This team actually finished 3rd in the NL West in 1982, but was only 2 games behind the division winning Atlanta Braves. This was a down to the wire pennant race between the Braves, Dodgers, and Giants. The Dodgers and Giants knocked each other out playing head to head on the final weekend of the season. The Padres were also in contention for a good part of the year as well. But it seems as if this division race is largely forgotten now, probably because it didn't involve the Red Sox, Yankees, or Mets (OK, that's a little opinion).
Couple of other things...how come I've never heard of this...according to this wikipedia page, Willie Mays retired after being trade to the Dodgers. I can't find any other record of this happening. Maybe a Giant or Dodger fan can fill in the details. Maybe this is a good example of not believing everything you see on wikipedia.
Also, if you are interested in seeing more 1982 Topps cards of the San Francisco Giants..check out A Giant Blog. Every 1982 Giants card is posted there.
MVP
Jack Clark led this team in home runs and RBIs by a mile in both categories. He also led in runs scored. Although he was in the middle with a .274 batting average, he was second on the team in OBP. Who beat him in that category? A 38-year old Joe Morgan, playing probably the last good season of his career.
Cy Young
Greg Minton, with 30 saves and a 1.83 ERA gets the nod...there were really no stand out pitchers other than him on this team.
Rookie Card of the Year
Chili Davis, who played a solid 19 season career with the Giants, Angels, Twins, and Royals, before wrapping it up in 1999 with the New York Yankees gets the nod here. He is on the Giants multi player prospects card in the regular '82 Topps set, but got his own card in the Traded set.
Most Interesting Non-Topps card
Bob Brenly, who was also on the Giants prospects card in the '82 Topps set, got his own card in the 1982 Donruss set. He was a solid catcher through the 1980's for the Giants and eventually became the manager of the Diamondbacks in 2001 when they won the World Series.
Checking out Brenly's managerial record for this blog entry, how has he not got another opportunity to manage? He led the Diamondbacks to first place, with the above mentioned World Series title, in his first two years. Remember the D'backs were only in their 4th season when they won the whole thing. He led them to another winning record his 3rd year. Granted he did poorly his 4th season, but this is certainly a better managerial record than Phil Garner. And Garner is a candidate for the Orioles possibly (at least what I read on the internet). Trust me, as a Tiger fan, I don't get how any team would hire him ever. Granted Randy Smith, the Matt Millen of baseball GMs, was running the Tigers when he was manager, but its not like he was that convincing that he could be a great manager, despite this fact.
Starters
| __ | TO | 242 | C | Milt May | SFG |
| __ | TT | 110 | 1B | Reggie Smith | SFG |
| __ | TO | 754 | 2B | Joe Morgan | SFG |
| __ | 3B | Tom O'Malley | |||
| __ | TO | 304 | SS | Johnnie LeMaster | SFG |
| __ | TO | 47 | LF | Jeffrey Leonard | SFG |
| __ | TT | 23 | CF | Chili Davis | SFG |
| __ | TO | 460 | RF | Jack Clark | SFG |
| __ | TO | 17 | CI | Darrell Evans | SFG |
| __ | TO | 116 | LF | Jim Wohlford | SFG |
| __ | TT | 60 | 2B | Duane Kuiper | SFG |
Starting Pitchers
| __ | SP | Bill Laskey | |||
| __ | SP | Atlee Hammaker | |||
| __ | TT | 38 | SP | Rich Gale | SFG |
| __ | TT | 66 | SP | Renie Martin | SFG |
| __ | SP | Alan Fowlkes |
Relief Pitchers
| __ | TO | 687 | CL | Greg Minton | SFG |
| __ | TO | 209 | RP | Gary Lavelle | SFG |
| __ | TO | 144 | RP | Fred Breining | SFG |
| __ | RP | Jim Barr | |||
| __ | TO | 406 | RP | Al Holland | SFG |
Other Players
| __ | DO | 574 | C | Bob Brenly | SFG |
| __ | TT | 115 | LF | Champ Summers | SFG |
| __ | TO | 498 | 1B | Dave Bergman | SFG |
| __ | LF | Max Venable | |||
| __ | SS | Guy Sularz | |||
| __ | C | Jeff Ransom | |||
| __ | TO | 568 | SS | Joe Pettini | SFG |
| __ | 1B | Jose Barrios | |||
| __ | UT | Ron Pruitt | |||
| __ | 2B | Brad Wellman | |||
| __ | LF | John Rabb | |||
| __ | TO | 691 | RP | Dan Schatzeder | DET |
| __ | SP | Mike Chris | |||
| __ | RP | Andy McGaffigan | |||
| __ | RP | Mark Dempsey | |||
| __ | RP | Scott Garrelts |
Manager/Coaches
| __ | DO | 424 | MG | Frank Robinson | SFG |
Thanks for the plug. :)
ReplyDeleteThe 1982 season was a good one. If the Giants couldn't win it, at least the Dodgers didn't either.
The D-Backs should have kept Brenly. Their struggles weren't his fault.
I'll 2nd what Matt said - '82 was an awesome season!
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with you that people have really forgotten that awesome AL West division race in '82. The Braves had it from day 1, but they almost seemed to want to lose it in August & September.
The Giants were good that year, but they were old and fading. The Padres were just starting to learn to get good & had a rookie Gwynn. The Dodgers were trying to defend their World Championship. The Braves were just out of nowhere and scoring like few teams could in that era.
I wonder why this race isn't discussed much now...that is when baseball is at it's absolute best, when the teams that are fighting for a playoff spot are facing each other head to head on that last weekend of the season. I remembered this was a big race, but had to refresh my memory when writing the blog entry. The Dodgers won the first two of the series to knock the Giants out, and the Giants returned the favor on the last day of the season by knocking the Dodgers out. I can't imagine a similar scenario has ever played out before or since then.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this is forgotten because neither team (Giants/Dodgers) ultimately made it and the Braves didn't make it past the NLCS.
Willie Mays was never traded to the Dodgers. This appears to be some Giants fan's attempt to reverse the legend that says Jackie Robinson, when traded to the Giants by the Dodgers, quit rather than play for them.
ReplyDeleteOh, and the '82 season sucked. Joe Morgan is am evil squirrel.
There are several AL East races that have gone completely forgotten, 1972, 1982, 1987. All full of drama as well as marquee names. Alas, the teams weren't from Boston or New York.
ReplyDelete