1989 San Francisco Giants season

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[edit] Offseason

• December 8, 1988: Mike Aldrete was traded by the San Francisco Giants to the Montreal Expos for Tracy Jones. ^[1]

[edit] Regular season

[edit] Opening Day Starters

• Brett Butler
• Will Clark
• Terry Kennedy
• Candy Maldonado
• Kevin Mitchell
• Rick Reuschel
• Robby Thompson
• Jose Uribe
• Matt Williams

[edit] Season standings

[edit] Notable Transactions

• June 18, 1989: Charlie Hayes was traded by the San Francisco Giants with Dennis Cook and Terry Mulholland to the Philadelphia Phillies for a player to be named later and Steve Bedrosian. The Philadelphia Phillies sent Rick Parker (August 7, 1989) to the San Francisco Giants to complete the trade. ^[2]
• August 2, 1989: Bob Brenly signed as a Free Agent.

[edit] Roster

[edit] Dave Dravecky

The following season, a cancerous desmoid tumor was found in Dravecky's pitching arm. He underwent surgery on October 7, 1988, removing half of the deltoid muscle in his pitching arm and freezing the humerus bone in an effort to eliminate all of the cancerous cells. By July 1989, he was pitching in the minors, and on August 10, he made a highly publicized return to the major leagues, pitching 8 innings and defeating Cincinnati 4-3. In his following start five days later against the Expos, Dravecky pitched three no-hit innings, but in the fifth inning, he felt a tingling sensation in his arm. In the sixth inning he started off shaky, allowing a home run to the lead off batter and then hitting the second batter. Then, on his first pitch to Tim Raines, his humerus bone snapped, ending his career.

To see a pitcher break his arm with a loud cracking sound while doing something as ordinary as throwing a pitch, then fall to the ground rolling in agonizing pain, was shocking, unusual, and upsetting, especially for those who had followed his touching story. The pitch was replayed on television repeatedly over the following days.

The Giants won the National League pennant in 1989, and in the post-game celebration, Dravecky's arm was broken a second time. A doctor examining Dravecky's x-rays noticed a mass in his arm. Cancer had returned. Eighteen days later, Dravecky retired from baseball, aged 33, leaving a 64-57 record with 558 strikeouts and a 3.13 ERA in 1,062.2 innings. He won the 1989 Willie Mac Award honoring his spirit and leadership.

[edit] Player Stats

[edit] Batting

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

[edit] Other batters

[edit] Starting pitchers

[edit] Other pitchers

[edit] Relief pitchers

[edit] National League Championship Series

Main article: 1989 National League Championship Series

[edit] Game 1

October 4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois

[edit] Game 2

October 5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago, Illinois

[edit] Game 3

October 7 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California

[edit] Game 4

October 8 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California

[edit] Game 5

October 9 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California

The Giants made it to their first World Series since 1962 with a 3-2 win over the Cubs to win the 1989 National League pennant, four games to one. The final game pitted Mike Bielecki against a well-rested (due to his quick exit from Game 2) Rick Reuschel. Reuschel made amends for his poor start in Game 2 by giving up only one run over eight innings. The one run Reuschel gave up was an unearned run the Cubs scored when Walton reached on an error by Mitchell and then scored on Sandberg's double. The Cubs held the 1-0 lead until the seventh inning when Will Clark tripled and scored on Mitchell's sacrifice fly.

With two outs in the eighth, the Cubs appeared ready to perhaps send the series back to Chicago. But Candy Maldonado pinch-hit for Reuschel and walked. Bielcki then proceeded the load the bases by walking both Butler and Thompson. Don Zimmer sent for Mitch Williams to end the jam, but Clark drove a single to center that gave the Giants a 3-1 lead. The Cubs strung together three straight singles with two outs in the ninth to pull within a run, but Bedrosian got Sandburg to ground out to second to end the game and the series.

The Giants were in their first World Series since 1962. Clark's stellar performance earned him Most Valuable Player honors for the Giants. Clark hit .650 with eight RBIs.

[edit] World Series

Main article: 1989 World Series

[edit] Game 1

October 14, 1989 at Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California.

[edit] Game 2

October 15, 1989 at Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California

[edit] Game 3

October 27, 1989 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California

The game was delayed until October 27, or about ten days, due to the Loma Prieta earthquake.

See also: Al Michaels#1989 World Series and Fay Vincent#1989 World Series

[edit] Game 4

October 28, 1989 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California

[edit] Award Winners

• Will Clark, NLCS MVP
• Kevin Mitchell, National League MVP

[edit] References

• 1989 San Francisco Giants team page at Baseball Reference
• 1989 San Francisco Giants team page at Baseball Almanac