San Francisco Giants: The 10 Most Important Moments of the 2011 Season so Far
The San Francisco Giants have been battered with injury after injury to key role players, have one of the worst offenses in all of baseball, have played 37 of their first 58 games away from home, and somehow find themselves in first place in the National League West.
Talk about resiliency from the defending World Champs.
How have they done it? What have been the most important moments for the Giants to date in the 2011 season?
Let's rank them, shall we?
10. Aubrey Huff Hits Three Home Runs in St. Louis
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Aubrey Huff entered the June 2 series finale against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium with a .218 batting average, an abysmal .276 on-base percentage, and a paltry .335 slugging percentage.
Two months into the 2011 season, just a year removed from leading the Giants in home runs (26) and RBI (90), San Francisco's offensive mainstay and third-place hitter was in a terrible slump.
In fact, the slump became so prolonged that many feared this was the end for the ballplayer formerly known as Huff Daddy.
What happened next restored faith in No. 17. He hit three home runs and drove in six in a 12-7 victory over St. Louis, raising his batting average by 14 points on that single day alone.
For this night, Aubrey Huff was back, and showed his teammates, the league, and Giants fans that his best days were not yet behind him.
For an offensively challenged team like the Giants who had also lost Pablo Sandoval and Buster Posey to the disabled list, Huff's resurgence couldn't have been a more welcome sight.
As Freddy Sanchez said after that game, "I don't think it's any coincidence that he's getting going and we're getting going as a team."
As goes Aubrey Huff, so goes the Giants offense, which is why this is a top-ten moment for San Francisco's season thus far.
9. Andres Torres Suffers Achilles Injury
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Andres Torres was the spark plug that ignited the Giants offense at the top of the lineup in 2010; a jump-start from the lead-off hole that helped propel San Francisco to the playoffs, and ultimately, a World Series championship.
So when he strained his left Achilles tendon in the outfield on April 9, the Giants suddenly had a huge hole to fill in both center field and in the lineup.
Aaron Rowand stepped in and stepped up, hitting .294 for San Francisco during the month of April in place of the sidelined Torres, helping the Giants stay afloat while their starting center fielder healed up.
8. Brian Wilson Gets His First Save of the Season, Following Return from Injury
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Brian Wilson didn't expect that it would take him until April 12 to record his first save of the season, but that's how long it took the 2010 MLB saves leader to get on the board following a strained oblique in spring training.
Given Wilson's injury and his late start to the season, Giants fans were no doubt concerned about whether the bearded closer would be the same.
Well, take a breath San Francisco faithful, because Wilson is just fine. He now has 20 saves for the season, and counting.
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7. Barry Zito Goes to the DL with Injured Foot
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Barry Zito doesn't have much experience with injuries, as he had never been on the disabled list until April 16 in Arizona when he badly sprained his foot while trying to field a Diamondbacks bunt.
Zito's injury would prove to be a more pivotal (sorry about the pun, Barry) moment than anyone could have imagined, as it opened up a rotation spot for journeyman right-hander Ryan Vogelsong.
The 33-year-old Vogelsong would not only hold his own as the fifth man in the rotation, but would become one of the most reliable starters on San Francisco's elite pitching staff.
6. Giants Sweep Division Rival Rockies
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The Giants and the Rockies: the two teams in the National League West that everyone thought would be battling it out for a playoff spot come October.
Well, looking at things as they stand today, one of these two teams is in much better shape than the other.
Much of that is due to San Francisco's dominance of Colorado this season. The Giants are 7-4 against the Rockies so far this year, including a three-game sweep of Colorado at AT&T Park, May 6-8.
The Giants won two of the three games in walk-off fashion, giving the defending champions a very important boost over their division rivals and, to that point, chief competitors in the NL West.
5. Pablo Sandoval Breaks Bone in His Hand
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When Pablo Sandoval broke his hand on April 29, it couldn't have come at a worse time. The Giants' offensive struggles were reaching new levels of frustration, and the loss of the Panda was sure to make things even more difficult.
Following surgery on his right hand to repair the broken hamate bone, Sandoval spent nearly two months on the disabled list.
Somehow, the Giants have not only managed to stay afloat, but found themselves in first place when Sandoval returned to the lineup on June 14 against the Diamondbacks.
4. Ryan Vogelsong Makes First Start in Seven Years, Gets the Win
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Ryan Vogelsong's story is one for the books.
The journeyman right-hander was drafted by the Giants in 1998, only to be traded to the Pirates in the deal that brought Jason Schmidt to San Francisco. He struggled with Pittsburgh, and had to play in Japan for a couple of seasons to keep his professional baseball career alive.
Vogelsong reunited with San Francisco when the Giants signed him to a minor league deal and invited him to spring training, where he was very impressive.
When Barry Zito was sidelined, Vogelsong was called to fill the hole in the rotation, and he did more than just fill the gap. He dominated.
Vogelsong made his first start in seven years on April 28 against his former team, the Pittsburgh Pirates. He went 5.2 innings, allowing just two runs on four hits while tying a career-high with eight strikeouts.
Six weeks later, Vogelsong is 4-1 with a 1.81 ERA. Needless to say, his performance has been a pleasant surprise for San Francisco, and a great comeback story in Major League Baseball.
3. Buster Posey Suffers Season-Ending Injury in Home Plate Collision
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If the San Francisco Giants' season had collapsed following their May 25 contest with the Florida Marlins, this slide would likely rank No. 1 rather than No. 3 among their most important moments of the season.
But thankfully, despite the tremendous impact of this moment, it isn't No. 1.
When Buster Posey was smashed at home plate by Florida baserunner Scott Cousins as he tried to score on a fly ball to right field, his left leg was caught beneath the full weight of his body as he flew backwards, causing a fracture in his lower leg and several damaged tendons around his ankle.
The injury ended the season for Posey and was a devastating blow to the already injury-plagued Giants. Posey's injury was by far the most difficult blow to absorb, as he had become the team's captain and leader, not to mention the cleanup man for a team that otherwise was very challenged offensively.
Fortunately, as we will see in the slides to come, others stepped up when it counted to salvage the Giants' hopes for a return to the postseason in defense of their title, despite the loss of their unofficial captain.
2. Nate Schierholtz Ties, Then Wins Game for Giants in St. Louis
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After the Giants were swept by the Florida Marlins at home in the series the team lost star catcher and cleanup man Buster Posey for the season, the defending champs had to hit the road for a seven-game trip through Milwaukee and St. Louis.
San Francisco dropped two out of three in Milwaukee, and after winning the series opener in St. Louis, lost the second game of the series in a heartbreaker.
The Giants then found themselves trailing 5-4 with two outs in the ninth inning of Game 3. The tying run was on second base and Nate Schierholtz was down to his, and the team's, final strike.
A loss in this game would mean that the Giants would fall to 2-5 without Buster Posey, and would be in danger of a 2-5 road trip if they were to lose the finale the following day. This would all have unfolded just before the club headed home to face division rival Colorado.
Nate Schierholtz made sure that any doubts on the verge of creeping into the Giants' clubhouse were destroyed when he delivered a clutch single up the middle to tie the game at five.
Schierholtz then came up with another two-out single in the 11th to put the Giants ahead. San Francisco would go on to win 7-5 in one of the biggest games of the season. That victory propelled the Giants to a series win, as they broke out for 12 runs in the finale the following night and came home with a winning road trip following the loss of Buster Posey.
1. Brandon Crawford's First Career Hit, a Grand Slam, Lifts Giants to Victory
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Following the season-ending injury to Buster Posey, the Giants began a seven-game road trip in Milwaukee.
San Francisco was 0-1 without their unofficial captain, and were in danger of losing again as they trailed the Brewers 3-1 in the top of the seventh.
All signs pointed to another loss due to a punch-less offense that was becoming even more frustrating for San Francisco since its loss of Buster Posey.
Then, a rookie shortstop making his major league debut for the Giants changed all of that.
Brandon Crawford, who had just two days before been playing for the single-A San Jose Giants, was now at the plate with the big league Giants, trying to come through for his new team in the clutch.
And boy, did he come through.
Crawford's first major league hit would prove to be the biggest of the season for San Francisco, a grand slam that put the Giants ahead 5-3.
San Francisco would go on to win the game 5-4 and record their first victory without Buster Posey. Had they gone on to lose the series opener with the Brewers, they would have been swept in Milwaukee, as they actually did lose the next two games that weekend.
In that case, the Giants would have gone to St. Louis to face the hottest team in baseball, the Cardinals, after losing six straight games.
Brandon Crawford's first major league hit produced the most important moment of the season so far for the defending champs.
There Are Sure to Be Many More Great Moments for the Giants in 2011
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The defending World Champions have a flare for the dramatic, and we can expect to see many more season-defining moments from the Giants between now and October as they continue their quest to defend their World Series title.
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