The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in San Francisco, California playing in the National League West Division. They are the current World Series champions, having defeated the Texas Rangers in the 2010 World Series by four games to one. As one of the oldest baseball teams, the Giants 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, winning six - both tied with rival Los Angeles Dodgers for most in the league. The Giants have been invited to the World Series an NL record 19 times, but boycotted the event in 1904.

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.

New York Giants history

Early days and the John McGraw era

The Giants began as the second baseball club founded by millionaire tobacconist Jonathan Garcia and veteran amateur baseball player Jim Mutrie. The Gothams, as the Giants were originally known, entered the National League in 1883, while their other club, the Metropolitans (the original Mets) played in the American Association. Nearly half of the original Gotham players were members of the disbanded Troy Trojans, whose place in the National League the Gothams inherited. While the Metropolitans were initially the more successful club, Day and Mutrie began moving star players to the Gothams and the team won its first National League pennant in 1888, as well as a victory over the St. Louis Browns in an early incarnation of the World Series. They repeated as champions the next year with a pennant and World Series victory over the Brooklyn Bridegrooms.

It is said that after one particularly satisfying victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, Mutrie (who was also the team's manager) stormed into the dressing room and exclaimed, "My big fellows! My giants!" From then on, the club was known as the Giants.

The Giants' original home stadium, the Polo Grounds, also dates from this early era. The first of the Polo Grounds was located north of Central Park adjacent to Fifth and Sixth Avenues and 110th and 112th Streets in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem. Upon eviction from the Polo Grounds after the 1888 season, the Giants moved uptown and renamed various fields the Polo Grounds which were located between 155th and 159th Streets in the New York City neighborhoods of Harlem and Washington Heights. The Giants played at the Polo Grounds until the end of the 1957 season, when they moved to San Francisco.

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The Giants remained a powerhouse during the last half of the 1880s, culminating in their first league pennant in and another in . However, in , nearly all of the Giants' stars jumped to the upstart Players' League, whose New York franchise was also named the Giants. The new team even built its park next door to the National League Giants' Polo Grounds. With a decimated roster, the Giants finished a distant sixth. Attendance took a nosedive, and the financial strain affected Day's tobacco business as well. The Players' League dissolved after the season, and Day sold a minority interest to the PL Giants' principal backer, Edward Talcott. As a condition of the sale, Day had to fire Mutrie as manager. Although the Giants rebounded to third in 1891, Day was forced to sell controlling interest to Talcott at the end of the season.

Four years later, Talcott sold the Giants to Andrew Freedman, a real estate developer with ties to Tammany Hall. Freedman was one of the most detested owners in baseball history, getting into heated disputes with other owners, writers and his own players. The most famous one was with star pitcher Amos Rusie. When Freedman only offered Rusie $2,500 for 1896, Rusie sat out the entire season. Attendance fell off throughout the league due to the loss of Rusie, prompting the other owners to chip in $50,000 to get him to return for 1897. Freedman hired former owner Day as manager for part of 1899.

In 1902, after a series of disastrous moves that left the Giants 53½ games behind, Freedman signed John McGraw as a player-manager, convincing him to jump in mid-season from the Baltimore Orioles of the American League and to bring with him several Orioles' players. McGraw would go on and manage the Giants for three decades, one of the longest and most successful tenures in professional sports. McGraw's hiring was one of Freedman's last significant moves as owner of the Giants; after the season he was forced to sell his interest to John T. Brush. Under McGraw the Giants won ten National League pennants and three World Series championships.

The Giants already had their share of stars during its brief history at this point, such as Smiling Mickey Welch, Roger Connor, Tim Keefe, Jim O'Rourke and John Montgomery Ward, the player-lawyer who formed the renegade Players League in 1890 to protest unfair player contracts. McGraw would also cultivate his own crop of baseball heroes during his time with the Giants. Names such as Christy Mathewson, Iron Man Joe McGinnity, Bill Terry, Jim Thorpe, Mel Ott, Casey Stengel, and Red Ames are just a sample of the many players who honed their skills under McGraw.

The Giants under McGraw famously snubbed their first ever modern World Series chance in 1904—an encounter with the reigning world champion Boston Americans (now known as the "Red Sox")—because McGraw considered the new American League as little more than a minor league. His original reluctance was because the intra-city rival New York Highlanders looked like they would win the AL pennant. The Highlanders lost to Boston on the last day, but the Giants stuck by their refusal. McGraw had also managed the Highlanders in their first two seasons, when they were known as the Baltimore Orioles.

The ensuing criticism resulted in Brush leading an effort to formalize the rules and format of the World Series. The Giants won the 1905 World Series over the Philadelphia Athletics, with Christy Mathewson nearly winning the series single-handedly.

The Giants then had several frustrating years. In 1908, they finished in a tie with the Chicago Cubs and had a one-game playoff at the Polo Grounds. The game was a replay of a tied game that resulted from the Merkle Boner. They lost the rematch to the Cubs, who would go on to win their second World Series. That post-season game was further darkened by a story that someone on the Giants had attempted to bribe umpire Bill Klem. This could have been a disastrous scandal for baseball, but because Klem was honest and the Giants lost, it faded over time.

The Giants experienced some hard luck in the early 1910s, losing three straight World Series starting in 1911 to the A's, the Red Sox,and the A's again(the Giants and the A's both won pennants in 1913; two seasons later, both teams finished in eighth [last] place). After losing the 1917 Series to the Chicago White Sox (the White Sox's last World Series win until 2005), the Giants played in four straight World Series in the early 1920s, winning the first two over their tenants, the Yankees, then losing to the Yankees in 1923 when Yankee Stadium opened. They also lost in 1924, when the Washington Senators won their only World Series in their history (prior to their move to Minnesota).

1930–57: Five pennants in 28 seasons

McGraw handed over the team to Bill Terry in 1932, and Terry played for and managed the Giants for ten years. During this time the Giants won three pennants, defeating the Senators in the 1933 World Series and losing to the Yankees in 1936 and 1937. Aside from Terry himself, the other stars of the era were Mel Ott and Carl Hubbell, one of the very few pitchers in baseball history to master the screwball (along with Mathewson and Fernando Valenzuela). Known as "King Carl" and "The Meal Ticket", Hubbell gained fame during the 1934 All-Star Game, when he struck out five future Hall of Famers in a row: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Al Simmons, and Joe Cronin.

Mel Ott succeeded Terry as manager in , but the war years proved to be difficult for the Giants. Midway during the 1948 season Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher left the Dodgers to become manager of the Giants. This hire was not without controversy. Not only was the mid-season switch unusual, but Durocher had been accused of gambling in 1947 and subsequently suspended for the entire 1947 season by Baseball Commissioner Albert "Happy" Chandler. Durocher remained at the helm of the Giants through the 1955 season, and those eight years proved to be some of the most memorable for Giants fans, particularly because of the arrival of Willie Mays and arguably the two most famous plays in Giants' history.

1951: The "Shot Heard 'Round the World"

One of the most famous episodes in Major League Baseball history, the "Shot Heard 'Round the World" is the name given to Bobby Thomson's walk-off home run that clinched the National League pennant for the Giants over their rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers. This game was a single playoff game ending one of baseball's most memorable pennant races. The Giants had been thirteen and a half games behind the league-leading Dodgers in August, but under Durocher's guidance and with the aid of a sixteen-game winning streak, caught the Dodgers to tie for the lead on the last day of the season.

Mays' catch and the 1954 Series

In game one of the 1954 World Series at the Polo Grounds, Willie Mays made "The Catch"—a dramatic over-the-shoulder catch of a fly ball by Vic Wertz to deep center field. At the time the game had been tied 2–2 in the eighth inning. With men on first and second and nobody out, an extra-base hit could have blown the game wide open, and given the Cleveland Indians the momentum to win not only Game One, but perhaps the entire World Series itself. Instead, Mays caught the ball 450 feet from the plate, whirled and threw the ball to the infield, keeping the lead runner, Larry Doby, from scoring.

The underdog Giants went on to sweep the series in four straight, despite the Cleveland Indians having won a then-American League record 111 games that year. The Giants subsequently lost the World Series (as the San Francisco Giants) in 1962, 1989, and 2002. Yes, this 1954 World Series title would be their last appearance in the World Series as the New York Giants, as the team moved to San Francisco just prior to the 1958 season.

Memorable New York Giants of the 1950s

In addition to Bobby Thomson and Willie Mays, other memorable members of the Giants teams during the 1950s include: Hall of Fame manager Leo Durocher, coach Herman Franks, Hall of Fame outfielder Monte Irvin, outfielder and runnerup for the 1954 NL batting championship (won by Willie Mays) Don Mueller, Hall of Fame knuckleball relief pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm, starting pitchers Larry Jansen, Sal Maglie, Jim Hearn, Marv Grissom, Dave Koslo, Don Liddle, Max Lanier, Rubén Gómez, and Johnny Antonelli, catcher Wes Westrum, catchers Ray Katt and Sal Yvars, shortstop Alvin Dark, third baseman Hank Thompson, first baseman Whitey Lockman, second basemen Davey Williams and Eddie Stanky, outfielder, pitcher Clint Hartung, Hall of Fame second baseman Red Schoendienst and utility players: Bill Rigney, Daryl Spencer, Bobby Hofman, and Dusty Rhodes among others. In the late 1950s and after the move to San Francisco two Hall of Fame First Basemen Orlando Cepeda and Willie McCovey joined the team.

1957: The move to California

The Giants' final three years in New York City were unmemorable. They stumbled to third place the year after their World Series win and attendance fell off precipitously. While seeking a new stadium to replace the crumbling Polo Grounds, the Giants began to contemplate a move from New York, initially considering Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, which was home to their top farm team, the Minneapolis Millers. Under the rules of the time, the Giants' ownership of the Millers gave them priority rights to a major league team in the area.

At this time, the Giants were approached by San Francisco mayor George Christopher. Despite objections from shareholders such as Joan Whitney Payson, majority owner Horace Stoneham entered into negotiations with San Francisco officials at around the same time that the Dodgers' owner Walter O'Malley was courting the city of Los Angeles. O'Malley had been told that the Dodgers would not be allowed to move to Los Angeles unless a second team moved to California as well. He pushed Stoneham toward relocation. And so it was in the summer of 1957 that both the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers announced their moves to California, and the golden age of baseball in the New York area had ended.

New York would remain a one-team town with the New York Yankees until 1962 when Joan Whitney Payson founded the New York Mets and brought National League baseball back to the city. Payson and M. Donald Grant, who became the Mets' chairman, had been the only Giants board members to vote against the Giants' move to California. The "NY" script on the Giants' caps and the orange trim on their uniforms, along with the blue background used by the Dodgers, would be adopted by the Mets -- something of a compromise between the colors of both the Giants and the Dodgers (now in California).

1958: The San Francisco Giants history begins

As with the New York years, the Giants' fortunes in San Francisco have been mixed. Though recently the club has enjoyed relatively sustained success, there have also been prolonged stretches of mediocrity, along with two instances when the club's ownership threatened to move the team away from San Francisco.

1958–61: Seals Stadium and Candlestick Park

When the Giants moved to San Francisco, they played in Seals Stadium for their first two seasons. The stadium, which was located at 16th & Bryant St. across from the Stempel's Bakery, had been the home of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) San Francisco Seals, a minor league affiliate of the Boston Red Sox, from 1931–1957. In 1958, Latino hitter Orlando Cepeda won Rookie of the Year honors. In 1959, Willie McCovey won the same award.

In 1960, the Giants moved to Candlestick Park (sometimes known simply as "The 'Stick"), a stadium built on a point in San Francisco's southeast corner overlooking San Francisco Bay. The new stadium quickly became known for its strong, swirling winds, cold temperatures, and thick evening fog that made for a formidable experience for brave fans and players. The park had a built-in radiant heating system, but it never worked. Candlestick Park's reputation was sealed in the ninth inning of the first 1961 All-Star Game when, after a day of calm conditions, the winds rose. A strong gust appeared to cause Giants relief pitcher Stu Miller to slip off the pitching rubber during his delivery, resulting in a balk (and a baseball legend that Miller was "blown off the mound").

There were also many times that Candlestick Park was covered in fog, both inside and out, coming in from the ocean seven miles to the west (through what is known as the "Alemany Gap," a type of wide gorge through which the ocean winds come without major topographical obstacles). At one time, a fog horn was played inside the stadium between innings giving Candlestick another reputation. Other times, the winds would also whirl around in the parking lot, but inside the stadium it would be calm. Even with its reputation of being cold, windy, and foggy, it stood its ground when the ground below it shook violently during the 1989 World Series. At 5:04 p.m., the Loma Prieta Earthquake shook the San Francisco Bay Area during the pre-game ceremonies before Game 3. For 15 seconds the stadium rocked and there was fear that the standing light fixtures above would fall onto the crowd. However, only minor injuries were reported, and the stadium's structure was deemed safe ten days later.

1962 World Series

In 1962, after another memorable pennant chase with the Dodgers which resulted in a playoff series which the Giants won, the Giants brought a World Series to San Francisco. However, the Giants lost the series four games to three to the New York Yankees. The seventh game went to the bottom of the ninth inning, with the Yankees ahead 1–0. With Matty Alou on first base and two outs, Willie Mays sliced a double down the right field line. Right fielder Roger Maris, quickly got to the ball and rifled a throw to the infield, preventing Alou from scoring the tying run (he only reached 3rd base).

With the speedy Mays on second, any base hit by the next batter, Willie McCovey, would likely win the series for the Giants. McCovey hit a screaming line drive that was snared by second baseman Bobby Richardson, bringing the Series to a sudden end. Earlier in the inning, a failed sacrifice bunt by Felipe Alou had ultimately resulted in his brother Matty not scoring on Mays' double. In addition, Richardson was not originally positioned to catch the drive – he only moved there (three steps to the left) in reaction to a foul smash by McCovey on the previous pitch.

Giants fan (and resident of nearby Santa Rosa) Charles Schulz made a reference to the real world in one of his Peanuts strips soon afterward. In the first three panels of the strip of December 22, Charlie Brown and Linus are sitting on a porch step, looking glum. In the last panel, Charlie cries to the heavens, "Why couldn't McCovey have hit the ball just three feet higher?" Some weeks later, the same scene appears. This time, Charlie cries, "Or why couldn't McCovey have hit the ball just two feet higher?"

1963–84: Always a bridesmaid, never the bride

Although the Giants did not play in another World Series until 1989, the teams of the 1960s continued to be pennant contenders thanks to several future Hall-of-Famers. These included Gaylord Perry, who pitched a no-hitter with the Giants in 1968; Juan Marichal, a pitcher with a memorable high-kicking delivery; McCovey, who won the National League MVP award in 1969, and Mays, who hit his 600th career home run in 1969. A Giants highlight came in 1963 when Jesús Alou joined the team, and along with Felipe and Matty formed the first all-brother outfield in Major League history. In 1967 the Giants had their first Cy Young Award winner in Mike McCormick.

The Giants' next appearance in the postseason came in . After winning their division, they were easily defeated in the League Championship Series by the Pittsburgh Pirates and Roberto Clemente, who then went on to beat the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series.

In 1972 the field at Candlestick Park was converted from grass to Astroturf.

During this decade, the Giants gave up many players who became successful elsewhere. Some of them included Garry Maddox, George Foster, Dave Kingman, and Gaylord Perry. However, the Giants did produce two more Rookie of the Year winners (Gary Matthews Sr. in 1973 and John Montefusco in 1975).

In 1976, Bob Lurie bought the team, saving it from being moved to Toronto. Toronto was awarded an expansion team called the Blue Jays, but San Francisco baseball fans' worries about losing their beloved Giants had not completely gone away just yet. The rest of the 1970s was a generally disappointing time for the Giants, as they finished no higher than third place in any season. That third place season was 1978. They had a young star in the likes of Jack Clark, along with veteran first baseman Willie McCovey, second baseman Bill Madlock (whom the Giants had acquired from the Chicago Cubs,) shortstops Johnnie LeMaster and Roger Metzger, and third baseman Darrell Evans. Veteran pitchers Vida Blue, John Montefusco, Ed Halicki, and Bob Knepper rounded out the starting rotation with Vida Blue leading the way with eighteen victories. The most memorable moment of that 1978 season occurred on May 28, 1978, when pinch hitter Mike Ivie, acquired from the San Diego Padres during the offseason for Darrel Thomas, hit a towering grand slam off of Dodgers pitching ace Don Sutton in front of Candlestick Park's highest paid attendance of 58,545. They were atop of the NL West for most of the season, but the Dodgers heated up to eventually win the West and the NL Pennant.

In time for the 1979 season, Candlestick was converted back to grass.

In 1981, the Giants became the first National League team to hire a black manager, Frank Robinson. However, Robinson's tenure lasted less than four years and was generally unsuccessful. In that tenure, the Giants finished a game over .500 in the strike-shortened 1981 season. The next season, the Giants acquired veterans Joe Morgan and Reggie Smith. They were in the midst of a three-team pennant race with the Dodgers and Braves. Morgan hit a homer against the Dodgers on the final day of the season to make sure Atlanta won the NL West.

In 1984, the Giants hosted the All-Star Game at Candlestick Park.

1985–89: Nadir and resurrection

The 1985 Giants lost 100 games (the most in franchise history), and owner Bob Lurie responded by hiring Al Rosen as general manager. Under Rosen's tenure, the Giants promoted promising rookies such as Will Clark and Robby Thompson, and made canny trades to acquire such players as Kevin Mitchell, Dave Dravecky, Candy Maldonado, and Rick Reuschel.

New manager Roger Craig served from 1985 to 1992. In Craig's first five full seasons with the Giants, the team never finished with a losing record.

Under Roger Craig's leadership (and his unique motto, "Humm Baby") the Giants won 83 games in 1986 and won the National League Western Division title in 1987. The team lost the 1987 National League Championship Series to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. The one bright spot in that defeat was Giants outfielder Jeffrey Leonard, who was named the series MVP in a losing effort. In Leonard's own faltering words, the prize money ($50,000) meant nothing to him. He would have given anything to be going up north to play the Minnesota Twins in the 1987 World Series.

1989: The "Thrill", World Series and the Earthquake

Although the team used fifteen different starting pitchers, the 1989 Giants won the National League pennant. They were led by pitchers Rick Reuschel (1989 National League All-Star Game Starter) and Scott Garrelts (the 1989 National League ERA champion) and sluggers Kevin Mitchell (the 1989 National League MVP) and Will Clark.

The Giants beat the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series, four games to one. In Game 5, eventual 1989 NLCS MVP Will Clark (who hit .650, drove in eight runs, including a grand slam off Greg Maddux in Game 1) came through in the clutch with a bases-loaded single off of the hard-throwing Mitch Williams to break a 1–1 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning. In the top of the 9th inning, Steve Bedrosian was shaky as he gave up a run. But ultimately, Bedrosian was able to get Ryne Sandberg to ground-out for out #3. Fittingly, the hero of Game 5, Will Clark caught the final out from second baseman Robby Thompson. For the first time in twenty-seven years, the San Francisco Giants were the champions of the National League.

After taking care of the Cubs, the Giants faced the Oakland Athletics in the "Bay Bridge Series". The series is best remembered because the Loma Prieta earthquake on October 17, 1989, disrupted the planned Game 3 of the series at Candlestick Park. After a ten-day delay in the series, Oakland finished up its sweep of San Francisco. The Giants never would hold a lead in any of the 4 games and never even managed to send the tying run to the plate in their last at-bat.

1992: Farewell San Francisco?

Following the 1989 World Series defeat to the Oakland A's, a local ballot initiative to fund a new stadium in San Francisco failed, threatening the franchise's future in the city. After the 1992 season, owner Bob Lurie, who had previously saved the franchise from moving to Toronto in 1976, put the team up for sale. A group of investors from St. Petersburg led by Vince Naimoli reached an agreement to purchase the team and move them to the Tampa Bay Area, but National League owners voted against the acquisition. Wally Haas, the owner of the Oakland Athletics at the time, agreed to grant the Giants exclusive rights to the South Bay so the Giants could explore all potential local sites for a new stadium and at least help to keep the team in the Bay Area. The team was instead sold to an ownership group including managing general partner Peter Magowan, the former CEO of Safeway, Harmon Burns, and his wife, Sue.

In addition to the anticipated move to downtown San Francisco, the Giants' ownership also made a major personnel move to solidify fan support. Before even hiring a new General Manager or officially being approved as the new owners, Magowan signed locally-grown superstar free agent Barry Bonds (a move which MLB initially blocked until some terms were negotiated to protect Lurie and Bonds in case the sale failed), a move that shaped the franchise's fortunes for more than a decade.

1993: "The last pure pennant race"

The Barry Bonds era began auspiciously as Bonds put up the numbers for the third MVP of his career: 46 homers, 129 runs and 123 RBI, (.336 BA, .458 OBP, .677 SLG, for a total of 1.135 OPS), all career highs. Matt Williams was very good (38 HR, 110 RBI, .294 BA), with Robby Thompson and Will Clark (in his last season with the Giants) providing offensive support. John Burkett and Bill Swift both had 20+ wins, and closer Rod Beck was dominant with 48 saves and a 2.16 ERA. All this led the Giants to a 103–59 record in Dusty Baker's first year as manager, which earned him the Manager of the Year award.

But despite the Giants' great record, the Atlanta Braves — fueled by solid seasons from David Justice, Ron Gant, Deion Sanders and their midseason acquisition of Fred McGriff from the San Diego Padres — came back from a ten-game deficit to the Giants to win the NL West by a single game. The Braves also had 20+ wins from both Tom Glavine and Cy Young Award winner Greg Maddux.

Desperately needing a win against the Dodgers in the final game of the year to force a one-game playoff with the Braves, the controversial choice of Giants rookie pitcher Salomon Torres proved disastrous as he gave up three runs in the first four innings and the Giants went on to lose the game 12–1. After MLB's establishment of the three-division–Wild Card playoff format following the 1993 season, New York Times sports columnist Dave Anderson captured the feeling of many baseball purists regarding the thrilling (and for Giants fans, heartbreaking) winner-take-all outcome as the "last pure pennant race."

1994–96 seasons

The period of 1994 to 1996 was not good for the Giants, punctuated by the strike that canceled the rest of the 1994 baseball season and the World Series. The strike denied Matt Williams a chance to beat Roger Maris's single season home run record—he had 43 HR in 115 team games, and was thus on pace for 60 when the strike hit with 47 games left to play (Bonds had 37, on pace for 52). But the rest of the team was bad, with no other player having even 10 home runs or even 40 RBI that late into the season.

The Giants came in last place in both 1995 and 1996, as key injuries and slumps hurt them. 1995 had a strange feeling about it, with fans unsure if they would come back after the strike-shortened 1994 season (something that would keep attendances notably lower for a few more years, probably until the HR chase of 1998). Bonds continued to be the team's driving force, posting decent numbers (33 HR, 104 RBI, 109 R and 120 BB in 144 games). Matt Williams and Glenallen Hill were the only other Giants with 20+ HR, and the rest of the team had mediocre offensive numbers. The pitching staff was bad, with only Mark Leiter having 10 wins (10–12, 3.82 ERA). Rod Beck had 33 saves, but a 4.45 ERA and a 5–6 record, including nine blown saves.

1996 was highlighted by Barry Bonds joining the 40–40 club (42 HR, 40 SB, with 129 RBI, 151 BB and .308 BA). Rookie Bill Mueller also provided hope for the future of the club with a .330 average (66 hits in 200 AB over 55 games). Matt Williams and Glenallen Hill provided offensive support. Pitching-wise, the team was not very good. Only Mark Gardner had more than 10 wins (12–7, 4.42 ERA), and Rod Beck had 35 saves, a 3.34 ERA and nine losses on his record. The low point came in late June when the Giants lost 10 straight games en route to a 68–94 record.

1997

After three consecutive losing seasons, the Giants named Brian Sabean as their new general manager in , replacing Bob Quinn. (Sabean may have been acting as GM prior to the announcement, as he was rumored to have engineered the deal to get Kirk Rueter from the Montreal Expos). His tenure began with great controversy. In his first official trade as GM, he shocked Giants fans by trading Matt Williams to Cleveland for what newspapers referred to as a 'bunch of spare parts', with the negative reaction being great enough for him to have to publicly explain: "I didn't get to this point by being an idiot... I'm sitting here telling you there is a plan."

Sabean was proven right, as the players he acquired in the Williams trade—Jeff Kent, Jose Vizcaino, Julian Tavarez, and Joe Roa (plus the $1 million in cash that enabled them to sign Darryl Hamilton)—and a subsequent trade for J.T. Snow were major contributors in leading the Giants to win their first NL West division title of the decade in 1997. Snow, Kent, and Bonds each had over 100 RBI, and pitcher Shawn Estes' 19 wins led the team. Rod Beck had 37 saves.

The 1997 baseball season also saw the introduction of interleague play. The Giants faced the four American League West teams that year: Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, Anaheim Angels and the Oakland A's, while compiling a 10–6 record.

The Wild-card winning Florida Marlins ended the Giants' season with a 3–0 sweep in the first round of the playoffs, as the Marlins marched on their way to their first World Series championship.

1998

In 1998, the Giants were fueled by good seasons from Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds, both with 30+ HR and 100+ RBI. Also having good seasons were pitchers Kirk Reuter (16–9 W-L record, 4.36 ERA), Mark Gardner (13–6, 4.33) and newly acquired Orel Hershiser (11–10, 4.41). New closer Robb Nen had 40 saves. The Giants tied for the NL Wild card but lost a one-game playoff against the Chicago Cubs (at Wrigley Field, Chicago).

1999

The next year, (1999), saw the Giants finish second in the NL West with an 86–76 record. Barry Bonds's production dropped as he hit .262, his lowest average in a decade. He did however hit 34 home runs while missing more than one-third of the season due to injury, and other team regulars put up very good numbers in support. These included J.T. Snow, Jeff Kent, Rich Aurilia, and Ellis Burks, all who had 20+ HR and 80+ RBI. Marvin Benard also had a career year in center field with 16 home runs, 64 RBIs, and a career and team high 27 stolen bases. The pitching staff was paced by Russ Ortiz (18–9, 3.81) and Kirk Reuter (15–10, 5.41).

With the knowledge that their days in Candlestick Park were coming to an end, the 1999 season ended with a series of promotions and tributes. After the final game of the season, a defeat to the Los Angeles Dodgers, home plate was ceremoniously removed and taken to the new grounds where the downtown stadium was being built.

2000–01: Downtown Baseball Begins

In 2000, after forty years at Candlestick Park, the Giants bid a bittersweet farewell to their old home and privately financed a downtown stadium, a long-advocated move. AT&T; Park (originally Pacific Bell Park and later SBC Park) sits on the shores of China Basin (often referred to as McCovey Cove by Giants fans) at the corner of 3rd and King Streets (with an official address of 24 Willie Mays Plaza to honor the long-time Giant). Regardless of anything that might happen on the field of play, this move represented an entirely new era for the Giants and their fans. Whereas the team used to occupy a stadium that was a throwback to the era of suburban, multi-purpose, concrete "cookie-cutter" stadiums that so many teams moved to during the 1960s and 70s, their new home is regarded as one of the better venues in all of professional sports.

The Giants routinely sell out this nearly 43,000-seat stadium, whereas it was not uncommon for them to have a paid attendance of less than 10,000 in Candlestick's nearly 60,000 seating capacity, although by the 1999 season the Giants managed about 25,000 fans a game. The franchise since the move annually vies for highest MLB season attendance, in contrast to being often threatened with having the league-low figure before. While still breezy in the summer time in comparison to other MLB parks, AT&T; Park has been a consensus success and has developed the reputation as a "pitcher's park." Its state-of-the-art design minimizes wind-chill, it is well served by mass transit, and it has spectacular views of the bay and the city skyline (which even Candlestick had until it was redesigned in the early 1970s to accommodate the 49ers). AT&T; Park is the centerpiece of a renaissance in San Francisco's South Beach and Mission Bay on Nueva Yerba Buena (NYB) neighborhoods.

Despite inaugural game festivities at the new ballpark, the Dodgers would spoil the 2000 season opener, with a three HR performance by little-known Kevin Elster. However, the Giants would rebound and put out a solid effort all season long, culminating with a division title and the best record in the Major Leagues. Jeff Kent paced the attack with clutch RBI hits (33 HR, 125 RBI) en route to winning the MVP award, despite Bonds's 49 HR, 106 RBI season. The pitching staff was decent but not great, although 5 starters had at least 10 victories. These included Liván Hernández (17–11, 3.75), Russ Ortiz (14–12, 5.01), Kirk Rueter (11–9, 3.96), Shawn Estes (15–6, 4.26), and Mark Gardner (11–7, 4.05). Robb Nen was nearly perfect, with 41 saves and a minute 1.50 ERA.

The Giants lost the 2000 division series to the New York Mets, three games to one. They had started out solid, winning game one bolstered by Liván Hernández. However, the Mets won the next three games, despite decent performances by Shawn Estes, Russ Ortiz and Mark Gardner. Game two in particular had a tumultuous ending. Down 4–1 in the ninth, J.T. Snow hit a three-run home run to tie the game; but the Mets won the game anyway by scoring in the tenth inning.

In 2001 the Giants were eliminated from playoff contention on the second to last day of the season. Rich Aurilia put up stellar numbers (37 HR, 97 RBI, .324 BA) in support of Barry Bonds, who once again gave fans something to cheer about as he hit 73 home runs, setting a new single-season record. The pitching staff was good but not great, with Russ Ortiz (17–9, 3.29) leading a staff that also had Liván Hernández (13–15, 5.24), and Kirk Reuter (14–12, 4.42). Shawn Estes and Mark Gardner would have sub-par years, but notably Jason Schmidt (7–1, 3.39) was picked up in a mid-season acquisition from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Robb Nen continued to be a dominant closer (45 saves, 3.01 ERA).

2002: National League Championship Season and World Series

In the 2002 season, the Giants finished 2nd in the NL West behind the Arizona Diamondbacks, bolstered by another MVP season for Barry Bonds (46 HR, 110 RBI, .370 BA, a then record 198 walks and a .582 OBP) and Jeff Kent (37 HR, 108 RBI and .313 BA). Additional roster support was provided by decent seasons from Benito Santiago and Rich Aurilia, plus new acquisitions David Bell, Reggie Sanders and Tsuyoshi Shinjo, who spent only one season with the Giants before returning to Japan. The pitching staff again proved solid, with five starters having 12 wins or more, including Jason Schmidt, who the Giants acquired in 2001 from the Pittsburgh Pirates. Closer Robb Nen had 43 saves and a 2.20 ERA, and setup men Felix Rodriguez and Tim Worrell were solid coming out of the bullpen.

The Giants would make the playoffs as the NL Wild Card team. They went on to defeat the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS three games to two, with Russ Ortiz winning Games 1 and 5 in Atlanta. In the NLCS, they went on to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals four games to one, with wins by Reuter, Schmidt and two by Worrell in relief. Benito Santiago went on to win the MVP award in the NLCS.

The Giants then went on to face the American League's Wild Card team, the Anaheim Angels, now known as the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, in the World Series. Since its inception, this was the first time that two wildcard teams met in a World Series. The Giants split the first two games in Anaheim and took two of three at Pac Bell Park. With the Giants leading the series three games to two following a 16–4 blowout win in Game 5 at Pac Bell Park, the series shifted back to Anaheim. With the Giants leading 5–0 going into the bottom of the 7th inning of Game 6, the series' momentum changed decisively when then Manager Dusty Baker removed starter Russ Ortiz and handed him the "game" ball as he left the mound. Moments later, Scott Spiezio hit a three-run home run for the Angels off reliever Felix Rodriguez, and went on to win the game 6–5. The following night, Anaheim won Game 7, 4–1 to claim the Series. Angels third baseman Troy Glaus was named MVP.

After the 2002 season, the Giants would go through many personnel changes. After ten seasons, manager Dusty Baker did not have his contract renewed. Closer Robb Nen had pitched despite a damaged shoulder, an injury which eventually ended his career (retired), and Jeff Kent was not re-signed (he went to play for the Houston Astros). Position players David Bell, Reggie Sanders, Tsuyoshi Shinjo and Kenny Lofton, as well as pitchers Liván Hernández, Russ Ortiz and relief pitcher Aaron Fultz all played for other teams the following season.

2003: Wire to wire

After two consecutive close second place finishes, the Giants, under new manager Felipe Alou, recorded 100 victories for the seventh time in franchise history and the third time in San Francisco, winning their division for the third time in seven seasons. The team spent every day of the season in first place, just the ninth team to do so in baseball history. Their offense was paced by yet another MVP season from Bonds (45 HR, 90 RBI, .341 BA, 148 BB, and an OBP of .529). Decent offensive support was provided by Rich Aurilia, Marquis Grissom, Jose Cruz Jr., Edgardo Alfonzo, Benito Santiago, Pedro Feliz and Andres Galarraga. The pitching staff was led by Jason Schmidt (17–5, 2.34 ERA) and Kirk Rueter (10–5, 4.53), but had a dropoff after that, as no other starter had 10 wins.

Once again in the playoffs, and just like in 1997, the Giants faced the Florida Marlins in the NLDS. Jason Schmidt won game one in San Francisco with a complete game victory, but the Marlins would win the series three games to one as the Giants bullpen proved unable to prevent their opponent from scoring.

2004–06: Playoff drought

In 2004, Barry Bonds broke his own records with 232 walks and a .609 OBP on route to his 7th and last NL MVP award (45 HR, 101 RBI, .362 BA). The team also had a solid but not stellar supporting cast including Marquis Grissom (22, 90, .279) and Pedro Feliz (22, 84, .276), along with decent showings by Ray Durham, Edgardo Alfonzo, Michael Tucker and AJ Pierzynski. Jason Schmidt was the star of the staff (18–7, 3.20 ERA, 251 SO), and the team was constantly looking for a new closer (Matt Herges and Dustin Hermanson split the role during the season). After sitting out most of the first half of the season, J.T. Snow led the league in hitting after the All-Star Break.

As in 1993 and 2001, the Giants again avoided elimination from playoff contention until the final weekend of the season. The team would come close but still finished two games behind the division-winning Los Angeles Dodgers, marking the third time in four seasons the Giants would finish within 2½ games of the leader. The season ended in frustration, as San Francisco needed a three-game sweep of the Dodgers in the final weekend of the season to force a one-game playoff in San Francisco for the NL West title. After winning the first game, the Giants lost the second game 7–3 (L.A. scored seven runs in the 9th, the last four on a walkoff grand slam by Steve Finley) as the Dodgers clinched the division title. Houston won the wildcard spot the next day, rendering the Giants' season finale victory meaningless.

The Giants' 2005 season was the team's least successful since moving to its new stadium. Bonds missed most of the season with a knee injury, closer Armando Benitez was injured for four months, and ace Jason Schmidt struggled after numerous injuries. However, team management has taken advantage of the off year to give playing time to numerous young players, including pitchers Noah Lowry, Brad Hennessey, Kevin Correia, Scott Munter, Matt Cain, and Jeremy Accardo, as well as first baseman Lance Niekro and outfielders Jason Ellison and Todd Linden. The acquisition of Randy Winn from the Seattle Mariners also proved invaluable in the stretch run.

On May 25, the Giants held a celebration in honor of Baseball Hall of Famer Juan Marichal. A statue of Marichal was dedicated on the plaza outside of the ballpark. Leonel Fernández, the President of the Dominican Republic, was in attendance. In the two games which followed the ceremonies, the Giants wore uniforms with the word "Gigantes" on the front (the Spanish word for "Giants"). On July 14, 2005, the franchise won their 10,000th contest defeating their long-time rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 4–3, becoming the first professional sports franchise to have five digits in its winning total.

On September 28, the Giants were officially eliminated from the NL West race after losing to the division champion San Diego Padres. The team finished the season in third place, with a record of 75–87, their worst season—and first losing record—since 1996. Despite the disappointing finish, manager Felipe Alou was offered a one-year extension of his contract by Giants management.

The Giants were expected to contend in 2006, as they were bolstered by a strong starting staff. Despite a losing streak in May, and the worst batting performance by Barry Bonds in about fifteen years the Giants did contend in the less-than-stellar Western Division and by July 23 were in first place. On that day, however, during the last game of a home stand and leading San Diego going into the ninth inning, closer Armando Benitez blew a save by giving up a home run and the Giants lost in extra innings. That was the first loss of a horrendous three-week stretch that saw San Francisco go 3–16, losing nine games by one run.

At the end of August the Giants recovered to again contend for both the division crown and the Wild Card berth. Bonds returned to form after his legs healed (batting .400—34 for 85—in 27 games from August 21 to September 23), the starting staff pitched well enough to lead the National League in ERA among starters, and the team found an effective closer in Mike Stanton, acquired in a trade at the end of July. However on the final road trip of the season the Giants lost eight of nine games to fall out of all contention for post-season play, despite an offensive explosion by both Bonds and right-fielder Moisés Alou. The starting staff collapsed, bombed in all nine games, and Giants pitching gave up 93 runs on the trip (by comparison, the Giants gave up 86 runs during the 19-game losing span in August), and the Giants were "officially eliminated" on September 25, and finished the season with a record of 76–85, just 1½ games better than the previous season.

On October 2, 2006, the day after the end of the regular season, the Giants announced that they would not renew the contract of manager Felipe Alou, but did extend him an offer to remain with the club in an advisory role to the general manager and to baseball operations.

2007: End of the Bonds era

With eleven free agents excluding Jason Schmidt who signed with the Dodgers for roughly $15 million a year, a new manager on board with Bruce Bochy coming from division rival San Diego, and the loss of veteran catcher Mike Matheny due to complications resulting from concussions sustained during his career, the Giants' prospects for the 2007 season were less than favorable going into the winter off-season. Since then, the team has agreed to several deals—resigning Pedro Feliz, Ray Durham, and old time Giants fans favorite Rich Aurilia, and picking up catcher Bengie Molina, Ryan Klesko, and Dave Roberts. They also signed free agent pitcher Barry Zito to a seven year contract worth $126 million. The deal, which was the richest contract for a pitcher in baseball history, includes a $20 million player option for an eighth year. On January 9, 2007, the Giants resigned pitcher Russ Ortiz to compete for the fifth starting position in spring training. Ortiz was slotted for the position in late March due to his outstanding spring.

The Giants started off the regular season slow, had spurts of promise but more often stretches of mediocre to worse play. Pitching was often inconsistent or the offense was non-existent (such as during a pair of 1–0 losses for losing pitcher Matt Cain).

The season did have memorable action, such as the Giants playing the Red Sox in Boston for the first time since 1912. Most notable during the season, however, was Bonds march towards Hank Aaron's career home run record of 755. Bonds's proximity to the record brought heavy media attention to the San Francisco Giants.

On July 27, in the first inning of the Giants' three game series against the Florida Marlins, Bonds hit his 754th career home run. Also contributing to the Giants' 12–10 victory was pinch-hitter Mark Sweeney, who moved ahead of Manny Mota on the all time pinch hits list with a clutch RBI single in the sixth inning.

Leading off in the top of the second inning of game two versus the Padres, before a sell-out crowd at PETCO Park, Barry Bonds hit a high fastball off the facing of the upper deck in left field for his 755th career home run. The opposite-field shot tied the game at 1–1 and tied Hank Aaron for the all-time home run record. The Giants lost in extra innings, this time by a score of 2–3.

In the bottom of the fifth inning at home against the Nationals on August 7, 2007, Bonds hit his 756th home run which caused a melee in the crowd. Hank Aaron appeared on the big screen and congratulated Bonds. The Giants went on to lose the game 8–6.

On August 9, 2007, Mark Sweeney was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for AA second baseman Travis Denker. The trade was the first between the Giants and the Dodgers since 1985.

The discouraging theme of 2007 would continue as solid pitching was not backed up with offense. Tim Lincecum held the Chicago Cubs to two hits through eight innings on August 21, but the team scored only one run, losing to the Cubs by a score of 5–1.

On September 22, 2007, the Giants officially announced that the team would not re-sign Barry Bonds for the 2008 season. After much speculation and debate, owner Peter Magowan announced Bonds's departure at a press conference, stressing the fact that the Giants needed to get younger and start fielding a more efficient offense.

Barry Bonds played his last game as a San Francisco Giant on September 26, 2007. He went 0 for 3, driving a ball that was caught at the warning track in left-center field in his final at bat.

2008: Without Bonds

The 2008 season marked the first year that Barry Bonds was not a member of the team since first signing with them in 1992. The Giants signed former Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Aaron Rowand to a 5-year, $60 million contract. Barry Zito once again got off to a poor start, losing his first eight decisions. However, the team found hope in pitcher Tim Lincecum. After going 7–5 in his first stint in 2007 with the Giants, he exploded onto the scene this year winning four straight before losing his 1st game of the year on April 29, 2008, to the Colorado Rockies. Lincecum was selected to the 2008 MLB All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium but was unable to pitch due to being hospitalized with flu-like symptoms. He went on to win the 2008 NL Cy Young Award, finishing at 18–5. He was the first Giant to do so since Mike McCormick won it in 1967. The Giants finished the season in fourth place in the NL West with a record of 72–90.

2009: A mix of the Old and the New

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 these new acquisitions however, questions still lingered about the teams offensive abilities and whether they would be able to contend. Nonetheless, the team compiled a 49–39 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 Sánchez tossing a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres on July 10, the first Giants no-hitter since 1976 when John Montefusco no-hit the Braves. 2009's pitching staff will go down as one of the strongest starting rotations in Giants history.

The Giants sent two of their starting pitchers to the All-Star Game. Matt Cain, who did not pitch due to a minor elbow injury, and Tim Lincecum, who was chosen to be the starting pitcher for the National League. It was Lincecum's 2nd straight all-star game appearance and Cain's 1st. The Giants narrowly missed sending a third player the game, as third baseman Pablo Sandoval was a leading contender to be the fan's vote for the final roster spot. However the vote went to Philadelphia Phillies' outfielder Shane Victorino.

On July 10, Jonathan Sánchez, 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. Sánchez 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 8–0 for the Giants.

On July 19, 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. She was 58. Burns was the widow of Harmon Burns, who died in November 2006 at age 61. A financier in the San Francisco Bay Area, Harmon Burns was a key member of the investor group that purchased the Giants from Bob Lurie after the 1992 season and prevented them from moving to Tampa-St. Petersburg. On July 27, the Giants honored Burns in a pre-game ceremony in which Barry Bonds was also in attendance. In the game, ace pitcher Tim Lincecum struck out a career-high 15 batters and the Giants defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 4–2.

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, who 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. Buster Posey was one of the most talked about minor league players throughout 2009, and played in seven games in the 2009 season. When playing college ball at Florida State University, he was the only player in college ball history to play every position in a single game. After the Giants traded Bengie Molina to the Rangers in June 2010, Posey replaced him as starting catcher.

On September 23, in beating the Diamondbacks 5–2, the Giants clinched a winning season at 82–70. This was their first winning season since 2004. On September 30, the Colorado Rockies' 10–6 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers eliminated the Giants from the Wild Card race for 2009.

The Giants completed the 2009 regular season at 88–74, 14 games above .500, winning 16 more games than the previous season. Finishing in third place in the NL West behind the Colorado Rockies and first-place Los Angeles Dodgers, the Giants moved up one spot from 2008. With the emergence of star player Pablo Sandoval alongside a dominant pitching staff, the Giants look forward to making the playoffs next year for the first time since 2003.

2010-present: New slogan, new team, new title

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 41-40 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 13-15, as the club lost four series against the Braves, Padres, Phillies, and Cardinals. On August 25, despite overcoming a 10-1 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 11-3 debacle at home against the Diamondbacks, Sabean and Bochy held a private meeting with the starting pitchers, who had gone 5-13 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 as an intimidation factor and for fun. As their beards grew longer, it became apparent that they used black dye on their beards, although they do not admit it. AT&T; Park filled with "Fear the Beard" signs as well as Giants fans with fake black beards. The "Fear the Beard" 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 3-0 to move to within a game of first place. Despite being shut out four times in ten games, the Giants recorded an 18–8 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, 3-0. 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 3-1 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 51-30. After a 9-20 first half against division opponents, the Giants won 29 of their remaining 43 division games.

2010 World Series Champions

in the Giants' 2010 World Series victory parade]] At the beginning of the 2010 Major League Baseball season only one (Jim Caple of ESPN.com, he although 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 3-1 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 4-2, forcing a return trip to Philadelphia. In Game Six, the Giants beat Philadelphia by a final score of 3–2, to win the NLCS 4–2 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 and 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, 11-7, 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 9-0 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 7 2/3 innings without giving up a single run. The Giants went on to lose Game 3 in Arlington, Texas 4-2 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 Madison Bumgarner shut out the Rangers, 4-0, with home runs by Huff and Posey. The Giants, along with Tim Lincecum, won Game 5 by a score of 3-1. 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.

The firsts with the championship were:

Giants:

Championship since , when in New York.

Major sports championship since the 49ers win in Super Bowl XXIX.

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).

On November 15, 2010, Giants catcher Buster Posey was named NL Rookie of the Year.

Rivalries

The Giants' rivalry with the Los Angeles Dodgers dates back to when the two teams were based in New York, while the rivalry with the New York Yankees existed when the Giants were in New York. The rivalry with the Oakland Athletics dates back to when the Giants were in New York and the A's were in Philadelphia and was renewed in 1968, when the Athletics moved from Kansas City.

Los Angeles Dodgers

The rivalry with the Los Angeles Dodgers is the longest-standing and one of the most storied rivalries in the history of baseball.

The feud began in the late 19th century when both clubs were based in New York City, with the Dodgers playing in Brooklyn and the Giants playing at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan. After the season, Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley decided to move the team to Los Angeles for financial reasons, among others. Along the way, he managed to convince Giants owner Horace Stoneham (who was considering moving his team to Minnesota) to preserve the rivalry by bringing his team to California as well. New York baseball fans were stunned and heartbroken by the move. Given that the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco have long been competitors in economic, cultural, and political arenas, the new venue in California became fertile ground for its transplantation.

Each team's ability to have endured for over a century while leaping across an entire continent, as well as the rivalry's growth from a cross-city to a cross-state engagement, have led to the rivalry being considered one of the greatest in sports history.

Unlike many other historic baseball match-ups in which one team remains dominant for most of their history, the Dodgers–Giants rivalry has exhibited a persistent balance in the respective successes of the two teams. While the Giants have more wins in franchise history, both National League West teams have each won eighteen National League Pennants, more than any other franchise, and six World Series titles. The 2010 World Series was the Giants first championship since moving to California, while the Dodgers' last title came in the 1988 World Series.

New York Yankees

Though in different leagues, the Giants historically have had a rivalry with the Yankees, beginning as a regional rivalry before the Giants moved to the West Coast. Before the institution of interleague play in 1997, the two teams would have little opportunity to play each other. However, they faced off in seven World Series, in , , , , , , and . The Yankees won five of these series. The teams have only met twice in the regular season with the first meeting occurring in 2002 at the old Yankee Stadium. The teams met again at AT&T; Park in 2007.

In his farewell speech, Lou Gehrig stated that the Giants were a team that "[he] would give his right arm to beat, and vice versa."

Oakland Athletics

A geographic rivalry with the cross-bay American League Athletics has grown larger as a result of the two teams meeting in the 1989 World Series, nicknamed the "Battle of the Bay," which Oakland swept (and which was interrupted by the Loma Prieta Earthquake moments before Game 3). In addition, the introduction of interleague play in 1997 that has called for the teams to play each other about 6 times every season since 1997. This rivalry, once limited to spring-training games, is called "The Battle of the Bay" because the two teams play on opposite sides of the San Francisco Bay. They have played each other fairly evenly, despite differences that range from league, style of play, stadium, payroll, fan base stereotypes, media coverage, and World Series records—all of which have heightened the rivalry in recent years. Since the start of interleague play, the A's lead the series 34–28. The intensity of the rivalry and how it is understood varies among Bay Area fans. Some are fans of both teams. The "split hats" that feature the logos of both teams best embodies the shared fan base. Other Bay Area fans view the competition between the two teams as a "friendly rivalry" with little hatred.

This particular geographic rivalry is generally considered to be relatively friendly when compared to similar cases, including the Subway Series (New York Mets and New York Yankees), the Red Line Series (Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox), and the Freeway Series (Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim).

The Giants and A's enjoyed a limited rivalry at the start of the twentieth century prior to the emergence of the Yankees when the Giants were in New York and the A's were in Philadelphia. The teams were managed by managing legends John McGraw and Connie Mack, who were friendly rivals and considered to be the premier managers during that era. Each team played in 5 of the first 15 World Series (tying them with the Red Sox and Cubs for most World Series appearances during that time period). As the New York Giants and the Philadelphia A's, they met in three World Series, with the Giants winning in , and the A's emerging victorious in and . After becoming the San Francisco Giants and Oakland A's, they met in a fourth world series in , the most recent championship for the A's.

Baseball Hall of Famers

As of 2009, the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame has inducted 66 representatives of the Giants (55 players and 11 managers) into the Hall of Fame, more than any other team in the history of baseball. The Los Angeles Dodgers have the second most (45 players, 9 managers) and the Yankees with the third most (41 players, 11 managers).

Ford C. Frick Award recipients

Names in bold received the award based primarily on their work as Giants broadcasters.

Ernie Harwell

Russ Hodges

Lindsey Nelson

Lon Simmons

Jon Miller

* Played as Giants

Other

The following inducted members of the Hall of Fame played and/or managed for the Giants, but either played for the Giants and were inducted as a manager having never managed the Giants, or managed the Giants and were inducted as a player having never played for the Giants:

Cap Anson – inducted as player, managed Giants in 1898.

Hughie Jennings – inducted as player, managed Giants from 1924–25.

Bill McKechnie – inducted as manager, played for Giants in 1939.

Frank Robinson – inducted as player, managed Giants from 1981–84.

Casey Stengel – inducted as manager, played for Giants from 1921–23.

Broadcasters Russ Hodges, Lon Simmons, and Jon Miller are permanently honored in the Hall's "Scribes & Mikemen" exhibit as a result of winning the Ford C. Frick Award in 1980, 2004, and 2010 respectively. As with all Frick Award winners, neither is officially recognized as an inducted member of the Hall of Fame.

San Francisco Giants Wall of Famers

Retired numbers

On June 26, 2010 the Giants officially retired number 20 worn by Hall of Fame outfielder Monte Irvin.

In 1944, Hubbell became the first National Leaguer to have his number retired by his team.

Terry, Ott and Hubbell played/managed their entire careers for the New York Giants. Mays began his career in New York, moving with the Giants to San Francisco in 1958; he did not play in 1953 due to his service in the Korean War.

Also honored

John McGraw (3B, 1902–06; Manager, 1902–32) and Christy Mathewson (P, 1900–16), who were members of the New York Giants before the introduction of uniform numbers, have the letters "NY" displayed in place of a number.

Broadcasters Lon Simmons (1958–73, 1976–78, 1996–2002, 2006), Russ Hodges (1949–70), and Jon Miller (1997-current) are each represented by an old-style radio microphone displayed in place of a number.

The Giants present the Willie Mac Award annually to the player that best exemplifies the spirit and leadership shown by Willie McCovey throughout his career.

* Retired throughout the major leagues; Robinson actually was traded to the Giants, but retired before playing a game for them.

Season records

All-time record: 10372-8912(.538) (most wins in MLB history)

Current roster

Minor league affiliations

Radio and television

The Giants' flagship radio station is KNBR, 680 AM, which refers to itself as "The Sports Leader". Jon Miller, Dave Flemming, Greg Papa, and Duane Kuiper take turns as play-by-play announcers. Miller and Flemming are the regulars, usually broadcasting Monday thru Fridays during the season. Typically, when games are televised on KNTV, Kuiper replaces Miller on the radio. When Miller is out of town for his ESPN Sunday Night Baseball duties, Papa usually replaces him. However, if the Giants are involved in an ESPN telecast, Miller occasionally broadcasts on Saturdays (unless the Giants are on FOX or on KNTV). On the day of the ESPN telecast, both Kuiper and Mike Krukow typically join Flemming on the radio. F.P. Santangelo is responsible for the Post-Game show, and usually takes calls from KNBR's in-stadium studio, known as "The Bunker."

Giants' telecasts are split between KNTV (over-the-air) and Comcast SportsNet Bay Area (cable). Miller regularly calls the action on KNTV, while the announcing team for CSN telecasts is Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper, affectionately known as "Kruk and Kuip" (pronounced "Krook" and "Kype"). Papa occasionally does play-by-play on TV as well. KNTV's broadcast contract with the Giants began in 2008, one year after the team and KTVU mostly ended a relationship that dated to 1958, the team's first year in the Bay Area. (As a FOX affiliate, KTVU continues to air Giants games that are part of the Major League Baseball on Fox package; Several Giants games a year are also part of the ESPN and TBS packages.).

Since 2007, Flemming has solely called all weekend game radio broadcasts; for home games, he is typically accompanied by color commentator J. T. Snow. Krukow and Kuiper continue to announce all of the telecasts for CSN Bay Area. For the middle three innings of road games, Flemming and Kuiper trade places, with Flemming joining the CSN Bay Area telecast while Kuiper handles the radio calls.

During a July 23–25, 2010 road game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Fresno Grizzlies broadcaster Doug Greenwald filled in so that Jon Miller could travel to Cooperstown to be honored with the Ford C. Frick Award. Snow sat in so that Dave Flemming could also attend the award presentation. On September 4, 2010, while filling in for Flemming, Miller made his first appearance with CSN Bay Area.

Home run call glitch

On May 28, 2006, Flemming called the 715th career home run of Barry Bonds, putting Bonds second on the all-time home run list. Unfortunately, the power from his microphone to the transmitter cut off while the ball was in flight, so the radio audience heard only crowd noise. Papa took over the broadcast and apologized to listeners. Kuiper's TV call was submitted to the Baseball Hall of Fame as an artifact, instead of the usual radio call.

See also

Giants statistical records and milestone achievements

List of San Francisco Giants broadcasters

San Francisco Giants general managers and managers

Yomiuri Giants, a Japanese baseball team whose uniforms and logos resemble the San Francisco team's

New York Giants (football team that was named after the Giants when both teams played at the Polo Grounds in New York)

2010 San Francisco Giants season

Francisco Grande (The Giants' spring training camp from 1959–1982)

The Fan, a film starring Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes that centers on the Giants.

References

General reference

External links

Official Website

Baseball Reference

}}

Category:Major League Baseball teams * Category:Professional baseball teams in California Category:Sports clubs established in 1883 Category:Cactus League Category:Baseball teams in San Francisco, California

Name	Brian Wilson
Landscape	yes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Brian Douglas Wilson
Born	June 20, 1942Inglewood, California, United States
Instrument	Vocals, bass, piano, synthesizers
Genre	Psychedelic rock, surf rock, psychedelic pop, baroque pop, art rock, rock, pop
Occupation	Songwriter, bassist, pianist, vocalist, producer, composer, arranger
Years active	1961–present
Label	Capitol/EMI RecordsSire/Reprise/Warner Bros. RecordsBrother/Reprise/Warner Bros. RecordsGiant/Warner Bros. RecordsCaribou/CBS RecordsNonesuch/Elektra Records
Associated acts	The Beach Boys
Url	BrianWilson.com
Notable instruments	Fender Precision BassBaldwin HT2R Theater Organ

Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942 in Inglewood, California) is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group. Besides being the primary composer in The Beach Boys, he also functioned as the band's main producer and arranger. Wilson's life was derailed by years of drug abuse and mental illness, contributing to tensions with the band. After years of treatment and recuperation, he began a solo career in 1988.

That same year, Wilson and his bandmates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which refers to Wilson on its website as "One of the few undisputed geniuses in popular music". In 2008, Rolling Stone magazine published a list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time", and ranked Wilson number 52. Wilson won a Grammy Award in 2005 for "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow (Fire)" as Best Rock Instrumental. He is also an occasional actor and voice actor, having appeared in television shows, films, and other music artist music videos.

Life and career

Early years

Wilson was born on June 20, 1942 at Centinela Hospital in Inglewood, California. He was the eldest of three boys; his younger brothers were Dennis and Carl. When Brian was two, the Wilson family moved from Inglewood to 3701 West 119th Street in nearby Hawthorne, California, a town in the greater Los Angeles urban area about five miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. He spent his entire subsequent childhood years in this middle-class family home.

Brian Wilson's father Murry Wilson told of Brian's unusual musical abilities prior to his first birthday, observing that the baby could repeat the melody from "When the Caissons Go Rolling Along" after only a few verses had been sung by the father. Murry stated, "He was very clever and quick. I just fell in love with him."

At about age two, Brian heard George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue", which had an enormous emotional impact on him. A few years later Brian was discovered to have extremely diminished hearing in his right ear. The exact cause of this hearing loss is unclear, though theories range from Brian's simply being born partially deaf, to a blow to the head from Brian's father, or a neighborhood bully, being to blame.

While father Murry was ostensibly a reasonable provider, he was abusive and hard to please, liable to dispense harsh punishments for minor or perceived misdeeds. But Murry, a minor musician and songwriter, also encouraged his children in this field in numerous ways. At a young age, Brian was given six weeks of lessons on a "toy accordion", and at seven and eight sang solos in church with a choir behind him.

By most accounts a natural leader by the time he began attending Hawthorne High School, Brian was on the football team as a quarterback, played baseball and was a cross-country runner in his senior year. However, most of his energy was directed toward music. He sang with various students at school functions and with his family and friends at home. Brian taught his two brothers harmony parts that all three would then practice when they were supposed to be asleep. He also played piano obsessively after school, deconstructing the harmonies of The Four Freshmen by listening to short segments of their songs on a phonograph, then working to recreate the blended sounds note by note on the keyboard. Brian received a Wollensak tape recorder on his sixteenth birthday, allowing him to experiment with recording songs and early group vocals.

First steps: Carl and the Passions

Wilson's surviving home tapes document his initial efforts singing with various buddies and family, including a song that would later be recorded in the studio by The Beach Boys, "Sloop John B", as well as "Bermuda Shorts" and a hymn titled "Good News". In his senior year at Hawthorne High, in addition to his classroom music studies, he would gather at lunchtime to sing with friends like Keith Lent and Bruce Griffin. Brian and Lent worked on a revised version of the tune "Hully Gully" to support the campaign of a classmate named Carol Hess who was running for senior class president. When performed for a full high school gathering, Brian's revised arrangement received a warm round of applause from the student audience.

Enlisting his cousin and often-time singing partner Mike Love, and Wilson's reluctant youngest brother Carl Wilson, Brian's next public performance featured more ambitious arrangements at a fall arts program at his high school. To entice Carl into the group, Wilson named the newly-formed membership "Carl and the Passions". The performance featured tunes by Dion and the Belmonts and The Four Freshmen ("It's a Blue World"), the latter of which proved difficult for the ensemble to carry off. However, the event was notable for the impression it made on another musician and classmate of Brian's who was in the audience that night, Al Jardine, later to join the three Wilson brothers and Mike Love in The Beach Boys.

Initial compositions and the Pendletones

Brian enrolled at El Camino Community College in Los Angeles, majoring in psychology, in September 1960. However, he continued his music studies at the college as well. At some point in the year 1961 Brian wrote his first all-original melody, loosely based on a Dion and the Belmonts version of "When You Wish Upon a Star". Brian's tune would eventually be known as "Surfer Girl". Brian has commented that he wrote the melody in his car, then later at home finished the bridge and harmonies. Although an early demo of the song was recorded in Feb. 1962 at World-Pacific Studios, it was not re-recorded and released until 1963, when it became a top ten hit.

Brian and his brothers Carl and Dennis Wilson along with Mike Love and Al Jardine first gelled as a music group in the summer of 1961, initially named the Pendletones. After being prodded by Dennis to write a song about the local water sports craze, Brian and Mike Love together created what would become the first single for the band, "Surfin'". Over Labor Day weekend 1961, Brian took advantage of the fact that his parents were in Mexico City for a couple days and intended to use the emergency money they had left for the boys to rent an amp, a microphone, and a stand-up bass. As it turned out, the money they had left was not enough to cover musical expenses, so Al Jardine appealed to his mother, Virginia for assistance. When she heard the group perform, she was suitably impressed and handed over $300 to help out. Al promptly took Brian to the music store where he was able to rent a stand-up bass. After two days of rehearsing in the Wilson's music room, Brian's parents returned home from their trip. Murry was irate, until Brian convinced him to listen to what they'd been up to. His father was convinced that the boys did indeed have something worth pursuing. He quickly proclaimed himself the group's manager and the band embarked on serious rehearsals for a proper studio session. Recorded by Hite and Dorinda Morgan and released on the small Candix label, "Surfin'" became a top local hit in Los Angeles and reached number seventy-five on the national Billboard sales charts.

Dennis later described the first time Brian heard their song on the radio as the three Wilson brothers (and soon-to-be-band member David Marks) drove in Brian's 1957 Ford in the rain: "Nothing will ever top the expression on Brian's face, ever ... THAT was the all-time moment."

However, the Pendletones were no more. Without the band's knowledge or permission, Candix Records had changed their name to The Beach Boys.

First performances and the quest for a major label

Brian Wilson and his bandmates, following a set by Ike and Tina Turner, performed their first major live show at The Ritchie Valens Memorial Dance on New Year's Eve, 1961. Three days previously, Brian's father had bought him an electric bass and amplifier; Brian had learned to play the instrument in that short period of time, with Al Jardine moving to rhythm guitar.

Looking for a followup single for their radio hit, Brian and Mike wrote "Surfin' Safari", and attempts were made to record a usable take at World Pacific, including overdubs, on February 8, 1962, along with several other tunes including an early version of "Surfer Girl". Only a few days later, discouraged about the band's financial prospects, and objecting to adding some Chubby Checker songs to The Beach Boys live setlist, Al Jardine abruptly left the group.

Murry Wilson had become The Beach Boys manager, and when Candix Records ran into money problems and sold the group's master recordings to another label, Murry terminated the contract. Brian, worried about The Beach Boys' future, asked his father to help his group make more recordings. But Murry and Hite Morgan (who at this point was their music publisher) were turned down by a number of Los Angeles record companies.

As "Surfin'" faded from the charts, Brian, who had forged a songwriting partnership with Gary Usher, created several new tunes, including a car song, "409", that Usher had helped write. Recruiting Carl and Dennis' friend, thirteen-year-old neighbor David Marks, who had been playing electric guitar (and practicing with Carl) for years, Brian and the revamped Beach Boys cut new tracks on April 19 at Western Recorders including an updated "Surfin' Safari" and "409". These tunes convinced Capitol Records to release the demos as a single; they became a double-sided national hit.

The Beach Boys and first success with Capitol Records

After signing with Capitol Records in mid-1962, Brian Wilson wrote or co-wrote a series of hit singles including the aforementioned "Surfin' Safari", " Surfin' USA", "Shut Down", "Little Deuce Coupe", "Be True to Your School", "In My Room", "Fun, Fun, Fun", "I Get Around", "Dance, Dance, Dance", "Help Me Rhonda", "California Girls" and "Good Vibrations". These songs and their accompanying albums were internationally popular, making The Beach Boys one of the biggest acts of their time.

Recording sessions for the band's first album took place in Capitol's basement studios (in the famous tower building) in August 1962, but early on Brian lobbied for a different place to cut Beach Boy tracks. The large rooms were built to record the big orchestras and ensembles of the 50s, not small rock groups. At Brian's insistence, Capitol agreed to let The Beach Boys pay for their own outside recording sessions, which Capitol would own all the rights to, and in return the band would receive a higher royalty rate on their record sales. Additionally, although it was very rare at the time for rock and roll band members to have a say in the process of making their records, during the taping of their first LP Brian fought for, and won, the right to be totally in charge of the production- though his first acknowledged liner notes production credit did not come until the band's third album Surfer Girl, in 1963.

January 1963 saw the recording of the first top-ten (cresting at #3 in the United States) Beach Boys single, "Surfin' USA", which began their long run of highly successful recording efforts at Hollywood's Western Recorders on Sunset Boulevard. It was during the sessions for this single that Brian made the production decision from that point on to use doubletracking on the group's vocals, resulting in a deeper and more resonant sound.

The tune, adapted from (and eventually partially credited to) Chuck Berry, is widely seen as emblematic of the early 60s American rock cultural experience. The Surfin' USA album was also a big hit in the United States, reaching number two on the national sales charts by early July, 1963. Brian and his group had become a top-rank recording and touring music band.

Early era as writer/producer

As previously mentioned, Brian was first credited as The Beach Boys' producer on the Surfer Girl album, recorded in June and July 1963 and released in September 1963. This LP reached #7 on the national charts on the strength of songs like the ballad "In My Room", later released as a single; "Catch a Wave"; and "Little Deuce Coupe", which was released as a double-sided single with the album's title track, both top-15 hits.

He also began working with other artists in this period. On July 20, 1963, "Surf City", which he had co-written with Jan and Dean, was the first surfing song to reach the pinnacle of the sales charts. While Brian was excited and happy, his father (and still-manager) Murry and Capitol Records were less than thrilled. Indeed, openly enraged by Brian's chart-topping effort for what he saw as a rival band, Murry went so far as to order his oldest son to sever any further efforts with Jan and Dean.

Brian's other non-Beach Boy work in this period included tracks by The Honeys, Sharon Marie, The Timers, and The Survivors. Feeling that surfing songs had become limiting, Brian decided to produce a set of largely car-oriented tunes for The Beach Boys' fourth album Little Deuce Coupe, which was released in October 1963, only three weeks after the Surfer Girl LP. The departure of guitarist David Marks from the band that month meant that Brian was forced to resume touring with The Beach Boys, for a time reducing his availability in the recording studio.

Artistic growth

Brian became known for his unique use of vocal harmonies, his trademark style of lyrics and incessant studio perfectionism. Early influences on his music included not only the previously mentioned Four Freshmen and Chuck Berry, but also the work of record producer Phil Spector, the latter of whom obsessed Wilson for years. He later considered The Beatles to be his chief rivals, and they in turn would cite his work as a major influence. Wilson also produced records for other artists, but to much lesser success, with the exception of Jan and Dean, for whom Wilson co-wrote several hit songs. Following a nervous breakdown onboard a flight from L.A. to Houston in 1964,|}} As he began work on the new project, Pet Sounds, Wilson formed a temporary songwriting partnership with lyricist Tony Asher. Wilson, who had recorded the album's instrumentation with The Wrecking Crew, then gathered with The Beach Boys to record vocal overdubs, following their return from a tour of Japan. Upon hearing what Wilson had created for the first time in 1965,

During the Pet Sounds sessions, Wilson had been working on another song, which was held back from inclusion on the record as he felt that it was not sufficiently complete. The song, "Good Vibrations", set a new standard for musicians, and what could be achieved in the recording studio. Recorded in multiple sessions and in numerous studios, the song eventually cost $50,000 to record within a six month period. In October 1966, the song was released as a single, giving The Beach Boys their third U.S. number-one hit—alongside "I Get Around" and "Help Me, Rhonda"—and it sold over a million copies.

Smile, group tension and Brother Records

With the surprising success of "Good Vibrations", Capitol Records had no choice but to back Wilson up for his next project, originally called Dumb Angel Soon after, Smile was abandoned, and Wilson would not return to complete it until 2004, when it was released as a Brian Wilson album of the same name. Van Dyke Parks later noted, "...Brian had a nervous collapse. What broke his heart was Sgt. Pepper."

:[A] combination of factors, including litigations against the record company and increasing animosity between Wilson and the rest of the band, meant that in May 1967 Wilson pulled the plug on the record... [Mike] Love had already dismissed "Good Vibrations "as "avant-garde shit" and objected to the way Wilson, Parks and a group of highly skilled session musicians were creating music way beyond his understanding... By March 1967, the bad feeling got too much for Parks and, having no desire to break up The Beach Boys, he walked out.

Following the cancellation of Smile, The Beach Boys relocated to a recording studio within the confines of Brian Wilson's mansion, where the hastily compiled Smiley Smile album was assembled, along with a number of future Beach Boys records. This marked the end of Wilson's leadership within the band, and has been seen to be "the moment when the Beach Boys first started slipping from the vanguard to nostalgia."

Mental illness

Psychologically overwhelmed by the cancellation of Smile, the release of The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the birth of his first child Carnie Wilson in 1968, Wilson began having a diminished creative role with The Beach Boys. Until about 1970 he remained the group's principal songwriter, but increasingly production reins were handed to younger brother Carl. Carl Wilson mostly oversaw the albums Smiley Smile, Wild Honey, and Friends, (a personal favorite of Brian's), which only performed modestly on the charts. After that, Brian Wilson all but stopped writing songs and was frequently seen partying in the company of songwriter Tandyn Almer and Three Dog Night singer Danny Hutton. It was during this period that he was introduced to cocaine. The 1969 album 20/20 was made mostly without Wilson's participation, although the Wilson/Love-authored "Do It Again" was a major hit, topping the charts in the UK.

Wilson spent the majority of the following three years in his bedroom sleeping, taking drugs, and overeating. During this time, his voice deteriorated significantly as a result of chain smoking, drug ingestion and neglect. Many of his "new" contributions to Beach Boys albums were remnants of Smile (e.g., "Cabinessence", "Surf's Up"), and those that were genuinely new reflected his depression and growing detachment from the world ("'Til I Die", the EP "Mount Vernon and Fairway"). Reportedly, Warner Bros. Records was so desperate for material from Wilson that the single "We Got Love" (co-written by Ricky Fataar, Blondie Chaplin, and Love) was scrapped from the Holland album in favor of "Sail On, Sailor", a song mostly written by committee (including Chaplin, Almer and Parks) that happened to draw its initial germ from a Wilson chord sequence.

In 1975, Wilson's wife and family enlisted the services of controversial therapist Eugene Landy in a bid to help Wilson, and hopefully help revive the group's ailing profile. Wilson did not stay under Landy's care for long, but during this short period, the doctor managed to help him into a more productive, social frame of mind. The new album 15 Big Ones, consisting of oldies and some new songs was released in 1976 and Wilson began to regularly appear live on stage with the band. A Love-orchestrated publicity campaign announced that "Brian is Back". He was also deemed to be well enough to do a solo performance on Saturday Night Live in November 1976. In 1977, the cult favorite Love You was released, consisting entirely of new material written and performed by Wilson. He continues to say it is his favorite Beach Boys album.

By 1982, Eugene Landy was once more called into action, and a more radical program was undertaken to try to restore Wilson to health. This involved firing him from The Beach Boys, isolating him from his family on Hawaii, and putting him onto a rigorous diet and health regimen. This, coupled with long, extreme counseling sessions, continued to bring Wilson back to reality. He lost a tremendous amount of weight, was certainly healthier and more conversant than previously, but he was also under a strict level of control by Landy. Wilson's recovery continued as he joined the band on stage in Live Aid in 1985, and recorded the album The Beach Boys with the group.

Dr. Landy provided a Svengali-like environment for Wilson, controlling his every movement in his life, including his musical direction. Landy's misconduct would eventually lead to the loss of his psychologist license, as well as a court-ordered removal and restraining order from Wilson.

Some years later, during his second marriage, Wilson was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type which supposedly caused him to hear voices in his head. By 1989 the rumor was that Brian either had a stroke or had abused too many drugs and was permanently "fried". a neurological condition marked by involuntary, repetitive movements, that develops in about 20% of patients treated with antipsychotic drugs for a long period of time. Wilson's drug regimen has now been reduced to a mild combination of antidepressants, and he has resumed recording and performing.

The effects of Brian Wilson's mental illness on his parenting skills were discussed by Wilson's daughter Wendy during her appearance in an episode of the British reality television program Supernanny. Wilson's daughter Carnie and granddaughter Lola also made an appearance on the episode. The effects of Brian Wilson's mental illness are also referenced in the Barenaked Ladies song "Brian Wilson".

Solo career

Wilson launched a career as a solo artist in 1988 with limited success. It is possible that his efforts in this regard were both encouraged and hampered by Landy's influence. Partly due to the control that Landy exercised on his life, Wilson stopped working with The Beach Boys on a regular basis after the release of The Beach Boys in 1985. He had been signed to a solo record deal with Sire Records by label boss Seymour Stein.

Wilson released a solo album, Brian Wilson, in 1988 and a memoir, Wouldn't It Be Nice - My Own Story, in which he spoke for the first time about his troubled relationship with his abusive father Murry and his "lost years" of mental illness. Although it was written following interviews with Brian and others, Landy was largely responsible for the book, in conjunction with People magazine writer Todd Gold. The book describes Landy in terms that could be called messianic. In a later lawsuit over the book, instigated by several family members including his brother Carl and mother Audree, Wilson testified in court that he hadn't even read the final manuscript. As a result, the book was taken out of press some years later.

A second solo album made for Sire, entitled Sweet Insanity, was never released. Landy's illegal use of psychotropic drugs on Wilson and his influence over Wilson's financial affairs was legally ended by Carl Wilson. In 1995, Wilson married Melinda Ledbetter. The couple adopted two girls, Daria Rose and Delanie Rae, in 1998; a boy, Dylan, in 2004; a boy, Dash Tristan; and a girl, Dakota Rose, in 2010 in 2009. Wilson has two daughters from his first marriage to Marilyn Rovell: Carnie Wilson and Wendy Wilson, who would go on to musical success of their own in the early 1990s as two-thirds of Wilson Phillips.

Also in 1995, he released two albums, albeit neither containing any new original Wilson material, almost simultaneously. The first, the soundtrack to Don Was's documentary I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, consists of re-recorded versions of songs from his Beach Boys and solo catalogue produced by Was, along with a 1976-vintage demo recording. The second, Orange Crate Art, saw Wilson as lead vocalist, multitracked many times over, on an album of songs produced, arranged and (mostly) written by Van Dyke Parks, and was released as a duo album under both men's names.

His final release as part of the group was on the 1996 album Stars and Stripes Vol. 1, a group collaboration with select country music artists singing the lead vocals. After considerable mental recovery, he mended his relationship with his daughters Carnie and Wendy and the three of them released an album in 1997 titled The Wilsons.

In 1996 Wilson sang backup on Belinda Carlisle's "California."

Wilson released a second solo album of mostly new material, Imagination, in 1998. Following this, he received extensive vocal coaching to improve his voice, and learned to cope with his stage fright and started to play live for the first time in decades, going on to play the whole Pet Sounds album live on his tours of the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe.

A new studio album, Gettin' in Over My Head, was released on June 22, 2004. It featured collaborations with Elton John, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, and Wilson's deceased brother Carl. Clapton played on the track "City Blues." The album was almost entirely composed of re-recordings of unreleased material, and received mixed reviews.

Smile resurrected

With the improvements in his mental health, Wilson found himself able to contemplate returning to the Smile project. Aided by musician and long time fan Darian Sahanaja of The Wondermints, and lyricist Van Dyke Parks, Brian painstakingly worked throughout 2003 to realize the album. In February 2004, 37 years after it was conceived, Wilson debuted the newly completed Smile at the Royal Festival Hall in London and throughout a subsequent UK tour.

The debut performance at the RFH was a defining moment for Brian. The documentary DVD of the event shows Brian preparing for the big day and, right up to show time, expressing doubts over the concept of putting this legendary work before the public. After an opening set of Beach Boys classics, he climbed back on stage for a rousing performance of the album. A 10-minute standing ovation followed the concert; the DVD shows a sprinkling of rock luminaries in the crowd, such as Roger Daltrey, Paul Weller, Sir George Martin and Sir Paul McCartney (although neither Martin nor McCartney attended the opening night, contrary to what the DVD implies).

Smile was then recorded through April to June and released in September, to wide critical acclaim. The release hit #13 on the Billboard chart. The 2004 recording featured his backup/touring band, including Beach Boys guitarist Jeff Foskett, members of the Wondermints and backup singer Taylor Mills. In this version, "Good Vibrations" features Tony Asher's original lyrics in the verses, instead of Mike Love's lyrics from the released 1966 version.

Wilson won his only Grammy Award in 2005 for the track "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow (Fire)" as Best Rock Instrumental. In 2004 Smile was taken on the road for a thorough tour of Australia, New Zealand and Europe. In December 2005, he also released What I Really Want for Christmas for Arista Records. The release hit #200 on the Billboard chart, though sales were modest. Wilson's remake of the classic "Deck The Halls" became a surprise Top 10 Adult Contemporary hit.

Though no longer a part of The Beach Boys touring band, Brian Wilson remains a member of the Beach Boys corporation, Brother Records Incorporated.

Post-Smile to That Lucky Old Sun

In February 2005, Wilson had a cameo in the TV series Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century as Daffy Duck's spiritual surfing advisor. He also appeared in the 2005 holiday episode of , performing "Deck the Halls" for a group of children with xeroderma pigmentosum (hypersensitivity to sunlight) at Walt Disney World Resort. On July 2, 2005, Wilson performed for the Live 8 concert in Berlin, Germany.

In September 2005, Wilson arranged a charity drive to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina, wherein people who donated $100 or more would receive a personal phone call from Wilson. According to the website, over $250K was raised. In November 2005, former bandmate Mike Love sued Wilson over "shamelessly misappropriating... Love's songs, likeness, and the Beach Boys trademark, as well as the 'Smile' album itself" in the promotion of Smile. The lawsuit was ultimately thrown out of court on grounds that it was meritless.

On November 1, 2006, Wilson kicked off a small but highly anticipated tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of Pet Sounds. He was joined by Al Jardine.

Wilson released a new album That Lucky Old Sun on September 2, 2008. The piece originally debuted in a series of September 2007 concerts at London's Royal Festival Hall, and in January 2008 at Sydney's State Theatre while headlining the Sydney Festival. Wilson describes the piece as "consisting of five 'rounds', with interspersed spoken word". A series of US and UK concerts led up to its release.

On September 30, 2008, Seattle's Light in the Attic Records released A World of Peace Must Come, a collaboration between Wilson and Stephen Kalinich, originally recorded in 1969, but later lost in Kalinich's closet.

Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin (2009–present)

In summer 2009, Wilson was approached by the Gershwin estate to record an album of covers of classic Gershwin songs, and to complete two piano pieces left unfinished by Gershwin at his death. The album, Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin, was released on August 17, 2010 on Disney's Pearl label. Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin hit #1 on the Billboard Jazz Chart. Wilson signed a two-record deal with Disney; the second album will be a collection of classic Disney movie songs.

Awards and recognitions

Wilson and the Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame in January 1988, alongside The Beatles and Bob Dylan.

In 2000, Wilson was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Paul McCartney introduced Brian, referring to him as "one of the great American geniuses."

In March 2001, TNT and Radio City Music Hall hosted "An All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson." This event featured performances and appearances by Elton John, Billy Joel, Chazz Palminteri host, David Crosby, Dennis Hopper, Paul Simon, Carly Simon, The Go-Go's, Cameron Crowe, Sir George Martin, Vince Gill, Brain's daughters Carnie & Wendy Wilson along with Chynna Phillips (Wilson Phillips), Jimmy Webb, Darius Rucker, Matthew Sweet, Ann and Nancy Wilson of (Heart), The Boys Choir of Harlem, and others.

Pet Sounds has been ranked as one of the most influential records in western pop music, and has been ranked #1 on several music magazines' lists of the greatest albums of all time. It is ranked #2 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

On May 10, 2004, Wilson was honored as a BMI Icon at the 52th annual BMI Pop Awards. He was saluted for his "unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers."

A 2005 concert, "Musicares: A Tribute to Brian Wilson," was held in Wilson's honor, during which he was named MusiCares Person of the Year. Performers included Jeff Beck, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Earth Wind & Fire, Barenaked Ladies, and The Backstreet Boys, among others.

On May 20, 2005, Wilson and the five other original-era Beach Boys were honored with the unveiling of the Beach Boys Historic Landmark on the former site of the Wilson family home in Hawthorne, California.

In 2005, Wilson won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for Mrs. O'Leary's Cow.

In November 2006, Wilson was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. Wilson performed "God Only Knows" and "Good Vibrations" at the ceremony.

On December 2, 2007, the Kennedy Center Honors committee recognized Wilson for a lifetime of contributions to American culture through the performing arts in music.

Discography

Brian Wilson (July 12, 1988)

I Just Wasn't Made for These Times (August 15, 1995)

Orange Crate Art (with Van Dyke Parks) (October 24, 1995)

Imagination (June 16, 1998)

Live at the Roxy Theatre (June, 2000)

Pet Sounds Live (June 11, 2002)

Gettin' in Over My Head (June 22, 2004)

Smile (September 28, 2004)

What I Really Want for Christmas (October 18, 2005)

That Lucky Old Sun (September 2, 2008)

Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin (August 17, 2010)

See also

List of songs by Brian Wilson

Beach Boys Historic Landmark

A Tribute To Brian Wilson - Radio City Music Hall (March 29, 2001)

Notes

References

Badman, Keith. The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band on Stage and in the Studio (Backstreet Books, 2004). ISBN 0-87930-818-4.

Carlin, Peter Ames. Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson (Rodale Inc., 2006). ISBN 13 978-1-59486-749-1.

Leaf, David. The Beach Boys and the California Myth (Kingsport Press, 1978). ISBN 0 89471 412 0.

Lambert, Philip. Inside the Music of Brian Wilson: the songs, sounds and influences of the Beach Boys' founding genius (Continuum International Publishing Group Inc., 2007). ISBN 13 978 0 8264 1877 7.

Stebbins, Jon. The Lost Beach Boy (Virgin Books Ltd, 2007). ISBN 978 1 8522 7391 0.

External links

Official site

2004 Larry King Transcript where they speak about Wilson's mental illness

The Guardian (June 1, 2002)">"After the wipe out" by Ginny Dougary in The Guardian (June 1, 2002)

"Four Decades Later, Wilson's 'Smile' Hits London" Audio review at NPR (February 25, 2004)

SMiLE Timeline

Brian Wilson Pictures from 2007 Consumer Electronics Show performance

January 2009 Interview with L.A. Record

This list of "outside productions" by members of the Beach Boys includes records Brian produced and-or wrote for other artists throughout his career

Cabin Essence, Web Page for Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson's Wave by Peter Ames Carlin, American Heritage, August/September 2004.

Category:American composers Category:American record producers Category:American rock bass guitarists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Sire Records artists Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Nonesuch Records artists Category:Giant Records artists Category:Musicians from California Category:People from the Greater Los Angeles Area Category:People with bipolar disorder Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Category:The Beach Boys members Category:1942 births Category:Songwriters from California Category:Living people Category:People with schizophrenia

Timothy Leroy Lincecum (; born June 15, 1984) is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants. He is nicknamed "The Freak" and "The Franchise." He throws right-handed and bats left-handed. Lincecum is known for his long stride, unorthodox mechanics, and ability to generate high velocity despite his slight build of 5'11", 172 lbs. Lincecum won the 2008 and 2009 National League Cy Young Awards, and was the first second-year player to win the Cy Young since Dwight Gooden and Bret Saberhagen both won in 1985.

His repertoire includes a two-seam fastball that he throws at 90-93 mph, a changeup he grips like a splitter, a curveball notable for its sharp breaking action, a slider and a four-seam fastball that reaches speeds in the mid-nineties.

High school and college

Lincecum attended Liberty Senior High School in Renton, Washington, where he played two seasons of varsity baseball. As a senior, he won state player of the year and led his school to the 2003 3A state championship.

Lincecum went on to pitch for the University of Washington. In 2006, he finished 12–4 with a 1.94 ERA, 199 strikeouts, and three saves in 125⅓ innings.

In the summer of 2004 Lincecum played for the amateur National Baseball Congress (NBC) Seattle Studs and won two games in the NBC World Series that year. In 2009 he was named NBC Graduate of the Year.

In the summer of 2005 he played for the Harwich Mariners in the Cape Cod Baseball League.

Draft and minor league career

Lincecum was selected by the Chicago Cubs in the forty-eighth round (1,408th overall) of the 2003 MLB Draft, but did not sign. He decided to attend college instead, and was selected by the Cleveland Indians in the forty-second round (1,261st overall) upon re-entering the draft in 2005, but once again failed to sign. The next year, he was drafted tenth overall by the San Francisco Giants, becoming the first player from the University of Washington to be taken in the first round.

During his brief minor league career, he was frequently named as the top pitching prospect in the Giants organization.

Lincecum made his professional debut on July 26, 2006, with the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes (the Giants' Class A Short Season affiliate) against the Vancouver Canadians, pitching one inning and striking out all three batters he faced. After his second outing on July 31 against the Boise Hawks, in which he pitched three innings, striking out seven and allowing just one baserunner, he was promoted to the High Class-A San Jose Giants.

On August 5, in his first start in San Jose against the Bakersfield Blaze, he pitched 2⅔ innings, allowing three runs (two earned), and striking out five. Lincecum finished the year 2–0 with a 1.95 ERA, 48 strikeouts, and 12 walks in 27⅔ innings pitched. He also got the victory in the opening game of the California League playoffs, giving up one run on five hits in seven innings, striking out ten and walking one against the Visalia Oaks. Visalia would win the series 3–2.

Going into 2007, Lincecum was ranked as the #11 prospect in baseball and the #1 prospect in the San Francisco Giants by Baseball America. He spent the first month of the season pitching for the Fresno Grizzlies, the Giants' Triple-A affiliate. In five starts (31 innings), he allowed just one run, twelve hits, eleven walks, while striking out forty-six and going 4–0. During his 2006 and 2007 minor league campaigns, Lincecum struck out the highest percentage of batters (minimum 100) of any minor league pitcher in the last ten years: 30.9 percent.

In the spring of 2007, Colorado Rockies prospect Ian Stewart called Lincecum "the toughest pitcher [he] ever faced," adding "Guys on our club who have been in the big leagues said he’s the toughest guy they ever faced too … I’m not really sure why he’s down here, but for a guy who was drafted last year … that guy is filthy."

Major league career

With an injury to the Giants' fifth starter, Russ Ortiz, Lincecum was called up from Fresno to make his first major league start on May 6, 2007, against the Philadelphia Phillies. He earned a no-decision; the Giants ultimately lost the game, 8–5. In his first career inning, Lincecum gave up two hits and two runs, and struck out three. Lincecum, who is often compared to Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Oswalt, faced him in each of his next two starts, Oswalt with the Astros at the time. After the first match-up, Astros third baseman Mike Lamb said, "The stuff he was throwing out there tonight was everything he's hyped up to be. He was 97 mph with movement. You just don't see that every day. He pitched very much like the pitcher he is compared to and out-dueled him throughout the night." The pair dueled to a no-decision the first time, and Lincecum pitched eight innings and got the win the second time.

In his first four starts in June, he allowed twenty-two earned runs in 18⅔ innings, for a 10.61 ERA. He failed to make it to the fifth inning in any of the last three starts, against Oakland, Toronto, and Milwaukee. In July, he went 4–0 with a 1.62 ERA. On July 1, in a seven inning performance against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he struck out twelve, the fourth highest total ever by a Giants rookie.

Lincecum pitched into the ninth inning for the first time on August 21 against the Chicago Cubs. He had allowed just two hits and one walk through the first eight, while throwing only eighty-eight pitches. He took a 1–0 lead into the ninth, but allowed three consecutive hits before being pulled. The Cubs scored several times against the Giants bullpen and Lincecum took the loss. Cubs shortstop Ryan Theriot said after the game, "He's got electric stuff. The best stuff I've seen all year."

Lincecum was shut down in September as a precaution, due to his high inning count in his first full year of professional ball. Between the minors and the majors, he pitched a total of 177⅓ innings.

2008

The Giants asked Lincecum not to throw the bullpen sessions typical of other pitchers during the off-season. Manager Bruce Bochy told the San Francisco Chronicle that they were being careful with Lincecum because there have been studies that show that pitchers who throw 200 innings early in their career were more susceptible to injuries.

On May 15, 2008, after Lincecum struck out ten Houston Astros in six innings, Houston first baseman Lance Berkman offered his view of Lincecum: "He's got as good of stuff as I've ever seen. ... He's got three almost unhittable pitches." After falling to Lincecum and the Giants 6–3 on May 27, Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Conor Jackson gave his impression of facing Lincecum: "He's got good stuff," Jackson said. "From what I saw tonight, that's the best arm I've seen all year, no doubt. You've got to almost hit a ball right down the middle. You're going to pop up the ball at your bellybutton, which we all did tonight, and the one down, it's coming in at 98 mph, you're not going to put too much good wood on it. Even the ones down the middle are coming at 98. He's good, man."

Lincecum was on the cover of the July 7, 2008, issue of Sports Illustrated, and on July 6, he was selected to play in his first Major League Baseball All-Star Game. However, he was hospitalized the day of the game due to flu-like symptoms and was unavailable to pitch. In a July 26 game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, he struck out thirteen batters in seven innings while allowing only seven hits, two earned runs, and no walks.

Lincecum pitched his first complete game shutout against the San Diego Padres on September 13, 2008. In nine innings he threw 138 pitches, gave up four hits and struck out twelve batters. On September 23, he broke Jason Schmidt's San Francisco single-season strikeout record with his 252nd strikeout of the season against the Colorado Rockies. He finished the season with 265 strikeouts (54 of them three-pitch strikeouts, the most in the majors), making him the first San Francisco pitcher to win the (NL) strikeout title, and the first Giant since Bill Voiselle in 1944. His 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings pitched were the best in the majors, and his .316 slugging-percentage-against was the lowest in the major leagues, as was his .612 OPS-against—but his seventeen wild pitches tied for the most in the major leagues. His 138 pitches on September 13 were the most by any pitcher in a game in 2008. On November 11, 2008, Lincecum was awarded the NL Cy Young Award, making him the second Giant to win the award after Mike McCormick.

2009

After winning the NL Cy Young Award in 2008, Lincecum continued his dominance in the NL. On July 3, Lincecum was announced as the NL Pitcher of the Month for June. In his six June starts he went 4–1 with a 1.38 ERA, and pitched three complete games. Lincecum was announced as an NL All-Star along with his teammate Matt Cain. He was also the starting pitcher for the NL. Lincecum went two innings in the All-Star Game, giving up two runs, one earned, and striking out one.

Through twenty starts in 2009, Lincecum had gone 11-3 with a 2.30 ERA, 183 strikeouts, four complete games, and two shutouts. Lincecum also had a twenty-nine scoreless inning streak, third-best since the Giants moved west in 1958.

On July 27, Lincecum pitched a complete game and had fifteen strikeouts against the Pittsburgh Pirates, a career high. He is the first Giant pitcher to strike out fifteen since Jason Schmidt fanned sixteen on June 6, 2006.

Lincecum missed his first game since coming up to the big leagues on September 8 against the San Diego Padres. Madison Bumgarner took his place that day, making his major league debut. Lincecum was healthy enough to make his next start on September 14, pitching seven innings with eleven strikeouts lowering his ERA to 2.30, and picking up his fourteenth win of the year. Lincecum finished the 2009 season with a 15–7 record, 2.48 ERA and 261 strikeouts. Following the season, Lincecum was named Sporting News NL Pitcher of the Year for the second consecutive year. On November 19, Lincecum was awarded his second consecutive Cy Young Award, narrowly edging out St. Louis Cardinals pitchers Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright. In doing so, he became the first pitcher in history to be awarded the Cy Young in each of his first two full seasons in the Major League Baseball. However, this Cy Young came with controversy: two weeks prior to being awarded the Cy Young, Lincecum was cited during a traffic stop for misdemeanor possession of marijuana.

2010

Lincecum continued his dominance in the league by starting 5–0. His strikeouts piled up quickly and was atop the Major Leagues in the category through the early season. However, issues concerning Lincecum's control over the movement of his pitches arose when he walked five batters for the fourth consecutive start on May 31. Although the early struggles have been mostly dismissed as a "lack of confidence" or "mental" issues, Lincecum himself admits that the slump lasted "longer than I was hoping it would".

Lincecum eventually recovered somewhat from his slump and made the 2010 National League All-Star Team. As of the All-Star break, Lincecum was 9-4 with a 3.16 ERA over 116.2 innings pitched.

On July 15, in his first start after the All-Star game, Lincecum pitched a six-hit complete game shutout against the New York Mets.

After a disappointing August, Lincecum came out of his slump on September 1; pitching against one of the league's top pitchers, Ubaldo Jimenez, Lincecum went 8 strong innings of 1 run ball. This was Lincecum's first win since July 30. Lincecum continued to improve throughout September, finishing 5-1 with 52 strikeouts and 6 walks as compared to the 20/13 ratio in August. Lincecum managed to win his third consecutive National League strikeout title, he also set a record for most strikeouts by a MLB pitcher in his first four seasons.

On October 7, 2010, in his first postseason game, Lincecum pitched a complete game two-hit shutout, striking out 14, against the Atlanta Braves in game 1 of the NLDS, breaking the all time record for strikeouts in Giants postseason history. In his next postseason start, he outdueled Roy Halladay by pitching 7 innings and giving up 3 earned runs, while striking out 8 in the Giants' 4-3 victory over the Phillies in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.

Game 1 of the 2010 World Series saw Lincecum contribute to an 11-7 win over the Texas Rangers. After presenting a strong start, he sat more than half of the game out as the rest of the San Francisco pitching roster delivered a comfortable win. On November 1, 2010, Lincecum started Game 5 of the World Series with an opportunity to clinch a world championship for San Francisco for the first time ever. Lincecum utilized all his pitches in throwing 8 solid innings, collecting 10 strikeouts while giving up only 3 hits, one of which was a home-run in route to a 3-1 victory.

Lincecum pitched in both Games 1 and 5 of the World Series, earning a win in both. His victory in Game 5 ended the Giant's 56-year drought between championships and also gave San Francisco its first baseball world championship in history. Lincecum also became the franchise leader for wins in a single post-season with 4, two of which coming in the World Series.

Pitch repertoire

Lincecum throws a four seam fastball at 92-95 mph, but mostly uses a two seam fastball grip which he throws around 89-92 mph for more sinking movement to get more ground balls. This pitch has little lateral movement, due to his overhand delivery and the speed at which the pitch is thrown. He has a big breaking curveball that is thrown at a range of 77-81 mph and breaks away from a right-handed hitter. Lincecum uses a changeup that he grips similar to a splitter to offset his top two pitches and keep batters off-balance. His changeup appears similar to his fastball for the first 30 feet, but then breaks down and in toward a right-handed batter as it approaches the plate, with a difference of 10 mph or more in velocity from his fastball (82-86 mph). The majority of his strikeouts are recorded with this pitch. Lincecum also has a hard slider that breaks down and away from a right-handed hitter at a speed slightly higher than his changeup (84-88 mph). With his power fastball and strong secondary pitches, he has established himself as one of the elite pitchers in the game.

Accomplishments

2010 World Series Champion

2010 National League All Star

2009 NL Cy Young Award winner

2008 NL Cy Young Award winner

Sporting News' NL Pitcher of the Year (2009)

Led Major League Baseball with 265 strikeouts (2008)

Sporting News' NL Pitcher of the Year (2008) Player's Choice Award for NL's outstanding pitcher (2008) 2006 Golden Spikes Award 2003 Gatorade Washington State Baseball Player of the Year

Personal

Lincecum is part Filipino. His mother, Rebecca Asis, is a daughter of Filipino immigrants.

References

External links

University of Washington Bio

The Book on Tim Lincecum from "ScoutingBook.com"

Controlled Fury: Tim Lincecum

How Tiny Tim Became a Pitching Giant from "Sports Illustrated"

The cover from "Sports Illustrated"

Category:1984 births Category:Living people Category:San Francisco Giants players Category:American Roman Catholics Category:American sportspeople of Filipino descent Category:Baseball players from Washington (U.S. state) Category:Cy Young Award winners Category:Golden Spikes Award winners Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:National League All-Stars Category:National League strikeout champions Category:People from Bellevue, Washington Category:University of Washington alumni Category:Washington Huskies baseball players Category:Salem-Keizer Volcanoes players Category:San Jose Giants players Category:Fresno Grizzlies players

Name	San Quinn
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Quincy Brooks IV
Born	October 24, 1977
Origin	San Francisco, California
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper
Years active	1991 - present
Label	Get Low, Done Deal Ent., SMC
Associated acts	Ya Boy, JT the Bigga Figga, Messy Marv, Clone (Rapper)
Url

Quincy Brooks IV (born October 24, 1977) better known by his stage name San Quinn, is an American rapper from San Francisco, California.

Career

Born in Oakland, California, Quincy moved to the Fillmore district of San Francisco at the age of three. He made his first appearance as an opening to Tupac and Digital Underground at the age of 12 and recorded his first album at only 15 years old. He's also part of the Get Low Playaz with JT The Bigga Figga, D-Moe and Seff Tha Gaffla. Quinn's most notable track is "Shock the Party" in which the video was filmed in the high-rise O.C. (Outta Control) Housing Projects, which were torn down in the late 1990s. One of San Quinn's most renowned raps could be "San Francisco Anthem".

San Francisco Giants

San Quinn is also an avid supporter of the MLB team, the San Francisco Giants. He has recorded quite a few tributes to this baseball team - to mention a few.:

Black and Orange

Knock Em Out (Barry Bonds Tribute)

Discography

Solo albums

Don't Cross Me (1993)

Live N Direct (1995)

The Hustle Continues (1996)

The Mighty Quinn (2001)

I Give You My Word (2004)

(2006)

Extreme Danger (2007)

From a Boy to a Man (2008)

The Tonite Show: Addressing The Beef (2009)

Compilation albums

17 Reasons (1998)

4.5.7. Is The Code (2000)

Heated Speeches (2001)

Repossessions (2002)

Quinndo Mania! - The Best Of San Quinn (2003)

One Moe Reason (2002)

4.5.7. Is the Code Part II (2005)

4.5.7 Is the Code Part III (2006)

The Color of Money (2007)

Collaboration albums

Straight Out the Lab (1995) - with Get Low Playaz

Explosive Mode (1998) - with Messy Marv

The Family Business (2000) - with Get Low Playaz

The Package (2000) - with Get Low Playaz

Runs in the Family (2002) - with The Done Deal Family

100 Racks In My Backpack (2006) - with C-Bo

Explosive Mode 2: Back In Business (2006) - with Messy Marv

Explosive Mode 3: The Mob Gets Explosive (2006) - with Messy Marv, Husalah, The Jacka

A Warrior and a King: Lyrical Kingdom (2007) - with T-Nutty

41Feva (2008) - with Boo Banga & Big Rich as All City

Welcome to Scokland (2008) - with Keak da Sneak

MixTapes

Pimpin & Ballin(2010) - with JB Da Original, Bread Ed off the mixtape PureCaine.com v1.0

Definition of Hyphy(2010) - Presented by DJ Amen of KMEL*

References

External links

http://www.dubcnn.com/interviews/sanquinn/ dubcnn.com Interview

Category:Rappers from the San Francisco Bay Area Category:People from San Francisco, California Category:African American rappers Category:1978 births Category:Living people

Name	Jim Rome
Birthname	James Phillip Rome
Birth date	October 14, 1964
Birth place	Tarzana, California, U.S.
Show	The Jim Rome Show
Station	Premiere Radio Networks
Timeslot	12:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. EST
Style	Sports radio
Country	United States
Spouse	Janet
Children	Jake, Logan
Web	Official Bio

Jim Rome (born James Phillip Rome October 14, 1964), is an American sports radio talk show host syndicated by Premiere Radio Networks, a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications.

Broadcasting from a studio near Los Angeles, California, he hosts The Jim Rome Show on radio as well as the TV show Jim Rome Is Burning (formerly Rome Is Burning) which airs on ESPN and TSN 2 in Canada. His past hosting jobs included sports discussion shows Talk2 (ESPN2), The FX Sports Show (FX), and The Last Word (Fox Sports Net). The Jim Rome show is tied for the #21 most listened to talk radio show in the United States and Rome is the #29 most influential talk radio personality according to Talkers Magazine.

Rome graduated from Calabasas High School in 1982 and the University of California, Santa Barbara with a degree in Communications in 1987. He lives in Irvine, California with his wife Janet and their two children. Wynalda called into the show the day after the incident, apologized, and explained to Rome that the comments resulted from frustration and were taken out of context. Rome accepted the apology and is "cool" with Wynalda.

Celebrity appearances

Rome made cameo appearances in the movies Space Jam, Two for the Money, and the 2005 remake of The Longest Yard. He appeared in Blink-182's music video "What's My Age Again?" and appeared on the HBO sitcom Arliss.

On May 3, 2004, Rome hosted the memorial service for Pat Tillman. On January 28, 2006, Rome was elected to the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame.

The Oliver Stone film Any Given Sunday features John C. McGinley playing the brash sportscaster "Jack Rose," a character based on Jim Rome.

Horse racing

After poking fun at horse racing for some years, saying "it's not a sport, it's a bet," Rome seemed to take more interest in horse racing after interviewing great jockey Kent Desormeaux many times on his radio talk show. Rome has recently taken up a stronger interest in buying thoroughbreds. He was a part owner in Wing Forward, who, in his North American debut, made a dramatic last-to-first comeback to win the race. Rome mentioned it as "one of the most amazing experiences I've ever had."

In 2008, Jim and his wife Janet purchased a stake in a two-year-old colt, giving them a potential shot at the Triple Crown stakes races in 2009. Listeners have suggested names for the horse. The colt was eventually named Gallatin's Run.

Jim now owns part or all of seven horses in connection with Little Redfeather Racing and Billy Koch, including:

El Manuel

Hot n' Dusty

Gallatin's Run

Surfer Girl (owns outright)

Tour Stops

Jim Rome's Tour Stops (also referred to as The Jim Rome World Tour) was a series of limited access live shows, often held in arenas, or other outdoor venues, which features sports-related guests and activities. The tour originated from The Jim Rome Show radio program, which is featured on over 200 affiliate radio stations in the United States and Canada. Generally, Rome would hold a few Tour Stops each year, with a very irregular schedule. They were quietly and informally discontinued after the Tour Stop at Cleveland in 2004. Rome has cited a more demanding television and radio schedule for the discontinuation of tour stops, most notably because of the inception of Jim Rome is Burning on ESPN. Show listeners, referred to as the "Clones," considered the Tour Stops a way of celebrating the popularity of the show, and a means of meeting other fans of the program. Since 2000 Rome promised to hold a Tour Stop in the city whose NFL team finished the season 0-16, his so called "dream season." The Detroit Lions finally accomplished the feat in 2008, but no Tour Stop has been held thereafter in Detroit.

Tickets to a Tour Stop were normally free, but needed to be acquired from the local affiliate. Some Tour Stops have reportedly had over 10,000 in attendance. One of the Tour Stops' main attractions was the appearance of sports figures from local teams. Tour Stops were not broadcast on the radio, but Rome typically played clips from the activities and guests on the next regular program.

References

External links

Jim Rome Rome's official website

Jim Rome Is Burning Video on ESPN Video Archive

The Jungle Comes to Madison: Anatomy of a Jim Rome Tour Stop unofficial site with pictures from the Madison tour stop and multi-chapter monograph about the Madison tour stop and Jim Rome in general.

Jim Rome's Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Page

Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:American sports radio personalities Category:American television sports announcers Category:American television talk show hosts Category:American Jews Category:People from Irvine, California Category:University of California, Santa Barbara alumni

Name	Duane Kuiper
Position	Second baseman
Bats	Left
Throws	Right
Birthdate	June 19, 1950
Birthplace	Racine, Wisconsin
Debutdate	September 9
Debutyear
Debutteam	Cleveland Indians
Finaldate	June 27
Finalyear
Finalteam	San Francisco Giants
Stat1label	Batting average
Stat1value	.271
Stat2label	Home runs
Stat2value	1
Stat3label	Hits
Stat3value	971
Stat4label	Runs batted in
Stat4value	263
Teams
Highlights

Duane Eugene Kuiper (born June 19, 1950 in Racine, Wisconsin) is a former second baseman in Major League Baseball who played for the Cleveland Indians (1974–1981) and San Francisco Giants (1982–1985). After retiring from baseball, in 1986 Kuiper began a new career as a radio and television sportscaster. Currently he broadcasts the San Francisco Giants,

Kuiper's 1983 baseball card (No. 263, Fleer's) shows him holding the fat end of a bat whose handle end is broken and hangs by a splinter.

Commentating style

Kuiper is noted for when the game has started and ended, either on television or on the radio. After the result of the first batter into the game, he calls, "And that's how this game gets started." When each ball game is over, Kuiper calls, "And that's the ball game!"

Kuiper also has a deep voice when a player swings and misses, when a dramatic play is made, and when he calls home runs. When Kuiper states the pitch count on a batter, he would often call "nothing" in lieu of calling "a ball" and the current number of strikes when the count is "no balls". Kuiper often uses the phrase "Got 'em!" for when an out is recorded. His trademark home run call is "He hits it high... hits it deep... it is (or hits it) OUTTA HERE!" or "HIGH DRIVE...LEFT (or RIGHT) FIELD... IT IS (sometimes: THIS BABY IS) OUTTA HERE!"

In May 2010, Kuiper introduced a new slogan for the SF Giants club: "Giants baseball... torture!" This slogan is used generally if the games are either tense, tight, or very close in which the Giants have later won by a small margin.

Personal life

Kuiper is a graduate of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois, where he was a member of the Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity. His roommate was Dan Radison, currently the first base coach for the Washington Nationals. Kuiper now lives in Danville, California, with his wife Michelle, son Cole, and daughter Dannon. He is good friends with Mike Krukow.

External links

San Francisco Giants Broadcast Team on the Comcast SportNet Bay Area site

References

Category:1950 births Category:Living people Category:Cleveland Indians players Category:Colorado Rockies broadcasters Category:San Francisco Giants players Category:San Francisco Giants broadcasters Category:Major League Baseball second basemen Category:Major League Baseball announcers Category:Baseball players from Wisconsin Category:People from Racine, Wisconsin Category:Southern Illinois Salukis baseball players

Name	Barry Zito
Width	300
Position	Starting pitcher
Team	San Francisco Giants
Number	75
Bats	Left
Throws	Left
Birthdate	May 13, 1978
Birthplace	Las Vegas, Nevada
Debutdate	July 22
Debutyear	2000
Debutteam	Oakland Athletics
Statyear	2010 season
Stat1label	Win–loss record
Stat1value	142-120
Stat2label	Earned run average
Stat2value	3.86
Stat3label	Strikeouts
Stat3value	1,651
Awards
Teams

Barry William Zito (born May 13, 1978) is an American Major League Baseball left-handed starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants. He previously played seven seasons with the Oakland Athletics, where he won the 2002 American League Cy Young Award and made three All-Star teams.

Zito never missed a scheduled start in his career until 2008, and led the American League in starts four times. After the 2006 season, Zito signed the most expensive contract in history for a pitcher at the time. Zito is well known for the drastic difference between his pre- and post- All Star Game pitching performance, and has been one of the greatest second half pitchers in MLB history throughout his career. He has also proven to be one of the greatest front running pitchers in recent memory, holding a record of 110-6 when getting at least 4 runs of support.

Zito played collegiately at UC Santa Barbara, Los Angeles Pierce College, and the University of Southern California. In the 1999 draft, he was drafted by the Oakland Athletics with the ninth pick of the first round.

While in college, Zito also played in the Cape Cod League, a summer wooden bat league which showcases the nation's top amateur prospects. He led the Wareham Gatemen to the league championship in 1997, and a runner-up finish in 1998.

Professional career

Major League Baseball Draft

Zito was taken by the Seattle Mariners in the 59th round (1,586th overall) of the MLB Draft, and in the third round (83rd overall) by the Texas Rangers in 1998, but did not sign with either team. In the 1999 draft, he was selected by the Oakland Athletics with the ninth pick of the first round, and signed for a $1.59 million bonus.

In 2001, Zito finished third in the league in strikeouts per nine innings (8.61), fourth in strikeouts (205), sixth in wins (17), eighth in ERA (3.49), and tenth in winning percentage (.680). Zito became the sixth lefty aged 23 or younger since 1902 to strike out at least 200 batters in a season.

.]] In 2002, Zito won the AL Cy Young Award with a 23–5 record, narrowly defeating Pedro Martínez in the voting. He led the league with 23 wins, was second in winning percentage (.821), and third in both ERA (2.75) and strikeouts (182).

In 2003, Zito was seventh in the AL in ERA (3.30). He was tenth in strikeouts in 2004 (163), and fifth in 2005 (171). In 2006 he led the league in batters faced (945) and games started (34). He was third in the league in innings (221), eighth in wins (16), and 10th in ERA (3.83).

He threw 200 or more innings in each of his six full seasons with the A's. Zito never missed a scheduled start and led the American League in starts four times. He was named to the American League All-Star Team in 2002, 2003, and 2006. Zito was a focal point of the 2006 trade deadline, and was widely rumored to be headed to the Mets in a potential deal for prospect Lastings Milledge. A's general manager Billy Beane decided to keep him for the rest of the season.

During spring training in 2007, he and Barry Bonds made shirts that read "Don't ask me, ask Barry" with an arrow pointing to the other Barry. By all accounts, Zito and Bonds got along well during their short time as teammates, and Zito made a point of saying he would stand by Bonds through onslaughts from the media.

On May 18, Zito made his return to Oakland as a Giant. He lasted only four innings as he gave up seven runs while walking seven, including two bases loaded walks. The A's beat the Giants, 15–3. He faced his old team again on June 9, this time in San Francisco. Zito pitched four innings while giving up three earned runs on nine hits.

Zito made his first Major League relief appearance on August 5 against the San Diego Padres, due to an early exit by starter Noah Lowry and an overworked bullpen. Zito pitched a scoreless seventh inning. He recorded his first career RBI two days later against the Washington Nationals, in the same game that Barry Bonds hit his record-breaking 756th career home run.

After Zito's start on August 12, his ERA was 5.13. Over his next four starts, he lowered his ERA to 4.46. He admitted that he had put pressure on himself to perform because of the large contract and was learning that he just needed to be himself. Zito also said that it had been difficult for him to adjust to a new league, team, and ballpark. On the final day of the season, in Los Angeles against the Dodgers, Zito allowed two runs on five hits and had four strikeouts in an 11–2 win.

Zito began the 2008 season as the oldest starter and the veteran presence in the Giants' starting rotation. In April, Zito went 0–6 with a 7.53 ERA and 11 strikeouts. He was the third pitcher in the last 52 years to go 0–6 before May 1. On April 28, 2008, the Giants moved him to the bullpen. Zito did not make an appearance out of the bullpen and returned to the rotation on May 7, against the Pittsburgh Pirates. In that game, Zito allowed 5 hits and 2 earned runs over 5 innings and took the loss, his 7th of the season. On May 23, 2008, Zito collected his first win of the 2008 season against the Florida Marlins. On June 13, 2008, Zito became the first pitcher to record 10 losses in the Major Leagues following the 5–1 loss to Oakland. His 5.1 walks per 9 innings pitched for the season, 51.5% first-pitch-strike percentage, and 14 sacrifice flies allowed, were all the worst in the majors.

The 2009 season seemed to have marked a rebound in Zito's pitching performance. Though starting the season 0–2 with an ERA of 10, Zito ended the season with an ERA of 4.03. Though going only 10–13 in the season, Zito's record was much more the fault of his spotty run support (the second-lowest in the major leagues) than his performance on the mound. On June 21, 2009, Zito pitched a no hitter through 6 innings against the Texas Rangers before giving up a hit and then a home run to Andruw Jones in the 7th inning. He won the game, his fourth win of the season. On July 7, 2009, Zito pitched what could be considered his best game of the season. He pitched 8 1/3rd innings against the Florida Marlins, allowing 1 run in 4 hits, striking out 6, and walking 1. He won the game, his fifth win of the season. He augments it with a circle changeup and a traditional "12-to-6" curveball that he uses as a strikeout pitch. Though very slow, his curveball was voted the best in the Major Leagues in a player poll conducted by ESPN The Magazine. Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees once stated that he had never seen anything like Zito's curveball, commenting that the pitch dropped three to four feet and that "you might as well not even look for it because you're not going to hit it."

Since mid-2004, Zito has added a two-seam fastball and a slider to his arsenal. In the 2009 season, his slider became a prominent part of his repertoire, being used more frequently than his changeup. Zito's diminished velocity at the start of the 2007 season (his fastball velocity slowed to 83–85 mph) and loss of command are the key reasons for his recent struggles, as he more often got behind in the count and had to rely more on his fastball. Most recently however, his pitching performance has rebounded due to the increased velocity on his fastball and regaining control on his curveball. During the 2009 season, Zito made changes to his delivery, lowering his arm slot from an over the top angle to a three quarters delivery. This change helped his fastball velocity go back up to the 86–89 mph range as well as sharpening the break of his curveball.

Awards

– Pac-10 Pitcher of the Year

1999 – First-Team College All-American

1999 – Pac-10 Conference All-Star

– AAA All-Star

2002 – Baseball America First-Team Major League All-Star

2002 – Cy Young Award (AL)

2002 – All-Star (AL)

2003 – All-Star (AL)

2006 – All-Star (AL)

Personal life

Zito is known for his idiosyncrasies and his offbeat personality. He has earned the nicknames "Planet Zito" and "Captain Quirk".

At his introductory press conference with the Giants, Zito said he liked the way his uniform number 75 looked, because the 7 and the 5 are like a "shelf" to hold the name "Zito" up. He carries pink satin pillows on the road, collects stuffed animals (such as a good luck teddy bear, with which he used to travel), and burns incense to relax. Early in his career, Zito dyed his hair blue. He plays guitar, surfs, practices yoga, and follows Zen. He has done yoga poses in the outfield, and meditates before games. In 2001, Zito espoused a universal life force that he credited with his midseason turnaround.

He created the charity Strikeouts for Troops, to which he donates $400 for every strikeout he throws. The charity benefits hospitals for soldiers wounded in military operations.

His father Joe Zito composed and arranged music for Nat King Cole in the early 1960s (ca.1961–64), and arranged for the Buffalo Symphony. Zito's late mother Roberta was a classically trained musician who also sang with Nat King Cole's band, in a choral group known as The Merry Young Souls.

His uncle is television actor Patrick Duffy. In 2003, Zito portrayed a United States Navy petty officer in an episode of JAG on CBS. Zito's character, a pitcher, faced assault charges after hitting a Marine with a ball during the annual Navy-Marine all-star baseball game.

See also

List of Major League Baseball leaders in career wins

List of Major League Baseball wins champions

References

External links

Barry Zito's official web site

Strikeouts for Troops

Category:1978 births Category:Living people Category:All-Star Futures Game players Category:American sportspeople of Irish descent Category:American sportspeople of Italian descent Category:People from the Las Vegas metropolitan area Category:People from San Diego, California Category:Baseball players from Nevada Category:Major League Baseball pitchers Category:Oakland Athletics players Category:San Francisco Giants players Category:USC Trojans baseball players Category:UC Santa Barbara Gauchos baseball players Category:Cy Young Award winners Category:American League All-Stars Category:American League wins champions Category:University of Southern California alumni Category:Visalia Oaks players Category:Midland RockHounds players Category:Vancouver Canadians players Category:Sacramento River Cats players Category:University of California, Santa Barbara alumni