Day Nine: Giants/Rays

Giants/Rays

Please see I’m Just Sayin…for what is going on with our posts for the next month or so.

The Giants have a very storied history. I am choosing to put aside the alleged PED use by Barry Bonds and include him in this list. His numbers are amazing. He also ranks as my most favorite player to boo at a game. Fortunately, that wasn’t his brother sitting in front of me and Greg in Atlanta that time. How do I know? Because we’re still here to write about it.

Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, Christy Mathewson, Mel Ott

Willie Mays

William Howard Mays, Jr.

More commonly known as the Willie Mays, and is widely thought to be the best all around player of all time. That's over 32 clubs, and 150 years of organized baseball. Imagine how many players over 150 years (or more) of baseball that excludes. As a young man, Mays played in the Negro Leagues himself. Being scouted while with Birmingham Black Barons, Mays was signed in 1950 to the New York Giants. Rolling through the minor leagues with the Giants, Mays got his first start in 1951. It was an auspicious being to his storied career, going 0-12. His 13th at bat? A home run off of none other than Warren Spahn. His numbers over that season improved, and by the end of 1951 Mays won his first Major League accolade, Rookie of the Year.

In 1952 Mays was drafted by the Army. Mays returned to baseball in 1954. His MVP season saw him bat .345 and hit 41 home runs. His over-the-shoulder catch in Game 1 of the World Series off the bat of Vic Wertz is an iconic image in baseball. Mays later scored the winning run in that game, and the Giants went on to sweep the Indians. He batted right, threw right, and was probably the best outfielder in the game for many of his years with the Giants. Over the next 22 years Mays would electrify baseball with his amazing talent. Mays made everything look easy, but there is nothing easy about these feats:

• 24 All-Star Appearances
• World Series Championship 1954
• 12 Gold Gloves
• 1951 Rookie of the Year
• 2-time NL MVP
• Roberto Clemente Award 1971
• The first and only Giant to hit four home runs in a single game
• 660 career home runs
• Career .302 batting average
• 3,283 hits
• 7095 putouts tops the list for outfielders

Barry Bonds

Barry Bonds. No. 25. A bad bad man with a bat in his hands. No. 24 Barry Bonds came over from the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1993. Once he signed, Bonds adopted No. 25 as the Giants had already retired Barry's Godfather's No. 24. The No. 25 was a nod to his father, who wore the same number as a Giant. Bonds became one of the most disciplined and feared hitters of all time. But lest we forget, Barry in his prime could field as well. Just take a look at the eight Gold Gloves sometime. Barry's approach at the plate put the pressure on the pitcher. His eye was so good, Bonds would make a pitcher break down and come inside, and that's when he had you. It got to the point where opposing managers would put on an over shifted infield, loading up the right side with fielders. It didn't help much. It got worse for opposing teams, they soon decided not to come inside at all to Barry, and started walking him whenever the game was close. Which was often three or four times a night in his later years. Let's take a look at Barry's feats over the years:

• 14-time All Star
• 8 Gold Gloves
• 12 Silver Slugger Awards
• 7-time NL MVP
• 3 Hank Aaron Awards
• MLB record 232 walks in a season (inspiration for the rubber chickens at AT&T Park)
• MLB Slugging record .863
• Only member of baseball's 500/500 club (500 homers/500 steals)
• Single Season Home Run record, 73 HRs

And finally in 2007, on August 7 to be exact, Bonds hit a 3-2 pitch off Nationals' pitcher Michael Bacsik and drove it 433 feet. On this pitch, Barry Bonds stood alone as the all-time Home Run King of Major League Baseball.

My favorite Bonds moment: (He was the left fielder throwing the ball home)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3WtSKEMUio

Christy Mathewson

Christy Mathewson, after more than 100 years of baseball, is still considered the second best Giants player of all time. Imagine that kind distinction. What kind of player does that take? Especially where we are now, in an ERA where sports medicine and sports science can elevate and prolong a player's game. That is one hell of a body of work to stand over a century and still argued as possibly the best Giant ever. Christy Mathewson made his Major League debut with New York Giants on July 17, 1900. With a new century, came a new star. Pitching a fastball with alarming yet pinpoint accuracy Mathewson also employed a new pitch called a 'Fadeaway'. The fadeaway became later known as the screwball, and Mathewson used it like no one else.

The right handed pitcher played 17 years, almost exclusively for the New York Giants. What he has accomplished during that time will forever list among the greatest pitchers of all time.

• His 373 career wins is still ranked third of all time
• His career ERA of 2.13 is fifth all time
• Over 17 years he led the league five times in ERA
• He pitched a record of three shutouts in five days, leading to a World Series victory in 1905
• He pitched four consecutive seasons with an ERA under 2.00
• He won 20 games 13 times in his career, four of those seasons were 30 wins or more
• His 80 shutouts ranks third of all time
• His 2500 strikeouts is still a franchise best
• His 1.059 career WHIP is fifth of all time
• He won two NL Triple Crowns for pitching
• He has two career no-hitters

Mel Ott

Mel is one of the best hitters of all time. Ott first appeared on the scene in 1926 as a New York Giant. He would play 21 awesome seasons for the Giants. His 511 career home runs once ruled the roost, it has since been bested, but has anyone put together year after year of elite hitting?

Ok here we go, in no particular order: Six-time NL home run leader. How about 18 seasons leading the Giants year after year in home runs? Twelve consecutive All-Star appearances, yes, 12. A World Championship in 1933, and two more appearances in '36 and '37. The youngest player to reach 100 home runs, and the first NL player to surpass 500 home runs.

Mel Ott's reign of terror as a player ended in 1947. I'm quite sure there was a collective sigh of relief echoing around league. His was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1951. It sure didn't take them long. Mel Ott's retired No. 4 can be seen on display at AT&T along with other Giant greats.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/447458-the-top-100-giants-players-of-all-time/page/101

Honorable Mention:

Will Clark, Jeff Kent, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, Willie McCovey

Rays

The Rays (Devil Rays) have not been around too long to the choices are few. Wade Boggs gets on the list because of his career stats. He just wasn’t good enough for the Red Sox list or Yankee list but he needs to be on a list somewhere.

Wade Boggs, Evan Longoria, Carl Crawford, B.J. Upton

Wade Boggs

Career highlights and awards

12× All-Star (1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996) World Series champion (1996) 2× Gold Glove Award winner (1994, 1995) 8× Silver Slugger Award winner (1983, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994) 5× AL batting title (1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988) Tampa Bay Rays #12 retired

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wade_Boggs

Evan Longoria

Stat Line (four-plus years): .276/.362/.516, 117 HR, 27.8 WAR

Longo lead the team in their amazing postseason run in 2008, blasting six homers and 11 RBI to help the Rays reach the World Series. Longoria is in the top-three among Rays franchise leaders in pretty much every statistical category. He's a three-time all-star, a Rookie of the Year award-winner, a two-time Gold Glover, a Silver Slugger and a two-time top-10 finisher in the MVP voting. Defensively, Longoria is simply the best third baseman in baseball. His talent with the glove—and arm—is absolutely ridiculous. He owns an incredible career UZR of 50.8 and a DRS of 73. He's clearly on pace to be the best Rays player of all time.

Carl Crawford

Stat Line (nine years): .296/.337/.444, 409 SB, 104 HR, 36.8 WAR, 1480 H

He is the franchise's all-time leader in every major stat, besides home runs, OBP and slugging percentage. Crawford excelled in every part of the game; hitting, base-running, driving in runs and fielding. He was arguably baseball's biggest threat on the bases for many years, leading the league four times in that category and even reaching 60 steals one year. Although he did not have a very good arm, his unbelievable speed helped him snag fly balls that normal human beings could never reach. Crawford's DRS rating was great year-after-year, while his UZR was Gold Glove caliber. His accolades include four all-star game selections, an All-Star Game MVP award (2009), a Silver Slugger (2010), a Gold Glove (2010) and a top-10 finish in the MVP voting (2010). Crawford may have left Tampa on a bitter note, but no Rays fan should ever forget how amazing he was in those nine long years.

B.J. Upton

Stat Line (eight-plus years): .256/.340/.413, 95 HR, 214 SB, 20.5 WAR

This one's another no-brainer, as B.J. Upton is indisputably the best center fielder in Rays history. He broke into the majors as a shortstop, but finally found his real home in center field in 2008. He's amongst the most valuable Rays of all time, and is capable of providing 80-plus RBI and 40-plus stolen base type seasons. He's a 20/20 club-type player, and was one of a select few to collect 20-plus homers and 30-plus stolen bases last season. Upton's speed not only gives him a big boost on the base paths, but it also makes him a pretty good center fielder. He covers a lot of ground with ease in the outfield, and has a cannon for an arm as well. Upton has maybe failed to reach his high expectations over the past few years, but nobody should forget his incredible playoff run in 2008, when he hit seven home runs and 15 RBI. (Now a Brave!)

bleacherreport.com/articles/1237729-tampa-bay-rays-all-time-25-man-roster