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Who are the top San Francisco Giants of all time? Here is our top 10 countdown:
10. Buster Posey: the 2010 NL Rookie of the Year, Posey spent his entire 12-year career with the Giants and was arguably the top hitting catcher of his generation; moreover, he was a 7x All-Star and 4x Silver Slugger who also won a Gold Glove, a batting title, and the 2012 NL MVP award while leading San Francisco to three World Series titles.
9. Orlando Cepeda: a power-hitting first baseman, Cepeda spent the first eight-and-half seasons of his career with the Giants, winning NL Rookie of the Year honors in 1958 and making the All-Star Game for six straight seasons, including a 1961 campaign where he led the league in both home runs and runs batted in to finish second for MVP.
8. Juan Marichal: the winningest Latin American pitcher in MLB history at the time of his retirement, Marichal led the 1960s in wins (with six 20-win seasons), yet did not receive a single Cy Young vote during the decade; additional accomplishments include 10 All-Star selections, three top-five MVP finishes, and an ERA title.
7. Bill Terry: the last NL player to hit .400 (.401 in 1930), Terry spent 14 years in a Giants uniform and hit .341 for his career, finishing top-10 for MVP 6x and leading the Giants to the 1933 World Series.
6. Carl Hubbell: perhaps best-known for striking out five consecutive Hall of Famers during the 1934 All-Star Game (Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Joe Cronin), Hubbell made the first six All-Star Games (and 9x overall); notably, during a five-year stretch from 1933 to 1937, he won 20+ games and finished top-10 for MVP each year while leading the league in wins 3x, ERA 3x, and WHIP 3x, earning two MVP awards, and leading the Giants to the 1933 World Series.
5. Willie McCovey: only the 16th first-ballot Hall of Famer in baseball history, McCovey teamed with Willie Mays to form one of the greatest hitting duos ever – the 1969 NL MVP was a 3x home run champion who mashed 521 career dingers, including an NL-record 18 grand slams.
4. Mel Ott: the first NL player to reach 500 career home runs (511), Ott spent his entire 22-year career with the Giants and led the senior circuit in home runs 6x; though he never won an MVP award, he finished top-10 5x and led the team to the 1933 World Series.
3. Christy Mathewson: one of the greatest pitchers of the early 20th century, Mathewson ranks tied for third all-time with 373 career wins (including 12 consecutive 20-win seasons); he won five ERA titles and a pair of Pitching Triple Crowns while leading the Giants to the 1905 World Series.
2. Barry Bonds: baseball’s all-time home run king, Bonds was already a Hall of Fame-caliber player before joining the Giants in the prime of his career – across 15 years in San Francisco, he made a dozen All-Star teams and won five MVP awards (including four straight in the early 2000s); moreover, he is the only player in baseball history in either the 400-400 or 500-500 club (762 home runs and 514 stolen bases), as well as one of four members of the 40-40 club (42 home runs and 40 stolen bases in 1996), though his achievements are also clouded by steroids.
1. Willie Mays: the best all-around player in baseball history, Mays spent all but one-and-a-half of his 22 MLB seasons with the Giants in both New York and San Francisco – from Rookie of the Year in 1951, he racked up 3,283 career hits with 660 home runs, a batting title, and 338 career stolen bases to make 24 All-Star teams, win 12 Gold Gloves and a pair of MVP awards, and lead the franchise to the 1954 World Series.
Agree/Disagree? As always, debate/discuss, and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Note: This list includes players who played for the New York Giants.
Note: All statistics as of time of publication.
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