The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division.
As one of the oldest baseball teams, they have won the most games of any team in the history of American baseball, and any North American professional sports team. They have won 21 National League pennants and appeared in 18 World Series competitions ñ both records in the National League (tied for NL pennants with the Los Angeles Dodgers and for World Series appearances with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the St. Louis Cardinals). The Giants 6 World Series Championships are also tied for second in the National League with the Dodgers (the St. Louis Cardinals have won 11). The Giants have played in the World Series an NL record 18 times, but boycotted the event in 1904. With their history, the Giants have the most Hall of Fame players in all of professional baseball.
The Giants played at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan, New York, until the close of the 1957 season, after which they moved west to California to become the San Francisco Giants. As the New York Giants, they won 14 pennants and 5 World Championships, from the era of John McGraw and Christy Mathewson to that of Bobby Thomson and Willie Mays. The Giants have won four pennants and the 2010 World Series since arriving in San Francisco.
During the off season, the Giants strengthened their pitching staff by acquiring veteran starting pitcher Randy Johnson and relievers Bobby Howry and Jeremy Affeldt. The Giants also signed infielders Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe. Despite questions lingering about the team's struggling offense, the team compiled a 49ñ39 record by the 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, good enough for second place in the NL West.
In addition to the team's overall performance, the first half of the season provided several memorable moments for the players themselves. Highlights included Johnson earning his 300th career victory, becoming the twenty-fourth pitcher in Major League history to do so, as well as struggling starter Jonathan S·nchez tossing a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres on July 10, the first Giants no-hitter since 1976. 2009's pitching staff will go down as one of the strongest starting rotations in Giants historyñ the Giants sent two of their starting pitchers to the All-Star Game, including that year's starter, Tim Lincecum.
On July 10, Jonathan S·nchez, spot starting in place of an injured Randy Johnson and on his first start upon returning to the starting rotation after a brief demotion to the bullpen, threw a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres. S·nchez issued no walks (the only runner reached on an error by third baseman Juan Uribe) and struck out a career-high eleven hitters in the game, which was also his first major league complete game and shutout and the first no-hitter ever thrown at AT&T Park. He threw 110 pitches to complete the game, with a final score of 8ñ0 for the Giants.
The team faced a tragic note on July 19, when the club announced that Sue Burns, the team's senior general partner who was a virtual fixture in her seat adjacent to the Giants' dugout, died early Sunday morning of cancer. Burns was the widow of Harmon Burns, a financier in the San Francisco Bay Area who was a key member of the investor group that saved the team from moving to Tampa in 1992. The Giants honored Burns in a pre-game ceremony in which Barry Bonds was also in attendance.
On July 20, the Giants traded one of their top prospects, double-a pitcher Tim Alderson, for Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Freddy Sanchez. Alderson was the first round pick in the 2007 draft and was ranked the number four prospect in the Giants organization by Baseball America, but Sanchez provided a much needed jump for the Giants offense. Sanchez ended the 2009 season batting .293 with 41 runs batted in and 22 walks. On September 11, the Giants added another key player when they brought up Buster Posey from the Giants triple-a affiliate Fresno Grizzlies.
Although the team only finished 14 games above .500, they won 16 more games than the previous season. With the emergence of star player Pablo Sandoval alongside a dominant pitching staff, the Giants looked forward to making the playoffs next year for the first time since 2003.
In 2010, in a season described with the slogan "Giants' Baseball: Torture" by broadcaster Duane Kuiper,the club won the National League Western Division title for the first time since 2003 after trailing the San Diego Padres most of the season. On July 4, after losing a four-game road series in Colorado, the Giants' record stood at 41ñ40 at the half-way point of the season. Boosted by a 21-game hitting streak by Posey, called up in May from AAA Fresno, the Giants then won 19 of the remaining 24 games in July. August saw a losing record of 13ñ15, as the club lost four series against the Braves, Padres, Phillies, and Cardinals. On August 25, despite overcoming a 10ñ1 deficit in the 5th inning, the Giants lost to the Reds in extra innings at home to drop 6.5 games behind San Diego. Three days later, following an 11ñ3 debacle at home against the Diamondbacks, Sabean and Bochy held a private meeting with the starting pitchers, who had gone 5ñ13 with a 5.56 ERA in August, including 14 straight starts without a win.
In September, the slogan for the Giants became "Fear the Beard" as they made their push for the playoffs. Brian Wilson and Sergio Romo grew out their facial hair, AT&T Park filled with "Fear the Beard" signs, and "There's Magic Inside" slogan took the place of the one from the previous season, "Yes We Can".
The Padres suffered a 10-game losing streak going into September and on the 5th, the Giants beat the Dodgers 3ñ0 to move to within a game of first place. Despite being shut out four times in ten games, the Giants recorded an 18ñ8 September to move into first by three games as the pitching staff achieved a team ERA of 1.78, the lowest in the National League in a September stretch run since the 1965 Dodgers. During their September run, the Giants' pitching staff allowed no more than 3 runs for 18 straight games, the longest single-season streak since 1920. The division title came down to the final three games of the year in October at home against San Diego, with the Giants clinching in the last regular season game, 3ñ0. Jonathan Sanchez, who had been ridiculed in August when he failed to make good a boast that the Giants would sweep the Padres, led the September charge with a 3ñ1 record and 1.17 ERA, and took the win in the clincher. Closer Brian Wilson finished the game for his franchise record-tying and major league-leading 48th save. In the second half of the season the Giants went 51ñ30. After a 9ñ20 first half against division opponents, the Giants won 29 of their remaining 43 division games.
At the beginning of the 2010 Major League Baseball season only one (Jim Caple of ESPN.com, although he later recanted his pick before the NLCS, saying the Philadelphia Phillies would beat the Giants and advance to the World Series) out of literally dozens of baseball writers and pundits picked the Giants to even reach the World Series, with most not expecting the Giants to even make the playoffs.
In the 2010 National League Division Series, the Giants defeated the Atlanta Braves three games to one, splitting at home and then sweeping them at Turner Field. Tim Lincecum won Game 1 with a memorable and record-setting 14-strikeout, 2-hit shutout performance. The clinching game was also notable as it was the final game of Atlanta's highly successful and venerated manager, Bobby Cox.
In the ensuing NLCS, the Giants took a 3ñ1 advantage over the Philadelphia Phillies, winning two games at home after splitting the first two at Philadelphia. Starting pitcher for the Giants Tim Lincecum rematched against the Phillies' Roy Halladay in Game 5. The Giants failed to beat Roy Halladay, losing 4ñ2, forcing a return trip to Philadelphia. In Game Six, the Giants beat Philadelphia by a final score of 3-2, to win the NLCS 4ñ2 and advance to face the Texas Rangers in the 2010 World Series. Because the National League won the All-Star Game, the Giants had home-field advantage in the World Series with the first two games in San Francisco, the next three games in Texas (the last if necessary), and the following two games (if necessary) back in San Francisco.
The first World Series game was a highly anticipated matchup between 2-time National League Cy Young Award winner (2008,2009) Tim Lincecum against the 2008 American League Cy Young award winner and heretofore undefeated in postseason play, Cliff Lee. The pitching matchup turned out to be a sideline, as the Giants won the first game of the World Series, 11ñ7, over the Rangers, backed by Freddy Sanchez's three doubles, setting a World Series record for being the first player to hit three consecutive doubles in their first three at bats. The game also saw the Giants set the record for the most runs (6) scored in a single half-inning in a World Series since 1933. The next day, the Giants won game 2 of the World Series, crushing the Rangers 9ñ0 after the Rangers walked 4 in a row and allowed 7 runs to the Giants in the 8th inning. Matt Cain also had a dominant game, pitching 72/3 innings without giving up a run. The Giants went on to lose Game 3 in Arlington, Texas 4ñ2 after a 3-run home run from Ranger's rookie, Mitch Moreland, in the second inning and a solo home run by Josh Hamilton in the fifth. Game 4 belonged to the Giants, as rookie left-handed pitcher Madison Bumgarner shut out the Rangers, 4ñ0, with home runs by Huff and Posey. The Giants, along with Tim Lincecum, won Game 5 by a score of 3ñ1. Lincecum outdueled Cliff Lee in an every-pitch-matters matchup that was scoreless until Renteria hit a stunning three-run homer with two outs in the seventh inning. Nelson Cruz homered in the bottom half, but Lincecum returned to his wicked self and preserved the lead. Brian Wilson was brought in to pitch the 9th and produced a scoreless inning, allowing San Francisco to bring out a series of firsts, not just for the Giants, but also for the city of San Francisco and the San Francisco Bay Area. Edgar Renteria was named World Series Most Valuable Player.
Overall the Giants have won 6 World championships (5 as the New York Giants, 1 as the San Francisco Giants), 21 pennants, 7 Western Division titles and 1 wild-card berth in the team's multiple post-season appearances. The San Francisco team has appeared in the post-season nine times in 53 years, going to the World Series four times (1962, 1989, 2002, and 2010).
In summing up the firsts with the championship, Larry Baer, the president of the Giants and a fourth generation resident of San Francisco, said that the team dedicated the championship to everyone who has worn a Giants uniform, and all Giants fans since the team's move to San Francisco, honoring 53 years of baseball in the city.
2011 began on a dark note when Giants fan Bryan Stow was critically injured in an altercation with Dodger fans in the Dodger Stadium parking lot on Opening Day. That painful incident seemed to foreshadow what was to become of the 2011 Giants. A lack of run supportófueled by a number of devastating injuries to several key playersódoomed the Giants.
The first major blow to the Giants starting rotation was the loss of catcher Buster Posey in a home plate collision with Marlins player Scott Cousins on May 25, ultimately ending his season early.
After a slow start to the 2011 season (.257/.307/.364/0.671 OPS through the teamís first 36 games), Freddy Sanchez finally found his groove in May. At the time Sanchez went down, he had become the only reliable hitter in the Giantsí lineup, batting .333/.368/.444 (0.812 OPS) from May 14 to June 10, the day he suffered a dislocated shoulder that ended his season. Pablo Sandoval missed 41 games due to a broken hamate bone in his right hand in late April.
On July 27, the Giants tried to address their hitting woes by acquiring New York Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran, who was batting .289/.391/.513 (0.904 OPS) with 15 HR, 66 RBI and a league-leading 30 doubles at the time. San Francisco gave up top pitching prospect Zack Wheeler to land Beltran, a six-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner, and two-time Silver Slugger winner. The slugger waived his no-trade clause to play for the defending World Champions and five months later signed a 2-year, $26 million free agent contract to play for the Cardinals.
Despite the dismal offense and numerous injuries that plagued the starting lineup, the Giants did see an unlikely hero in the midst of chaos; after going four full seasons without throwing a major-league pitch, Ryan Vogelsong finished the 2011 season with a 2.71 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 139:61 K/BB ratio in 179.2 innings.
The Giants did see many players go to the All-Star Game, however. Not since 1966, when the Giants sent six players to the All-Star Game (four of whom are now in the Hall of Fame), had there been this many San Francisco Giants on an All-Star roster. Giants skipper Bruce Bochy managed the midsummer classic in Phoenix with a roster that included Tim Lincecum, Pablo Sandoval, Matt Cain, Ryan Vogelsong, and Brian Wilson.
San Francisco finished the 2011 season with an 86-76 record, winding up in second place in the NL West, eight games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks.
2012: Revamping the offense
After the 2011 season, San Francisco traded left-handed starter Jonathan Sanchez and minor league pitcher Ryan Verdugo to the Kansas City Royals in exchange for 27-year old outfielder Melky Cabrera.
On December 6, the Giants traded popular outfielder Andres Torres and reliever Ramon Ramirez to the New York Mets in exchange for outfielder Angel Pagan
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