The San
Francisco Giants are one of the oldest teams in Major League Baseball.
They have had dozens of great players, several of which are now Hall of Famers. The Giants
started out in New York as the New
York Giants, but in 1958 they moved to San Francisco. Before moving to
San Francisco, the Giants won 5 World Series, in 1905, 1921, 1922, 1933, and 1954. Since
moving to San Francisco the Giants have not won the World Series, but have
made it there in 1962 against
the New York Yankees,
1989
against the Oakland
Athletics, and in 2002 against
the Anaheim
Angels. All three of those series were very disappointing for the Giants.
In 1962 the Giants lost to the Yankees in 7 games,
the most games possible in a series. They could not get a victory in Game
7: With two outs, runners in scoring position, and Willie McCovey up. McCovey
hit a line drive that was caught by the Yankees second baseman Bobby
Richardson, to end the game, and the series.
In 1989 the Giants were swept (defeated in 4
straight games) by their across the bay rival A's, which was very embarrassing
for San Francisco. During that series the Loma Prieta
Earthquake happened in the Bay Area, and Game 3 was canceled because
of it.
In 2002 the Giants went to the 7th Game of the
World Series, where, in the end, the Angels had an easy victory to cap off
their first World Series Title in franchise history. The series could have
been won by the Giants in Game 6, thanks to a home run by the most unlikely
candidate, Shawon Dunston,
but I really don't want to go into that since it's so depressing. Any ways,
the Giants have not won a World Series in about 50 years, and they don't look
like they'll do it this year, but you never know.
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Players
The Giants current roster
consists of 11 pitchers, 2 catchers, 6 infielders, and 6 outfielders. Their
pitchers this year are very different from last year's, with the addition
of David Aardsma, Brett Tomko, Wayne Franklin, and Kevin Walker they will
have a deep pitching staff, once again. Their catchers, A.J. Pierzynski
and Yorvit Torrealba are also looking pretty good so far, which means the
Giants will have consistent catching all season, like last year with Benito
Santiago and Torrealba. Benito was acquired by the Kansas
City Royals over the off season, so now the Royals have a solid catcher.
The Giants infield is also very strong this year, even without Rich
Aurilia and Jeff
Kent, who arguably made the best double play duo in the Majors a couple
years ago. Aurilia is now on the Seattle
Mariners, and Kent is on the Houston
Astros. The outfield for the Giants, in my opinion, could be even better
than last years'. The last couple years they had Jose
Cruz and Reggie
Sanders in right field, two solid players, and now they have Dustan Mohr
and Michael
Tucker to share right field. Both Mohr and Tucker are solid in the field
and have pretty good bats, which means that with a healthy Barry Bonds and
Marquis Grissom too, they have a good outfield.
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News
The Giants
are currently in 2nd place in their division, and are in 4th place in the
National League. To get
an accurate update of the Giants record, click on "National League" above.
To view the Giants' upcoming schedule click here.
In the past the Giants have had trouble with the Arizona
Diamondbacks and the Los
Angeles Dodgers, but this year their division has a new threat, the
San Diego
Padres. I predict the Padres to be a competitor for the playoffs this
year, by either making the Wild Card, or by winning the division. The Giants
are clearly going to have a tough time just making the post season this
year.
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