Remembering Ed Bailey

Ed Bailey, who died Friday, made his name in Cincinnati, but near the tail end of his career, he spent 4 seasons by the Bay, being named to the All-Star team twice. He platooned with Tom Haller on the '62 squad, and went 1-14 with a home run in that year's Series. He was a fairly potent slugger, knocking 51 balls out of the park between '61 and '63. His career was cut short by Tom Haller's taking his job, but for some years, he was among the elite catchers of the National League.

Most Valuable Giants—Explanation

The Giants have had a long history of good players. So, I decided to investigate, and based solely on stats, I compiled my list. It proves what I thought it would: the best players on good teams are better than the best players on bad teams (most of the time). For proof, look at Orlando Cepeda and Dan Gladden. Both are one-time winners. Which strikes the ear better, Cepeda or Gladden? Exactly. I will look at the careers of each player, with one every few days.

Most Valuable Giants—The List

By Season:
1958—Willie Mays
1959—Willie Mays
1960—Willie Mays
1961—Orlando Cepeda
1962—Willie Mays
1963—Willie Mays
1964—Willie Mays
1965—Willie Mays
1966—Willie McCovey
1967—Willie McCovey
1968—Willie McCovey
1969—Willie McCovey
1970—Bobby Bonds
1971—Bobby Bonds
1972—Dave Kingman
1973—Bobby Bonds
1974—Gary Matthews
1975—Von Joshua
1976—Bobby Murcer
1977—Willie McCovey
1978—Jack Clark
1979—Mike Ivie
1980—Jack Clark
1981—Jack Clark
1982—Joe Morgan
1983—Darrell Evans
1984—Dan Gladden
1985—Chris Brown
1986—Chris Brown
1987—Will Clark
1988—Brett Butler
1989—Will Clark
1990—Kevin Mitchell
1991—Will Clark
1992—Will Clark
1993—Barry Bonds
1994—Barry Bonds
1995—Matt Williams
1996—Barry Bonds
1997—Barry Bonds
1998—Barry Bonds
1999—Jeff Kent
2000—Jeff Kent
2001—Barry Bonds
2002—Barry Bonds
2003—Barry Bonds
2004—Barry Bonds
2005—Moises Alou
2006—Ray Durham

By Most Seasons Won:
9—Barry Bonds (1992-1994, 1996-1998, 2001-2004)
7—Willie Mays (1958-1960, 1962-1965)
5—Willie McCovey (1966-1969, 1977)
4—Will Clark (1987, 1989, 1991-1992)
3—Jack Clark (1978, 1980-1981)
3—Bobby Bonds (1970-1971, 1973)
2—Chris Brown (1985-1986)
2—Jeff Kent (1999-2000)
1—Orlando Cepeda (1961)
1—Dave Kingman (1972)
1—Gary Matthews (1974)
1—Von Joshua (1975)
1—Bobby Murcer (1976)
1—Mike Ivie (1979)
1—Joe Morgan (1982)
1—Darrell Evans (1983)
1—Dan Gladden (1984)
1—Brett Butler (1988)
1—Kevin Mitchell (1990)
1—Matt Williams (1995)
1—Moises Alou (2005)
1—Ray Durham (2006)

Tsuyoshi Shinjo

Remember Tsuyoshi? The Japanese guy who played center field for the Giants and would always (to me, at least) throw the ball sidearm? About 10 months ago, he retired. I thought he retired after the 2003 season, you say? Well actually, he went to Japan to play for the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters. (What's a "Ham Fighter"?) Now, he's a model. How many American baseball players have retired to take up modeling? None that I know of.

Of course, we can't talk Shinjo without the belt-buckle incident. After watching this video, you may not ever look at Tsuyoshi (which I usually spell wrong) the same way again.

Jackie Robinson and Retired Numbers

I think Jackie Robinson is evil. Are you all clear about that? OK, good to get that out of the way, just making sure your automatic "racist" ticker doesn't go off. In 1968, he called Willie Mays a "do-nothing Negro" for not "fulfilling his obligations to the black community". That's just the tip of the iceberg. In 1956, he was traded to the Giants and promptly retired. What is up with that? Marichal was dignified enopugh to acknowledge that he was going to be a Dodger near the tail end of his career. Vice versa for Robinson's old teammate, Snider. Then, years after his death, Selig decides to cruelly force the Giants to retire his number. Don't you think that blue 42 looks ugly up there next to all those other numbers at the Phone Booth? What's the problem with Monte Irvin? He was the 5th black in baseball (3rd in the 20th century), and a HoFer too. Speaking of which, what was so great about Jackie Robinson, anyway? He wasn't the first black in the bigs, not by 60 years. Why not retire Moses and Welday Walkers' numbers? I kow, they didn't have numbers. So? That hasn't stopped the Giants from retiring numbers. As an additional bonus, since the team the Walkers played for soon folded, reitiring their "numbers" wouldn't be glorifying any particular team, like the Dodgers are right now. If only Kirk Rueter could take up roster space forever, and the Giants would never have to retire his number 42.

On a somewhat related note, I remember reading that it was Giants team policy to not retire the numbers of non-HoFers. So then, why aren't all those HoFers from the New York Giants recognized? Some of them are. Of course, I realize that the Giants have more HoFers than any other team, and doing that would make Barry Zito's number the lowest on the team, but still, just the ones that wore a Giants cap on their plaques? Why not?

2002

I am finally coming to terms with 2002, and recognizing it for what it was: a great year, at least for the first 9 months. The Giants were a very good team, and we had all the pieces: Barry Bonds at his peak, J.T. Snow, who was always a very good player, and those one-year guys: Bell, Lofton (maybe not Shinjo). Then there was Robb Nen. If you ever doubt what he did, remember the way he generously donated his right arm to the Giants down the stretch. Would Blownitez do that?