Anything Can Happen, And For Once, It Did
by Richard Booroojian
"Every season has its high points and its low points. In 1997
the Giants were no-hit, pounded into sand on occasion, and insulted
by almost everyone at almost every turn. Yet somehow, through
all of it, they managed to turn in a 90-72 record and qualify
as this year's surprise team of baseball."
Which is worse if you are a Giants' fan?
1993 -- Your team thrills you throughout the year, takes you to
new heights and has you believing, only to pull the rug out from
under you so hard that it takes you weeks to regain your balance
after it is all over; or
1996 -- Your team is so bad, so embarrassing, that you are left
with a real and tangible disgust at the mere sight or mention
of them.
Too often, that has seemed to define the boundaries of our choices
as Giant fans in the latter half of the twentieth century. Sometimes
it seems like no Giants team will ever come through and deliver
the prize we so desperately want and even need. Even when they
do deliver a title, it always seems to be accompanied by disaster
(an earthquake in 1989, Atlee Hammaker in 1987), so that one might
wonder if it is even worth it to win.
But once in a while, something else happens.
1986 was a very special year for Giant fans. A team that was completely
unheralded and which had shamefully lost 100 games in 1985 for
the first time in franchise history was completely torn apart
in favor of youth, and the resulting remade roster won 83 games
and contended into September before falling short. They hustled
and they charmed, and if ever one could be proud of a team that
won nothing, that was the year. The 1986 Giants have always been
my favorite installment of the franchise in my 30 years as a fan.
Until now.
There was no reason to assume going into the season that this
would be anything more than a repeat of 1996 all over again, without
even a long-shot hope that we might watch Matt Williams hit 62
home runs in a Giants uniform. The roster was even more dramatically
remade, but not so much in favor of youth as to what seemed to
be Barry Bonds surrounded by mediocrity. But it worked, and it
worked spectacularly, and there was enough glory, perseverance
and drama during the year to satisfy anybody who has ever followed
the Giants.
In Roger Craig, the Giants had the exact manager they needed in
1986: cool, confident, and relentlessly upbeat. He made it okay
to be a Giant again, and the players who stayed all bought into
this philosophy. Dusty Baker in 1997 can be described using the
same terms, but he exemplifies those virtues in a different way.
He may be the only manager who could have brought so many different
players with so many different moods into such tight cohesion
in such a short period of time. Without him, the Giants would
have gotten nowhere this year, let alone be competitive, and in
admiring him and his team, we had something rare and good to feel
proud of.
Because of all of their efforts, the Giants outdueled the Dodgers,
and they won. The Giants won the 1997 NL West.
Anything Can Happen
Every season has its high points and its low points. In 1997 the
Giants were no-hit, pounded into sand on occasion, and insulted
by almost everyone at almost every turn. Yet somehow, through
all of it, they managed to turn in a 90-72 record and qualify
as this year's surprise team of baseball. It all came about because of a couple of unusual events:
- The Giants became, somehow, a highly resilient team that never
let itself be embarrassed by 19-3 losses, nine-run blown leads,
and occasional lapses of defense so unseemly that the fan might
wonder how they ended up paying MLB prices for AA-ball performance
(though in fairness, most fans were probably somewhat numbed to
that style of play after the 1996 season).
- They also played an amazingly consistent brand of baseball. When
is the last time you can remember a Giants team only losing more
than three games in a row once (and then only four)? Even the
great 1993 team went into the tank in late August and lost eight
in a row. Of course, there is a down-side to consistency. After
an early nine-game winning streak, the Giants played roughly .500
ball for the next four months, allowing the Dodgers to catch and
then pass them. The upside, though, was that they didn't panic
when it happened, and they recovered and passed Los Angeles once
again when the Dodgers stumbled down the stretch.
- The team managed to overcome a slow Barry Bonds start that, while
decent, was not up to his usual standards, and still win games.
This happened in part because one pitcher, Sean Estes, actually
lived up to his advance billing, the first hyped Giant pitching
prospect to do so since... well, maybe Juan Marichal.
- Somehow, the franchise that made a reputation for stupid moves
like signing Rennie Stennett, trading George Foster for Frank
Duffy, and letting Dave Henderson walk away in 1987 so he could
join the A's and become a critical part of their powerhouse for
the next five years actually did some stuff that worked out pretty
well:
- They traded Matt Williams for one little, two little, three little Indians (as noted by a KNBR jingle the day of the trade), only to see
one of those little Indians turn into Jeff Kent, who set San Francisco
Giants offensive records for second basemen, and another into
Julian Tavarez, who had an absolutely dominating stretch in the
middle of the season to keep the Giants going when the rest of
the staff was floundering.
- They traded Alan Watson (who I, at least, disliked intensely)
for J. T. Snow, who took a pounding from a Randy Johnson fastball
and from most of the baseball experts and yet turned in a Gold-Glove-caliber
season and solid offensive numbers.
- They signed Mark Lewis and Darryl Hamilton as free agents (okay,
so not everything worked out splendidly, but they did help some).
- Then, in a move that shocked baseball, they picked up Wilson Alvarez,
Roberto Hernandez, and Danny Darwin for prospects just before
the trading deadline (with the added bonus of putting the execrable
Jerry Reinsdorf on the defensive and out of sight for the last
two months of the season). While Alvarez performed to mixed reviews
before his pennant clinching start, Hernandez was a critical contributor
throughout the drive towards the pennant.
- The most unheralded trade of all may have been the best. The Giants
got in Brian Johnson a starting catcher and, eventually, a hero,
all for the price of little used and disappointing Marcus Jensen.
Who would have thought it possible? In fact, who would have believed
that the Giants could be outscored by six runs (and that thanks
only to a 17-4 rout of the Padres three games before the end of
the season), suffer through 18 games in which they allowed 10
or more runs, finish in the bottom third of the league in offense,
defense, and pitching, and still end up in a tie for the fifth
best record in baseball? There may have never been a more prescient
slogan in the history of the game than It's Giants' baseball. Anything can happen!
The Moments
There were a few critical moments, and a few transcendent ones.
As could be expected, the pennant race that developed between
the hated Dodgers and the Giants gave rise to several of these,
but there were many moments during the year that meant something
extra and had an impact on the final results:
- Critical Game #1 -- In 1996, the Giants were above .500 and on
something of a roll when they headed off to an early season trip
to Florida and Atlanta. They lost six in a row and never recovered.
This year, after a blistering 16-5 start, the Giants had leveled
off somewhat but were still in first place when they headed off
on the same trip, facing the best in baseball Braves and the vastly
improved Marlins. But then they suffered their...
- Worst Starting Pitching Performance -- By who else? William VanLandingham
gave up seven walks in an inning plus to the Atlanta Braves on
May 31, helped out in part by C.B. Bucknor's microscopic strike
zone. How he ever gave up only three runs in the game is a mystery.
Sadly, VanLandingham was never the same thereafter, was cut, resigned,
and is now at risk of washing out for good.
- Critical Game #1 (continued) -- Amazingly, the Giants went on
to win that game 6-4, thanks to a brilliant effort by the bullpen,
and the Giants were able to get through the trip with a 3-3 record,
their first place position intact and the stirrings of some respect
from the rest of the league directed at them for the first time.
- Critical Game #2 -- June 20, Dodgers vs. Giants at Candlestick.
The Dodgers were alternately bickering and slumbering, and the
Giants were more worried about the Rockies, who would not fade.
However, the Dodgers surged ahead 7-0 before the Giants start
to come back. Going into the bottom of the ninth, the lead had
been cut to 7-6 when...
- Best Single At-Bat -- Barry Bonds electrified the crowd with a
dramatic home run off Todd Worrell to tie the game, then running
around the bases pumping his fists and showing for the first (but
not last) time more enthusiasm than at any point previously in
a Giants uniform, if not his whole career. An electric and seemingly
defining moment for the 1997 season. Surely the Giants were going
to win the game, but...
- Worst Single At-Bat -- Six batters later, the bases were loaded
with two outs and Rick Wilkins was at bat. Despite the fact that
some 10 balls in a row had been thrown, he swung at a pitch at
his ankles, then at another outside the strike zone before finally
striking out on a full count. He was then removed for ...
- Bob Brenly Memorial Moment -- Marcus Jensen, who in the tenth
proceeded to have the type of defensive inning most players have
nightmares about. He made a bad throw to second which failed to
nab a base-stealing Todd Zeile (a good throw looked to have had
him), gave up a run on a passed ball, then dropped a throw from
Bonds that would have nailed another runner at the plate. In all,
four runs scored. Unfortunately, Jensen (unlike Brenly, who made
up for his celebrated four-error inning by hitting two homers,
including the game winner, later in that memorable 1986 game)
was only able to ground out weakly in the bottom of the tenth.
- Critical Game #2 (continued) -- As a result of their win, the
Dodgers, who might have been knocked out by blowing a seven-run
lead, were able to get it together and make a late season run
that the Giants were barely able to withstand.
- Critical Game #3 -- The Rockies were a real worry during the early
season, and they were very hot when they came into town the weekend
before the All-star break. That changed very quickly thanks to
the season's...
- Best-Pitched Game -- Kirk Rueter had some gems, as did Mark Gardner,
but the best performance came on July 4 when Shawn Estes one hit
the Rockies through 8-2/3 innings in beating them 4-0. Only some
adrenaline-induced overthrowing kept him from completing the game.
His pitch location and movement was masterful, and it was impossible
to overlook him as Giants ace from that point on.
- Critical Game #3 (continued) -- That game started a three-game
sweep that helped knock the pesky Rockies out of the chase for
months, and even a late surge could not overcome the results of
the slide that this sweep started.
- Critical Non-Game -- On August 20, the Giants were prepared to
face Curt Schilling and the Phillies, but the game was rained
out. It seemed like a break to miss Schilling, but in retrospect
this was a bad deal for the Giants. With two days off, they went
into the next series with Pittsburgh very flat, and they ended
up facing Schilling anyway in the make-up game on 9/11, the scheduling
of which took away an important off-day and left the Giants drained
at a critical juncture in the pennant race.
- Critical Game #4 -- Pittsburgh swept the Giants in the three-game
series, concluding with a 9-6 defeat on August 24 that dropped
the Giants out of first place for the first time since May 10.
Mark Gardner, who had been one of the big two in the rotation,
had the first of several very poor outings that ended up with
him out of the rotation, and Doug Henry was hammered for four
runs in the eighth inning, which nullified the Giants' comeback
from a 5-1 deficit.
- Critical Game #5 -- St. Louis owned the Giants this year, and
going into the September 10 game the Giants were 2-8 against them,
with several devastating losses mixed in. In this game it looked
bad early when the Cardinals went up 6-3 off Estes and the bullpen,
but the Giants started to chip away, and in the bottom of the
ninth Stan Javier electrified the team with a line-drive home
run off Dennis Eckersley (a pleasure in its own right). Damon
Berryhill capped off the comeback with an pinch-hit RBI single
in the bottom of the 10th. After a nasty stretch in which the
Giants had been struggling and the Dodgers seemingly would not
lose, this seemed to help right the ship once more.
- Critical Game #6 -- Back to Atlanta, after a close, tough series
of games against Florida, and Shawn Estes was brilliant, pitching
7-1/3 solid innings despite fighting Jeff Kellogg's ridiculous
strike zone. Jeff Kent hit a big early home run, Roberto Hernandez
hit 100 mph in relief, and everything seemed well in hand when
Rod Beck came in to close out the ninth with a 4-1 lead.
- Atlee Hammaker Memorial Award -- Single. Single. Single. Then,
with two outs, Fred McGriff hit a two-run homer to steal the game
and deal the Giants a blow that they surely could not recover
from. Beck had been unhappy with his reduced role since the arrival
of Roberto Hernandez, but this blow undercut all of his arguments
and called into question his talent and his heart. This was the
most devastating loss since the Salomon Torres debacle to end
the 1993 season, and possibly the worst since Atlee choked away
Game Seven of the 1987 playoffs.
- Critical Game #6 (continued) -- This was the third loss of the
only four-game losing streak the Giants suffered all year. After
the game, I wrote off the Giants and Rod Beck with an anguished
heart, but without a second thought. Who knew that not only was
it not the crushing blow it seemed, it was the launching point
for a resurgence that led to the division title?
- Critical Game #7 -- On September 18 the Giants and Dodgers played
what was probably the greatest game in the history of their West
Coast rivalry. The Giants were down by one game, having won a
breathtaking 2-1 game the night before, and they battered Tom
Candiotti for five runs before chasing him. The Dodgers came back
to tie the game 5-5, and heading into the tenth, Rod Beck came
in to pitch for the first time since the disaster in Atlanta.
- Comeback Player of the Year -- It was joked that Brenly in the game alluded to above was
the Comeback Player of the Year in one game. Beck had to wait
three games, but the comeback and the redemption of Rod Beck was
far more special than anything Brenly experienced. It mostly stemmed
from how this outing started. The Dodgers immediately hit three
singles to load the bases, leaving Beck an inch from a meltdown
that, coupled with the Atlanta loss, could have ended his career
as an effective closer. But he got out of it! A strikeout of Todd
Zeile. Eddie Murray hit into a 4-2-3 double play. Beck set down
six more batters in a row in what may have been the finest of
his many fine moments as a Giant reliever.
- Critical Game #7 (continued) -- Brian Johnson's home run in the
bottom of the twelfth was so unexpected and so spectacular that
it took one's breath away. Giants 6, Dodgers 5. The race was tied,
but as it turned out, the season was over. The Dodgers lost their
next three games, the Giants retook the lead and never really
threatened to give it back again. We will talk about this game
for a long time.
Other Games of Note:
- Worst Loss -- So many to choose from. How about 19-3 to Montreal?
Being no-hit by Florida? 11-0 to the Dodgers? Well, the vote here
is for a 14-13 loss to Montreal on 5/16, in which the Giants led
11-2, lost the lead, retook it, then lost it again. The Expos
tormented the Giants for most of the year. Good thing the Giants
were able to shrug off all these stinkers.
- Guilty Pleasure Moment -- Well, I don't get that much enjoyment
when other teams completely collapse. After the first ten runs
or so, I start to feel sorry for them. Thus, the Giants 13-run,
52-minute seventh inning against the Padres on July 15 was just
a bit too much in the end. (Well, maybe not. In truth, it was
a distinct pleasure throughout, and the only thing that might
have made it better would have been for Trevor Hoffman to give
up all 13 runs, not that I hold a grudge or anything.)
The Players
Compared to the great Giant teams, this year's roster was not
an imposing one. No Mays/McCovey/Marichal/Perry combination. No
Clark/Mitchell/Thompson/Reuschel combination. Not even a Bonds/Williams/Clark/Swift
combination. Already we are looking back at Bonds/Kent/Snow/Estes
and wondering how this happened.
Of course, we will ultimately look back on this team fondly. There
is something endearing about the gangly, clumsy, almost ugly kid
who perseveres and wins out in the end. Just by getting into September
in contention, this team deserved that level of affection. To
win? One is hard pressed to come up with enough superlatives to
express the feelings.
Player rankings are on a scale of 1 to 10, but they are a subjective
weighted average of the following factors: performance against
preseason expectations, comparisons against other players, and
overall contributions to the team's results. Let me repeat; there
are subjective factors at work here. If we didn't expect much
going in, the player gets an up tick. If we did, he had to have
lived up to those expectations, or the mark slides down.
Position Players
- J. T. Snow: J. T. was a great success story, and a big part of the Giants'
improvement this year. Batting lefthanded, he was above average
offensively, and he earned a lot of walks, drove in over 100 runs,
and ended up with a pretty good OBP and slugging percentage, and
this despite being nailed by some Randy Johnson heat in spring
training, which really set him back. However, as a righthanded
batter, he was a walking testimonial for the notion that not everyone
should switch-hit. With the glove, he was a revelation. Smooth
looking, with a good throwing arm and a great scoop. He probably
singlehandedly halved the error total for Jose Vizcaino this year,
and Mark Lewis may have set all some all-time records in that
category despite platooning if not for Snow's efforts. Definitely
a Gold Glover in my view.
Rating: 8
Looking Ahead: I am not nearly so skeptical as some of his potential over the
next few years, mainly because he seemed to evolve into a different
(and better) type of hitter this year, with more patience and
a better eye. If he keeps that up, he would be acceptable offensively
and above average defensively, and that would work. It would be
very nice if he would drop switch-hitting, but that will never
happen. After all, he's a switch-hitter, right?
- Jeff Kent: Probably the biggest story for the Giants in the first half of
the season, and a new team record holder for home runs by a second
baseman. His three grand slams early on were awesome, and his
RBI total was very impressive. Maybe more than anything, he brought
a kind of prickly toughness that the team needed, especially after
last year's injury-filled debacle. However, the story is not unblemished.
His batting average dipped to around .250 by the end of the year
(and his OBP to around .315), and he disappeared for a large part
of the second half. Maybe nagging injuries accounted for this,
but it was precipitous and kind of scary. Most of the RBIs were
complements of Barry Bonds, and with the number of times Barry
got on base (nearly 300 times!), Kent should have had a lot of
RBIs. His glove was much better than advertised, and though he
was not the equal of Robby Thompson defensively, he was certainly
adequate and did seem to flag down balls in the hole pretty well.
All in all, he filled a large part of the offensive void left
by Matt Williams, and it was a lot of fun to see him surge early
on. In the end, though, he didn't quite live up to that great
start.
Rating: 8 (it was a 10 at the break)
Looking Ahead: Here is a sacrilege to ponder; perhaps the Giants should trade
Kent in the offseason. Why? He probably won't have the power numbers
again next year (realistically, if he hit 18 home runs and drove
in 80 next year, wouldn't you be pretty happy despite what he
did this year?), but I can easily see his batting average coming
in around .250 again, which would reduce his offensive value overall.
He is okay at second, but not great. I don't think breaking up
the Vizcaino-Kent keystone combination will shake the team to
the core. His trade value is probably higher now than it will
ever be again. But since that won't happen (and maybe he is enough
of a leader now that it shouldn't), look for .260/16/75. People
will wonder what happened, but let's face it; the man had a career
year for power this year.
- Jose Vizcaino: Somehow, he doesn't make me forget Jose Uribe, which is something
of a concern. I would probably like him offensively a lot more
if he were batting eighth instead of second (he is a brutal two-spot
hitter; the only Giant with appreciable playing time who had a
lower OPS than Jose was Marvin Benard). Despite having three 100-RBI
men behind him, he only scored around 75 runs, and he didn't really
even excel at moving runners over or stealing bases. It is interesting
to note that he had one of the team's best batting averages on
the road, though what that means is hard to say. Defensively,
he was okay. He seems to have slightly below average range and
I don't really like his arm (see my comments under Snow). However,
as best I can tell, he had the second highest number of assists
for shortstops in the league, and his errors were certainly not
out of bounds. The Giants aren't going to have All-Stars at every
position, and in the end, I guess Jose wasn't a real bad choice
for the position this year, but he wasn't a great one either.
Rating: 5
Looking Ahead: It says here that if Vizcaino was left unprotected in the expansion
draft, he could well be taken. Assuming the Giants keep him (heck,
they protected Mike Benjamin in 1993), I think they will get pretty
much the exact same season out of him next year. If he is just
batting eighth while he is doing it, that would probably be fine.
- Rich Aurilia: Okay, he hit well this year. His slugging percentage ended up
over .500, which is cool, and he hit a historic grand slam in
the Giants' first-ever game against the Angels. I probably even
buy into him having a pretty good glove. But starting? He had
a chance last year, and he didn't really grab the job. I have
this feeling that Aurilia is one of those guys who looks a lot
better when he doesn't play all that much.
Rating: 5
Looking Ahead: My guess is that he isn't really the Giants' shortstop of the
future anymore. I believe he is going to be the first Giant taken
in the expansion draft.
- Bill Mueller: What a pleasant surprise he turned out to be. What we already
knew was that he could hit .330 in half a season for a terrible
team. What we learned was that he could hit pretty well for a
good team, with a modest amount of power and a decent OBP (third
highest on the team amongst the starters), and that he could play
third base at an acceptable level. Remember, though he played
mostly third base, he was groomed as a second baseman last year,
and the big knock on him in the spring was his perceived weakness
in the field, but he turned out to be good (not great) at the
position. The only knocks on him were (1) he slumped during the
dog days of August (but he's still young enough for that not to
sound too big an alarm) and (2) he's not Matt Williams. Then again,
nobody likely would have been. In platooning with Mark Lewis,
he was probably underutilized.
Rating: 7
Looking Ahead: He likely starts a higher percentage of games next year, and
he could well evolve into a long-term starting third baseman for
the Giants. I think he can become a consistent .300 hitter and
a good number-two hitter. However, it will be tough to deal with
the big dropoff in power for the position compared to the Matt
Williams' days, because at this point it's hard to visualize him
hitting more than 10-12 homers in a season.
- Mark Lewis: The other half of the third base platoon. During the summer,
Tim Keown of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote about how much he admired Lewis' game, but looking back
on it, it's hard to understand where that came from. He did have
his share of important hits, but he also had many brutal games
at the plate, especially in the second half. Worse, though, was
his propensity to deliver the absolutely worst possible result
while at the plate. Bases loaded with one out? How about a swinging-bunt
double play? Runner on second? Here comes a line-drive double
play. Need a baserunner? Here is a strikeout for you. Maybe it
was bad luck, but boy, he killed a lot of rallies. He may be the
first Giant in a decade to get hit by a batted ball headed for
the outfield, which killed another critical rally this year. His
fielding was not good, though again, in fairness, it wasn't his
native position. His errors were, if possible, timed to be even
more harmful to the team than random distribution would have provided.
Having said all that, I will note that he never was the type of
player that I would feel the urge to dislike. He tried hard, never
created problems, and played with complete sincerity, which I
appreciated. He just wasn't all that good.
Rating: 4
Looking Ahead: Oh, he'll be around, but probably playing less as time goes on.
I could see him becoming the team's 1998 pinch-hitting specialist
of choice.
- Wilson Delgado: He didn't do enough to make any judgments about him, even after
two stints with the team.
Rating: incomplete
Looking Ahead: Impossible to say from the little data that exists so far. He
seems like a good prospect, but time will tell.
- Barry Bonds: This was certainly his most controversial season with the Giants,
and the hardest to evaluate. Was he as good as he was in his MVP
season of 1993? No. Was he as bad as many in the media seemed
to think this year? No. Was he a critical part of the team's success?
Absolutely, and he probably proved once and for all that if the
Giants had to trade either him or Matt Williams, the team made
the right choice. In an off-year, he sported an OPS of around 1.000, walked around 140 times,
and got on base nearly 300 times, a higher total than Tony Gwynn,
Larry Walker, or Mike Piazza managed (no wonder Snow and Kent
had big RBI years). Another 30/30 year (nearly 40/40 once again),
solid defense, and he was available to play every day. And that's
not even getting into his awesome run the last two weeks of the
season. I'll take that any year. However, it is true that it could
have been better. Sure, his RBI totals were adversely affected
by the players in front of him in the lineup, but he didn't hit
well with runners in scoring position, and I want him to do that
every year. If that one stat had come in closer to his career
norm, he would have been a serious MVP candidate. As it is, I
suppose that this year he will have to be satisfied with being
by far the best player on the team. And it must be mentioned that
his celebration on top of the dugout after the division title
clinching was a wonderful sight to see.
Rating: 8 (fair or not, I expect MVP performances from him every year)
Looking Ahead: Barry sucks it up and plays, but this is the second year in a
row that he suffered some weird nagging injury in the spring that
affected him during the whole year. I would like to see him knock
that stuff off, but I also worry some that he is starting to get
older and more susceptible to that type of problem. As Jerry Rice
has just proven, just because someone has always been there doesn't
mean that God has ordained it will always be so. Assuming Barry
can keep his health, I would expect more of the same. Another
30/30, probably with the batting average back over .300, a lot
of walks, one scary slump, and a continued barrage of criticism
from the media. Barry can handle it.
- Darryl Hamilton: He may be the only leadoff man in history who, with a running
start, still has to stop at second on a base hit. Not a very good
stolen base threat, he had to be sacrificed to second repeatedly,
which would effectively cost the Giants an out and take the bat
out of Bonds' hands. He doesn't have a great or selective eye
(he struck out as often as he walked), and with a low batting
average, low OBP, and below average power, it's hard to find much
positive to say about his offense. His defense, however, was another
story. He made all the plays, and many flashy ones, and remember
that he did all that with Glenallen Hill in right field for a
good part of the season. I think he showed great range in the
outfield. He did not exhibit a great arm, but no Giants outfielder
ever does. It has been stated repeatedly that he added a great
deal to the clubhouse (which could certainly be true for all I
know), but the only quotes I ever heard from him were to complain
about the cold, and that stuff has been out since Roger Craig
got here. Hamilton was an improvement over the center field situation
over the last few years, but I don't think the Giants are optimizing
their performance here.
Rating: 5
Looking Ahead: He will be there again next year, after which he will head off
to some warm-weather site. I would think his stats might improve
a little next year if he can avoid all the nagging injuries that
clearly affected him this year, but that's a stretch to assume.
Nobody is likely to take him in the expansion draft.
- Glenallen Hill: I have always believed there is a curse in right field for the
Giants, and it has nothing to do with the winds. Everyone who
plays out there, no matter how well they start out with the team,
eventually either underperforms or is a problem in the clubhouse.
Consider Jack Clark, Candy Maldonado (he did have a couple of
good years, but the end result was brutal), Kevin Bass, Tracy
Jones, Willie McGee (who I never much liked and who clearly did
not play his best games with the team), and now our own G-Hill.
After a great start offensively this year (and he does get some
points for that), he became such a liability in the field (nine
errors and at least as many misplays that weren't pinned on him)
that Dusty had to bench him for his own safety. Offensively, he
was a puzzle in that he looks like he should hit with power and
steal bases, but he really didn't do either very well. His strikeouts-to-walks
ratio was frightening (well over 4:1 against; only Mark Lewis
was even close). It could be that the most amazing occurrence
of the year was when Hill walked twice in the 13-run inning against
San Diego. It's true he tried, and he seemed to care, and Barry
liked him, but....
Rating: 3
Looking Ahead: I foresee a long and possibly successful stint playing DH in
some AL bandbox. Starting next year. Assuming the Powers That
Be ever decide exactly which teams the AL consists of, and whether
there will be a DH anywhere.
- Stan Javier: In mid-June, I opined in the San Francisco Giants newsgroup that Stan Javier stunk and that he should be dropped from the
roster post haste. He immediately started a hitting stretch of
almost Ruthian proportions. About a month later, I admitted shamefacedly
that maybe I was wrong, at which time he came back down to earth
(though at a much higher level than before I stuck my foot in
my mouth). See below, where I attempt to manipulate his 1998 season
results as well. Looking back, it was pretty lucky that Dusty
kept him around and engaged early on, because Javier saved the
Giants big time when Hill's season went south. He was the Giants'
second most productive outfielder on offense this year, and in
that he stole 24 of 27 bases and had a higher OBP than both Hamilton
and Vizcaino, one might raise the question as to why he wasn't
in one of the top two spots in the order more often. On defense,
he took all the (unnecessary) thrill out of fly balls to right
that G-Hill had provided. Definitely one of the unsung heroes
on the team, and that in a year in which he suffered a lot of
personal tragedy.
Rating: 7
Looking Ahead: The Giants may move towards youth in right field next year, but
I think they should try to keep Javier around to back up Jacob
Cruz or whoever is out there. He should know by now that Dusty
will get him his playing time. Of course, he is likely to be a
huge bust and will need to be moved off the roster fast, say, around... mid-June.
- Marvin Benard: Why do people get so excited about someone who is a full-time
pinch-hitter? The only such player I ever remember having a big
impact on a season was Gates Brown with Detroit in the late '60s
(I'm sure there are others, but they usually don't make a big
splash on my radar screen). Benard is basically a below-average
outfielder who was willing to sit on the bench and fulfill this
role because no other role was available to him, and he hit around
.250 with just one home run and three stolen bases, which would
be nothing to write about at all if a such high percentage of
his hits didn't happen to be pinch-hits. Definitely the 24th or
25th man on the roster.
Rating: 4
Looking Ahead: Hard to see him staying if both Cruz and Powell stick around,
but he could end up as the fifth outfielder once again. I think
we have seen most of what Marvin has to bring to the table, though.
- Jacob Cruz: He didn't have much of a chance to show what he could do at the
major league level, but he kicked serious butt at AAA Phoenix,
and it's time for him to make the big league club next year.
Rating: incomplete
Looking Ahead: It seems clear that the Giants will want to protect him in the
expansion draft and give him every chance to win the right field
job next year. He is young and hasn't shown that he can do it
at the major league level yet, but he clearly has done all he
could do in the minors, and hopefully he is ready to fill the
need the Giants have in right.
- Dante Powell: We keep hearing great things about this young outfielder's speed
and skills, but we haven't seen much of it here yet. If center
field is to be his position, I don't think he is likely to crack
the lineup next year either. Hard to believe a prospect with the
reputation he has carried could have such a hard time cracking
Giants' starting lineup.
Rating: incomplete
Looking Ahead: It wouldn't surprise me if he is left unprotected in the expansion
draft.
- Brian Johnson: Not only is he the most unlikely hero of the team this year,
but he is possibly the most unlikely player to even be on the
team at all. He came out of nowhere as a minor league player acquired
from Detroit for highly regarded prospect Marcus Jensen, and he
has been a revelation at catcher for a team that did not have
a bona fide starter at the position for the first half of the
year. Just his classic game-winning home run against the Dodgers
in that 12-inning nail-biter earned his keep for the year (and
etched his name in Giants' history forever), but he added another
game-winner against the Rockies a week later and he generally
hit well all through August and September. The pitchers seemed
to respond well to him, and he was credited with forcing them
to come inside more often, which sped things up and made them
more effective. He was also effective defensively. Thanks to postseason
experience from last year with San Diego, he managed to rise to
the occasion down the stretch, rather than shrink from it.
Rating: 9
Looking Ahead: With the 1997 giddiness out of the way, it seems safe to assume
he will be back in 1998, and it also seems safe to assume he will
not keep hitting home runs at this type of pace. I would expect
his offense to be much better than Kirt Manwaring's but not as
good as Bob Brenly's. It might be nice if he moved up from eighth
in the batting order. Defensively, he should continue to be solid,
especially if he can maintain his rapport with the pitching staff.
My only worry is that he may pull a Rick Wilkins on us, but his
results this year were more solid than Wilkins' of last year and
we can only hope this bodes well.
- Damon Berryhill: This aging and creaky ex-Brave was perfect as a backup catcher
for the team, but when he had to take on the starting catcher
role after Wilkins flamed out, things didn't work out so well
and he eventually broke down physically. As a pinch-hitter, he
had a one good moment, but he wasn't strong in that role either.
Still, he handled the staff well and was good to have around.
Rating: 5
Looking Ahead: I think he has at least another season in him in a backup role,
but the Giants may not choose to keep him unless they lose a catcher
in the expansion draft.
- Rick Wilkins: What a disastrous season. Wilkins was counted on to solidify
the catching spot and provide some much needed power, but Wilkins
was not able to provide any of that. His batting results this
year were right up there among the worst in Giants history. To
give him his due, he did have a big home run in the seven-run
ninth inning in Los Angeles right after the All Star break, but
those types of moments were way too few and far between. It seems
that perhaps he had some sort of eye infection, but more likely
his one big season with the Cubs was an anomaly that he will never
again live up to.
Rating: 2
Looking Ahead: Whatever he has left in him, he happily will expend it elsewhere.
I never gave Tracy Jones a moment's thought after he was escorted
out of town, and I don't expect to think much about Wilkins in
the future either.
- Marcus Jensen: A tall, gangly catching prospect who looked like he should have
some power but who gave away any possibility of that with a Punch-and-Judy
type swing. He wasn't really ready to make the big leagues but
ended up on the roster because he was out of options, and his
development was stalled when the Giants got into the race and
couldn't afford to let him play. He probably provided more value
to the team this year by netting Brian Johnson for the Giants
than he ever could have by staying.
Rating: 3
Looking Ahead: It's hard to see him ever becoming a star behind the plate, but
maybe he can become a solid starter at some point.
- Doug Mirabelli: He didn't do much and didn't have much opportunity to do so.
Rating: incomplete
Looking Ahead: Either expansion fodder or, more likely, the backup catcher next
year.
Pitching Staff
- Shawn Estes: When we least expected it, we suddenly found ourselves with a
young lefthanded ace. The Giants haven't had someone who looked
this good and this solid in many years, and in his first full
season he already showed the ability to adjust to hitters, to
throw 200 innings, to deal with adversity and to dominate. And
he can still get better! With a great arsenal of pitches and good
movement on those pitches, he could anchor the staff for many
years to come. And to think we were worried we had another Atlee
on our hands after he fizzled in the All-Star Game.
Rating: 10
Looking Ahead: Despite his great accomplishments this year, he can and should
get better next year. I would like to see him stretch out his
innings per start slightly, which he could do by cutting down
on some of his walks and the ungodly number of pitches he throws.
Note that he could get better and still not have as good a won/loss
percentage as his 19-5 record of this year. If he won 15-17 games,
lowered his ERA to under 3.00 and cut his walks by even a half
a walk per game, that would be a step forward in my book, even
with the lower win total.
- Mark Gardner: Great out of the chute, but it all sort of fell apart for him
in the end. He matched Estes win for win in the first half of
the season, and was a reliable presence on the mound. Then, after
he got to his career record-tying twelfth win in early August,
it all fell apart for him. First his arm went dead. Then, just
when rest had apparently revitalized his fastball, his wife was
diagnosed with liver cancer, knocking him out of active duty during
the final weeks of the season. It was easy to forget in the excitement
of the stretch run, but his contributions early on were an important
part of the Giants' strong start.
Rating: 7
Looking Ahead: My guess is that he will be back next year, but as the fourth
or fifth starter. He may even win 12 games again, but I suspect
he won't again be as good as he was in the first half of this
year.
- Kirk Rueter: It is hard in retrospect to understand how the Giants stole this
guy from Montreal. His 14 wins were second on the club to Estes,
and he left from so many of his 13 no-decisions with the lead
(only to see the bullpen blow it) that it is not a complete stretch
to visualize him with 20 wins this year. He was a cool customer
down the stretch, and really the best pitcher on the team in September.
Good ERA, solid strikeouts-to-walks ratio, and nearly 200 innings
of his own. He is still a young guy, but he pitched like a steely
veteran this year.
Rating: 9
Looking Ahead: The number-two guy in the rotation next year. His year was enough
above expectations that it is possible to imagine him falling
off quite a bit, but he has always been a reasonably effective
pitcher and it may be that he is finally coming into his own.
He could also stand to push his innings per start up a bit, and
with his quick pitching style and relatively low walks per innings
pitched, that should be possible.
- Wilson Alvarez: On one hand, he was kind of disappointing after he came over
here from Chicago, and when the Giants really needed him to come
up big in Atlanta after the Fred McGriff Home Run game, he gave
up a grand slam to Eddie Perez and lost the fourth game of the
team's longest losing streak of the season. His ERA was very poor,
and he gave up nine home runs in just 11 games. On the other hand,
the Giants were 8-3 in his 11 starts, and he was masterful in
the division-clinching game against the Padres. Clearly, he solidified
a rotation that was looking like Swiss cheese at the end of July
(and that was even before Gardner ran down). As hired guns go,
one could probably ask for more, but one could easily get a lot
less as well.
Rating: 5
Looking Ahead: His agent Scott "Satan" Boras will have his butt out of here
three nanoseconds after the Giants' postseason is over, and that
will not be a total disaster. If he helps the Giants in postseason
play, they probably got their money's worth.
- William VanLandingham: His career started out so well just four years ago, but now,
after he completely lost the strike zone and suffered some miserable
losses early in the year, that career is clearly at a crossroads.
His one-plus inning, seven-walk outing against the Braves was
like watching a train wreck in slow motion. He provided almost
no help to the team this year, but his occasional sharp outings
(he matched Kevin Brown's no-hitter inning for inning until deep
into the game, for instance) continued to give evidence that he
had something to give if it could only be harnessed. Even after
he was waived and then resigned to a AAA contract, however, he
continued to struggle.
Rating: 2
Looking Ahead: Maybe he will pull it together, and maybe he will do it for the
Giants, but you would have to say the chances of it all happening
here are pretty remote at this point. His arbitration hearing
should be an interesting one.
- Osvaldo Fernandez: What a lost year for this poor guy. Finally free from Cuba, with
his family at his side, ready to show the baseball world why he
deserved the contract the Giants gave him... and he blows out
his elbow, needs reconstructive surgery and is lost for the season.
He looked pretty good early on until he broke down, but there
was not enough there to really judge if he is worth the money
and the expectations. The Giants could use him if he could pull
his health together, but who is to say whether his well-worn arm
is up to the challenge?
Rating: incomplete (but probably a 3)
Looking Ahead: He will be here, because who would take him at this point? Either
he breaks down again and for good, or he probably wins nine or
10 games, assuming he has a decent team behind him. I am sadly
anticipating the former.
- Keith Foulke: Dealt to Chicago in the Alvarez trade, he had one very good game
as a starter, then looked very much like a rookie once things
got tight. He had the look of someone who could develop into a
real pitcher, but we will never know how he might have panned
out in a Giants' uniform
Rating: 4
Looking Ahead: He's the White Sox' problem and opportunity now.
- Pat Rapp: Another sad story. He came from Florida with some fanfare at
the cost of two minor leaguers, pitched five effective innings,
and then got hurt. By the time he got back, the Alvarez deal was
completed, he had lost his effectiveness and his spot in the rotation,
and he eventually suffered the indignity of being sent to AAA
when the Giants picked up Terry Mulholland. This seemed to be
a lose/lose situation for player and team, but he pitched well
in a critical game in Colorado down the stretch that may have
helped both parties come to terms with things a bit.
Rating: 4
Looking Ahead: I am sure he will be pitching elsewhere next year, but he might
be a decent fourth or fifth man in the rotation. He was very up
and down with the Marlins, so it's hard to say exactly what kind
of pitcher he is going to end up being, and he has been at it
long enough that it should be happening for him by now.
- Danny Darwin: The throw-in in the Alvarez/Hernandez trade; Dusty waxed almost
poetic at times about his value as a swing man in the rotation,
but he sure seemed to fade every time he reached the fifth or
sixth inning of his starts. I guess he is the consummate "proven
major leaguer", but I'm not sure what he proved during the stretch
run that justified him being named the fourth starter in the playoffs.
Rating: 4
Looking Ahead: By all accounts, he will probably retire.
- Terry Mulholland: It said something about the tenuous state of the Giant's stretch
run rotation when Mulholland became a regular member of it in
September. Amazingly, he actually had some fairly good games while
starting, though his relief appearances usually bordered on horrifying.
Specifically, he was very effective in his crucial start against
the Dodgers on September 18 and left with the lead after six innings.
For all that it happened in a very strange way (he was picked
up on waivers after being the subject of trade talks for weeks),
it was probably not a bad thing that he was here, especially once
Gardner became unavailable. Let us also not fail to note that
in around 190 innings this year, Mulholland allowed exactly one
stolen base in only five attempts. It would have been neat to
see Joe Morgan, whom Bill James called the smartest base stealer
of our time, go head to head against this guy.
Rating: 5
Looking Ahead: This is his third tour of duty with the Giants, and he will surely
go somewhere else next year. The over/under on when his fourth
tour of duty will begin is July 1999.
- Joe Roa: The player to be named later in the Matt Williams trade, he actually
looked pretty good early on before fading and being sent back
down. He got kind of lost in Phoenix, but one would presume he
will get another shot at the big league roster in some capacity
next year.
Rating: 4
Looking Ahead: Maybe a projected starter if things really go wrong in the offseason,
but more likely a long relief prospect.
- Rod Beck: I have talked about him quite a bit already, but he was truly
one of the most interesting stories of the year. He has never
been the same after his heroic efforts in the 1993 stretch run,
and he got along this year with more guile and less heat than
in any previous year as closer. That could be very effective at
times, and he started out the year on fire, racking up 30 saves
seemingly in the first two months of the season. As the season
wore on, though, his opportunities for saves grew less and less
through no fault of his own, but his performance in those chances
that did come his way was very spotty. Once Roberto Hernandez
arrived, his role got fuzzier, and that did not sit well with
him. Still, Beck was at the core of this team, and it is no coincidence
that he was there in most of the really big moments, both for
good and for ill. And it should never be implied (though I did
so at one point) that he was no better than the Dodger's Todd
Worrell. For the most part, Beck was able to rise to the occasion
down the stretch, whereas Worrell was very inefficient for the
Dodgers in the same period.
Rating: 7
Looking Ahead: He is a free agent, and the decision between him and Roberto
Hernandez (or somebody else) for the closer's role is likely to
be the toughest decision of the offseason. He has said he would
like to play for the Giants again, but he has also said he would
like to play for the Diamondbacks. I suspect that is where he
will end up. Beck is clearly starting the downside of his career
at way too young an age, but there are still a lot of saves left
in that arm.
- Roberto Hernandez: Who knew that he would be the key pickup in the White Sox trade?
Without him, the Giants could have easily blown another 10 leads
down the stretch, because when he got here, the bullpen was in
tatters. Hernandez took on a heavy load (32-2/3 innings in just
under two months; in contrast, Beck had 70 innings for the whole
year) and throughout all of those innings he kept hitting 100
mph on the speed gun, which is something we just aren't used to
around here. When Beck started to falter in early September, he
eased back into a part-time closer role, and it was easy to see
just how good he must be at it. Without him, no division crown
would have happened.
Rating: 8
Looking Ahead: He is getting long in the tooth (32 years old) and he is expensive
(he apparently wants well over $20 million over four years), but
he can really bring it. Whether anybody that old should get a
four-year deal is a very hard question to answer, but if I were
deciding how to spend other people's money, I would sign him up.
He liked it here, and he can pitch! If the Giants are going to
continue to compete in the West, they will need a closer of stature,
because Dusty likes to go to his bullpen, and he likes established
roles in there.
- Julian Tavarez: He appeared in nearly 90 games, by far a Giants record, and amongst
those games he had three distinct seasons: (1) he started shaky
and then flat out fell apart, so that at one point his ERA was
over 8.00 after some 20 appearances, (2) he then found himself
and became nearly unhittable, going some 25 games without being
scored upon and completely dominating the league, then (3) he
started to show the effects of all the work and came back down
to earth, though still mustering some big performances down the
stretch. Not many strikeouts, but his sinker resulted in a lot
of double plays, many of which got other pitchers out of jams
during his effective periods. He was a very valuable pickup from
the Matt Williams trade.
Rating: 7
Looking Ahead: I would hate to see him as a closer because he doesn't seem to
strike out a lot of guys, but he is perfect in the set-up role,
and he fulfilled the needs of that job well this year. With luck,
he can remain there in 1998.
- Doug Henry: He finished poorly enough that it is possible to forget that
his name was bandied about as a potential All-Star in all sincerity
early in the year. At the end of May, he had an ERA under 1.00
and he was almost untouchable while temporarily taking the set-up
role away from Tavarez. Two things conspired to bring him back
down to earth: gravity (he just hasn't been that good historically)
and fatigue. He had some brutal outings in the second half and
was far from automatic towards the end, but his early season efforts
were another key in the Giants' fast start.
Rating: 6
Looking Ahead: I would guess he will be around again next year, and that he
will perform less well. What we saw in the second half is probably
closer to the real Doug Henry than that Superman who was wearing
his uniform in May.
- Rich Rodriguez: Another reliever who started quickly, and he was all the more
a surprise because he had been exiled to the minors in 1996 after
arm surgery. He turned out to be a key lefthanded arm out of the
bullpen when Jim Poole stumbled, and he did a good job. His was
a quiet role, but a critical one on a team where much of the time
the starters would turn the game over after five or six innings.
Rating: 7
Looking Ahead: I would like to see him back in the same role, but pitchers like
him seem to move around quite a bit. With expansion depleting
pitching staffs, he could well end up being wooed elsewhere.
- Jim Poole: What a disaster. He was by far the Giants most effective pitcher
out of the bullpen in 1996, and he was by far the worst in 1997.
His statistics leap off the page at you: an ERA over 7.00, 13.5
hits and 18 runners per nine innings pitched, and over 50% of
inherited runners being allowed to score. What was the upside
of this mess? Well, I am sure he will never be this bad again
for a full season, because he will never again get the chance
to last that long. His previous effectiveness will enable him
to catch on somewhere, but he had better hit the ground running
once he does. The only thing that separated him from a classic
loser like Steve Frey is that he kept his mouth shut and didn't
try to blame anybody else but himself for his struggles.
Rating: 1
Looking Ahead: I can't see how he could come back to San Francisco in 1998,
but I have to keep reminding myself that 1998 is an expansion
year. He will be better than some of the "talent" that is going
to be pitching next year, so who knows? Maybe he will stick around.
- John Johnstone: A young pitcher who looked decent in a brief tour of duty during
the summer. He was released, signed by the A's, then released
by them and picked back up by the Giants. In limited action, he
looked pretty good, and he helped a little bit during the year.
Rating: 5 (really an incomplete)
Looking Ahead: I would like to see him back in some capacity, but I wouldn't
be surprised if he goes in the expansion draft (I keep assuming
the new teams will want young, somewhat talented and cheap players,
but if I'm wrong, these predictions will go out the window). The
only thing that gives me pause is that the A's, whose pitching
was relentlessly horrible all year, actually cut this guy.
- Doug Creek, Rene Arocha, Rich DeLucia, Corey Bailey, and Dan Carlson: One big collective thumbs down to the whole bunch, although I
suppose Carlson is still a prospect. Creek had the audacity to
get racked several times, then complain when the Giants sent him
down. Both Creek and DeLucia were part of the flotsam that Bob
Quinn received for Royce Clayton; that trade sure isn't holding
up well over time, is it? It should be noted that DeLucia was
traded to the Angels for essentially nothing, then pitched effectively
for them for a time until he got hurt.
Collective Rating: 1
Looking Ahead: Look closely, because there are going to be 25 more of this quality
of pitcher added to rosters next year. Ah, the wonders of expansion
induced talent dilution. Hopefully, the Giants will not need to
carry an unduly high percentage of this type of pitcher in 1998.
Management
- Dusty Baker: I think most Giant fans take a lot of pride in Dusty. Even though
he grew up a Brave and a Dodger, and finished as an Athletic (all
he needed was to be a Cardinal to complete the Giant fan's grand
slam tour of hated teams), it feels like he has been here all
his life, and that he is one of ours. We have been able to watch
him grow up as a manager, through the heights of 1993, through
the frightening start to 1994, when he was able to keep the team
together until they made a serious run, and then through the dismal
regression of 1995 and 1996, when he kept his poise and the respect
of his players through very bad and almost embarrassing times.
In 1997, I think his approach to the team was perfect; he gave
respect to a bunch of "rejects" and marginal talents, and they
responded beyond their expected abilities. When a team is said
to play better than the sum of its parts, I think that the manager
is almost always due credit for that, because he is the glue that
binds that team. Dusty was a very good part of the mix this year,
and I believe the stability he brought was the difference in a
team that on paper should never have broken .500. Whatever it
was he did for the team so they could recover from an early September
four game losing streak and sweep the Dodgers in one of the most
electrifying two-game stretches in Giants history had to be 90%
pure magic.
However, he could improve in certain areas. His overuse of the
bullpen (and streaky overdependence on one or two relievers at
a time) is sometimes frightening, and he responds to and depends
on veterans with a passion that sometimes isn't supported by their
abilities. How can you justify starting Danny Darwin down the
stretch when he obviously didn't have that much to give, or hitting
Jose Vizcaino second in the lineup for most of the year when he
wasn't that good at hitting second? His faith in Glenallen Hill,
while perhaps admirable from a human standpoint, was a big net
loser on the field. Still, compared to some of the goofs that
sat in the manager's chair in the '70s and early '80s, Dusty holds
up well, and in following Roger Craig, he has helped to created
a stability in the manager's office that never seemed to be there
for the Giants before.
Rating: 9, and manager of the year
- Dick Pole: Okay, I see it now. Give him terrible pitchers and he doesn't
look good. Give him decent pitchers and he looks decent. Presumably,
if you gave him the Braves' rotation, he would look like a genius.
I guess it was unfair to rag on Pole the last few years when he
had to make do with such luminaries as Allen Watson, Mark Leiter,
Jose Bautista, Doug Creek, Rich DeLucia, Steve Frey... goodness,
the Giants had a lot of crap on their pitching staff the last
few years. This year, young pitchers such as Estes and Rueter
improved, and only the digressing William VanLandingham left a
black spot on Pole's ledger.
Rating: 6
- Sonny Jackson: Early in the year, he sent every runner to the plate, regardless
of how fast the player was and how good his chances were of reaching
home safely. As a result, the Giants were being gunned down at
home in unbelievable numbers. After that didn't work, he shifted
to not sending anyone, so that the Giants had players not scoring
from second on singles in unbelievable numbers. It seemed like
a great majority of those runners were then stranded at third.
Finally, late in the season, Barry Bonds got an inside-the-park
home run by running right through (and literally past) a Jackson
stop sign. On a subjective basis, this was not a strong area for
the Giants. At least Wendell Kim was entertaining while running
back and forth from the dugout.
Rating: 3
- Brian Sabean: So incredibly controversial, and yet most of his moves worked
out pretty well. I believe that a general manager can't really
be evaluated until they have toiled for three years (after all,
Spec Richardson and Bob Quinn both looked good at the beginning
of their tenures, but in the long run, they were both pretty poor
GMs), so Sabean should get an incomplete rating by definition.
However, let's look at the major moves he made since he took over:
- Traded Matt Williams for Jeff Kent, Jose Vizcaino, Julian Tavarez,
and Joe Roa. Matt had a rough year on and off the field early
on, while the first three players made definite contributions
towards the team's strong season. If Matt returns as a free agent
as has been discussed as a possibility (probably a pipe dream,
but who knows), this would be a tremendous steal for the team;
as it is, it was a good trade for this year at least.
- Traded Allen Watson for J. T. Snow. Watson was part of the disappointing
trio the Giants received for Royce Clayton. Snow helped solidify
the infield defense, and his offense was a big improvement from
the weak sisters the Giants put out there last year.
- Signed Darryl Hamilton and Mark Lewis as free agents. Hamilton
was okay, though not a quantum improvement over the youngsters
the Giants might have put out there. Mark Lewis was poor in the
field and not as much help with the bat as advertised, but he
did have his moments.
- Picked up Doug Henry and Rich Rodriguez for the bullpen. They
helped a lot early on, and then when they faltered, Sabean brought
in Roberto Hernandez to replace them.
- During the season, he picked up Brian Johnson, who was a savior
behind the plate in the second half and hit one of the most memorable
Giants home runs of the decade against Los Angeles; Pat Rapp,
who might have helped more if he hadn't gotten hurt five innings
into things; and Terry Mulholland, who at least was better than
Jim Poole, all for not very much (Marcus Jensen was already a
write-off by the time of the trade).
- Pulled off a blockbuster trade for Wilson Alvarez, Roberto Hernandez,
and Danny Darwin, giving up Keith Foulke and five minor leaguers.
This is the exact kind of trade that the Giants haven't made in-season
for many years, and it's hard to imagine how they could have remained
competitive without it.
Looking over the list, emotions aside, you would have to say that,
on the whole, he made moves that improved the team without gutting
the future (a little habit that Al Rosen used to display). If
he lets some younger players stick around next year to compete
in the outfield, plus signs one of the free-agent closers, you
would have to say he is off to a very good start in his job. However,
from now on I will probably hold my breath every time the Giants
call an offseason press conference for as long as he is there.
Rating: incomplete, but probably Exec of the Year based on how that award works
(remember, Spec the Wreck got one of those in 1978 for lucking
into the Vida Blue trade).
- Peter Magowan: After he sided firmly with the owners during the strike, he lost
most of the goodwill he had built up after he had saved the franchise
for San Francisco (at least with me). However, his spirited and
principled stand against radical realignment makes up for a lot.
It would be great if the owner of the Giants actually became a
player in the baseball ownership game, and maybe Magowan can achieve
that in time. After all, the game is being run by a used car salesman;
the former head of Safeway should be at least seven or eight steps
up from that.
Rating: 7. If he wins the realignment wars, make it a 9.
- Training Staff: Not that they necessarily had that much to do with it, but the
Giants had very few troubling injuries this year (outside of Fernandez).
After a 1996 in which everyone with any talent on the 40-man roster
seemingly was on the DL at least three times, and after a decade
in which the Giants used the DL something like 1.5 million times,
it was extremely refreshing to see the players actually play.
Again, the training staff probably didn't have all that much to
do with it, but somebody should get the credit, and since they
have always taken the rap for the Giants ridiculous track record
in this area, they win this year.
Rating: 10
- Lou Seal: Yuck. Give me Crazy Crab, or give me nothing.
Rating: negative 10
The Announcers
Before the season started, KNBR was publicizing the announcing
team as the best in baseball. Despite the switch away from the
immensely popular, but now retired, Hank Greenwald, I think the
group for the most part lived up to its billing. Miller is a solid
lead, and the others have enough wit and play-by-play skills to
keep the broadcasts lively and entertaining. It is a question
to ponder, though, as to how entertaining they would be in a 95-loss
season. Heck, even the beloved Hank couldn't do much with last
year's mess.
Awards
Giants
- Most Valuable Player: I was very close to naming Shawn Estes as team MVP, because without
him, they were nowhere this year. He had any number of big wins
and the Giants won 13 of the 14 games he pitched following Giant
losses (the only exception being the Fred McGriff/Rod Beck game).
However, there is always really only one MVP on this team, and
that is Barry Bonds. When they most needed him to heat up during
the September race with the Dodgers, he didn't just get hot, he
got nuclear. His OPS was outstanding, he got on base an average
of nearly twice a game, he scored a ton of runs and he came within
a whisker of another 40/40 season and made it look kind of easy,
all while being hammered by the press and media for his supposed
faults and failings. And to top it off, he celebrated the Giants'
division crown on top of the dugout hugging and high-fiving the
fans. The Giants are very lucky to have this Hall-of-Fame-bound
player in his prime.
- Best Pitcher: Estes, with Kirk Rueter a deserving honorable mention.
- Best Rookie: None, though Keith Foulke might have had a shot if he had stuck
around.
- Comeback Player of the Year: Stan Javier, who was out with injuries for much of 1996 and who
suffered through personal loss in 1997, but who nevertheless took
over the right job at midyear and added needed offense and defense
during the summer and the fall stretch drive. Honorable mention
to Brian Johnson, who experienced the heady thrill of being a
hero mere months after toiling in the Tigers' minor league system.
National League
- MVP: Walker or Piazza? Others are more worked up about this one than
I am, but I believe the Dodgers would have gotten nowhere without
Piazza, and I still have nightmares about early September when
it seems like he hit eighty or ninety home runs in a two-week
period. Piazza is my choice, but Walker was no slouch, and he
may be the first Rockies' star to generate legitimate (i.e., not
park-aided) offensive numbers.
- Cy Young: You could always justify giving it to Greg Maddux, and his 71-pitch
complete game earlier this year was a wonder to contemplate, but
Pedro Martinez had a sub-2.00 ERA and 300 strikeouts for the Expos
and was dominating in all aspects of pitching this year. Plus,
the Braves have won it way too often in recent years, and it is
much easier to pitch well when everyone around you is also pitching
well. Give it to Martinez.
- Rookie of the Year: The consensus seems to be Scott Rolen of the Phillies, but Livan
Hernandez won his first nine games for the Marlins when they were
making a serious run at the Braves and locking up their wild-card
berth. His performance made a difference, so he is my choice.
- Manager of the Year: Baker
In Summary
What a wonderful and unexpected pleasure this season was. I write
this before the Giants venture into the playoffs, and well before
the Giants decide what to do about the expansion draft and then
try to pull together a team to defend their NL West title in 1998.
Those considerations, while important and certain to be all-consuming
very soon, should not get in the way of our appreciation and enjoyment
of the past 162 games and the exhilarating division title they
led to. If I may be forgiven the vanity of almost quoting myself,
let me close by slightly modifying something I wrote to the Giants newsgroup the night the Giants beat the Padres to clinch the West, and
pardon me if it is perhaps a little overwritten:
Sometimes life seems unfair and hard. Often we struggle to face
life's challenges, and if we are better off than many, those benefits
come with huge costs that often threaten to overwhelm us. Sometimes
we need some good and unexpected joy to come into our lives, and
this season and triumph has supplied that. We as Giant fans deserved
this, and we should enjoy it and treasure it, because it was well
earned and hard won, both by the team and by us.
I believe that everyone has something to do with a triumph like
this. Perhaps the players did 99% of the work, but we did our
1%, and it sure looks to me like they needed that last little
bit of help. Through sleepless nights, crazy superstitions that
look stupid to others but which we know mean something and which
we thus must follow, loud cheers that hurt our throats, and even
the dollars out of our pockets that ultimately pay for all of
this; each of us has done some or all of these things this year,
and something or somethings of it worked. We won, and not only
did we win, but we won in a satisfying and almost meaningful way.
To win this way is an inspiration, because it proves that even
the unexpected is possible and we should never give up hope of
it actually happening.
So congratulations to us! No matter what happens during the postseason,
and during the offseason, and during the next season, let us not
forget just how wonderful and special this season was. Amidst
the many sad and frustrating memories the Giants have given us
over the years, here is a beautiful one, and let's not lose sight
of just how beautiful it was.
Especially when the frustration begins anew, next week or next
month or next year. After all, that's the proven lot of the Giants
and their fans.
EEEEEE! Contributor Richard Booroojian is an avid and frequent contributor
to the Giants newsgroup and a Bay Area-based "consultant," which means "guy who sets
his own hours so he can watch the playoff games being broadcast
on weekdays." This is his first EEEEEE! article, and we at EEEEEE! Plaza Heights Towers are just tickled pink to be able to share
his work with you.
Copyright ©1997 by Richard Booroojian
Last updated 9/29/97
Gregg Pearlman, gregg@EEEEEEgp.com
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