San Francisco Giants: The 10 Strangest Moments in Giants Franchise History

The New York and San Francisco Giants franchise has a long and storied history.  For well over 100 years, this organization has played nearly 20,000 games providing elation, heartbreak and absurdity.  Baseball is a strange game, and so in keeping with that theme I present to you the "10 Strangest Moments in Giants Franchise History."

Final Home Game of the 1992 Season

In August of 1992, it was announced that a group of investors from Florida had agreed to purchase the Giants franchise and move them to Tampa Bay.  There was a mad scramble locally to save the team and keep it in San Francisco.  As the season drew to a close, nothing had been finalized and sentiment was that the team was as good as gone, but until they left there was always hope.

September 27, 1992 was the final home game of the year against the Cincinnati Reds.  Candlestick was sold out and the feeling at the park was more like a wake or a funeral than anything.  When the game ended, the Giants had lost 3-2 and no one knew what to do.  Fans just stood around taking everything in.  The Giants players came out on the field and started waving to the fans; were they waving goodbye 'till next year or for good?  No one knew, not even the players...the whole scene was surreal.

We all know they ended up staying, signed Barry Bonds, promoted Dusty Baker to manager and went on to have one of the greatest seasons in franchise history in 1993.

The Big Unit Hits a Bird with a Fastball

Granted, Randy Johnson was a Diamondback when this incident happened, but he became a Giant eight years later.  Actually, this Spring Training game was against the Giants so, for me, it counts.

On March 24, 2001 with the Giants Calvin Murray batting, the Big Unit unleashed one of his signature 97-mile-per-hour fastballs.  What made this fastball different than any other he had ever thrown, or would ever throw again, was that it was intercepted before it reached home plate.  As Murray stood in, tracking the pitch, suddenly there was a puff of feathers as the bird flew directly into the path of the ball.

The bird died, landing behind the catcher and the umpire, and it was readily apparent that this was one of those incidents that would live on in baseball lore.

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson is not necessarily a "moment" but he sure is strange!  Over the years, Giants fans have watched this man go from losing the closer role in Spring Training to an epidemic of beard-fearing men, women and children all across the land. 

Wilson has grown his long black beard into rock star status, appeared on the George Lopez show dressed as an old salty sea captain and had a person dressed in bondage "accidently" walk nonchalantly behind him while he was being interviewed on live TV.  His dead pan sense of humor, well thought out antics and matter of fact delivery all blend together perfectly. 

His legend had begun to reach epic proportions and then he went to the 2011 ESPY Awards.  Who else would walk down the red carpet dressed in a skin tight, spandex tuxedo complete with orange bow tie and a walking stick?

Wilson looked ridiculous, but I guess that is what we should all expect from him now.  At one point during the night, Wilson lamented his inability to foresee a need to use the bathroom when choosing his attire.  Strange, very strange, but very good too.

Game 3 of the 1989 World Series

What a hot, unbearably hot day.  I remember walking across a flat parking lot to go into the stadium thinking about how horribly hot it was.  There was such a great feeling inside that stadium as game time drew near.  There was a buzz, fan chatter, excitement—something I had never felt before.

October 17, 1989, 5:04 pm.  The stadium started to rumble; I thought it was the beginning of the crowd erupting.  The rumble got louder and I realized that the stadium was shaking.  I looked up and saw the light tower that was behind the press box swaying back and forth and I had one of those "oh s%#$" moments.  The rumble subsided and the shaking stopped.  After a few seconds, the crowd began to cheer louder than I had heard it all postseason.  Little did we know that this was no publicity stunt—people were dead and an entire region was in shambles.

My first indication that something wasn't right was when the police car drove onto the field in front of the visitors’ dugout and left a big tire mark in the perfectly manicured grass.  Once we realized that the game had been postponed (there was no electricity to make an announcement), the slow, dazed walk to the car began.  The flat parking lot that I had walked across only a couple of hours before now had small hills in it as if someone had crumbled the lot up and then placed it back down without being able to get it as smooth as it was.

The rest is history, and when the series resumed it just wasn't the same.  There was no energy, no buzz, no excitement.  Everyone was still in shock.  The A's swept the series easily from there and it would be 13 years before the Giants would get back to the World Series.

Juan Marichal Attacks John Roseboro with His Bat

There are fights and skirmishes all the time in baseball.  A pitcher throws at a batter, the batter charges the mound and fists fly while everyone pulls off everyone until the melee stops.  Rare is the time when these fights result in an assault with a deadly weapon.  That is what happened on August 22, 1965 at Candlestick Park.

The Giants and Dodgers were squaring off with Juan Marichal facing Sandy Koufax that day.  Tensions had been high during this series already, and in the first inning Marichal knocked both Maury Wills and Ron Fairly down with pitches.  When Marichal came up to bat in the bottom of the second inning, Koufax threw the first pitch down the middle for a strike.  The next pitch was a bit inside, and when Dodgers catcher John Roseboro threw the ball back to Koufax, Marichal claims that it nicked his ear.

Marichal turned to Roseboro, words were exchanged briefly, and when Roseboro took off his catcher’s mask and took a step in his direction, Marichal lost his mind and swung his bat at Roseboro hitting him in the head.  As shocking as that was, he didn't stop!  He continued to act like a mad man until he was finally restrained by the home plate umpire among others.

As strange as the act was in this incident, consider these tid bits: Marichal was fined a whopping $1,750 and suspended for eight "playing dates." Willie Mays, who was playing CF that day, and John Roseboro were best friends.

J.T. Snow Rescues Darren Baker from Harm in the 2002 World Series

Up until this year, I had blocked this incident out of mind.  I don't know how I did it, but I was able to erase all memories from the 2002 postseason, good or horrible.   When the Giants won the World Series in November, memories began to come back to me.  This incident popped into my head as soon as I began to think about the strangest incidents in Giants history.

Thursday October 24, 2002, Game 5 of the World Series.  In the bottom of the seventh inning, with the game pretty much well in hand, Kenny Lofton hit a triple that scored J.T. Snow and then David Bell.  As Snow crossed home plate, he saw a small blur out of the corner of his right eye.  He instantly knew that it was little Darren Baker who was simply doing his duty as bat boy, running out to get Lofton's bat.  Snow knew that Bell was bearing down on home plate and that there was likely going to be a play at the plate.  In one motion he reached down, grabbed little Darren by his jacket, scooping him up into his arms.

This was one of those incidents that make you immediately question what you just saw.  J.T. Snow was known during his career for having good hands; he proved it that night in a way that no one could have ever imagined.

Run Ruben, Run

Ruben Rivera, cousin of the greatest closer of all time, was on first base in the bottom of the ninth of a 2-2 game against the Diamondbacks on May 27, 2003.  Marquis Grissom crushed a ball into the right center-field gap that was misplayed by D-Backs right fielder David Delucci. 

What happens next I simply cannot properly explain.  Watch the video, then watch it a few more times.  It is simply the worst base running in the history of the game.

Bengie Molina Homers but Doesn't Score

Friday, September 26, 2008, the Giants and Dodgers are locking horns at AT&T Park and the Giants were losing 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning.  With one out and Pablo Sandoval on first base, Bengie Molina stepped to the plate.  Molina launched a fly ball deep into right field where it hit high off the wall and caromed back onto the field.  The hit was originally ruled a single and Bruce Bochy replaced Molina at first base with pinch runner Emmanuel Burriss.

The Giants then argued that the hit was actually a home run and convinced the umpires to utilize the newly implemented instant replay system that was available to them.  The umpires agreed that they would review the play and three of them disappeared below the ball park.  The umpiring crew later ruled the hit was actually a home run based partially on the replay and partially on the green smudge of paint on the ball.  The green part of the right field wall is a home run.

Since the play was originally a single and Molina had been pinch run for, now came the discussion of what to do with the move that was made when the play was believed to be a single.  Eventually, the umpires ruled that Molina would be credited with a home run and Burriss would score the run.  Burriss rounded the bases and scored the tying run—the Giants would win this game in extra innings, 6-5.

The game was delayed 14 minutes while the umpires decided what the correct call was.  Ironically, Burriss still crossed the plate a good 15 seconds before Molina would have had he simply rounded the bases from the start.

Merkle's Boner

Fred Merkle didn't have a memorable baseball career except for one moment in time.

On September 28, 1908, Fred Merkle started the first game of his career at first base for an ailing Fred Tenney in a critical game against the Chicago Cubs with whom they were tied for first place.  Merkle was 19 years old and the youngest player in the major leagues at that time, and his inexperience would come through in the bottom of the ninth inning.

With the game tied 1-1 with two out and Moose McCormick on first, Merkle singled to right field.  McCormick went to third base and the Giants had runners on the corners, two out and Al Bridwell at bat.  Bridwell singled up the middle on the first pitch, sending McCormick across the plate and the crowd streaming onto the field in celebration of the walk off win.  Merkle never made it to second base. 

Once the fans came onto the field, Merkle ran off the field without ever touching second base.  Official rule 4.09 states that: "A run is not scored when a runner advances home during a play in which the third out of an inning is made by way of a force out."  The Cubs alertly noticed that Merkle failed to touch second base and, amid the confusion, retrieved the ball and forced him out at second base.

The umpires ruled that Merkle was in fact out after a long delay and called the game at a tie due to darkness.  The Cubs and Giants would eventually end the season tied and would play a one-game playoff for the National League pennant.  The Cubs went on to win the game and the World Series over the Detroit Tigers.  This was 1908, the last time that the Cubs won a World Series.

What's interesting to me is that there were many allegations of trickery and dishonesty about the way the Cubs forced Merkle out on that play.  They went on to win the World Series that many claim they never should have been in had it not been for their poor sportsmanship that day.  Perhaps that is the true curse they face as a franchise.

Bottom line is that Merkle should have touched second base.  Had he done so, who knows how baseball history may have been altered.

Giants Win the World Series

I swear that as recently as one year ago, I thought for sure that there was some force working against the Giants, preventing them from winning a World Series.  I thought about how long the Cubs have gone without a World Series title and wondered if it was possible that the Giants could actually go another 50-plus years without a World Series Championship. 

It may seem unreasonable, especially now, but I really had begun asking myself the question "what if?"  What if I don't get to see the celebration on the field?  What if I never get to experience a parade?  I know it wasn't only me and now it is a moot point—the San Francisco Giants actually won the World Series.  Now I want more.