorite SF Giants by number, No. 21 - 30

No. 28 Buster Posey

Buster Posey's number is not officially retired yet, but it will not be in circulation again. He ran against Joe Gibbon, Ed Halicki, and Stan Javier. Not surprisingly, the longtime Giants catcher won in a landslide with 95.3 percent of the vote.

The Giants originally drafted Posey in the first round of the 2008 draft out of Florida State University. He did it all on the baseball field. In 12 seasons, the longtime catcher won three World Series rings, secured seven All-Star selections, earned five Silver Slugger awards, and brought home a Gold Glove award as well. The 2021 season was one of his best at the plate as he posted a 140 OPS+ before announcing his retirement earlier in the offseason.

No. 29 Jason Schmidt

Jason Schmidt ran against Jeff Samardzija, Héctor Sánchez, and Mike Tauchman. He received 69.7 percent of the vote with Tauchman finishing in second place at 22.7 percent.

The Giants swung a deal with a Pittsburgh Pirates to acquire Schmidt and John Vander Wal in exchange for Armando Rios and Ryan Vogelsong at the 2001 trade deadline. This was a move that paid dividends for the Giants for the next several seasons as Schmidt emerged as one of the better pitchers in baseball. In six seasons with the Giants, the righty produced a 78-37 record and a 3.36 ERA to go along with three All-Star selections. In 2003, he posted a 2.34 ERA across 29 starts while finishing in second place in the NL Cy Young voting.

No. 30 Orlando Cepeda

Orlando Cepeda ran unopposed as his number has been retired since 1999, which is the same year that he was elected to the Hall of Fame. His career spanned 17 seasons including nine with the Giants in which he donned No. 30.

In total, the right-handed slugger slashed .297/.350/.499 (133 OPS+) with 379 home runs and 1,365 RBI. He finished his career with 11 All-Star selections, one World Series ring, and one MVP award. He took home the NL MVP award in 1967, which was just one season after the Giants traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for veteran pitcher Ray Sadecki.

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