San Francisco Giants: The all-time bracket

The most successful franchise in National League history presents a field of legendary teams

The San Francisco Giants franchise is second only to the New York Yankees for all-time success. Since coming into existence in 1883, the Giants have a .535 winning percentage, best in the history of the National League.

In New York and then in San Francisco the franchise has earned 10 recognized world championships and 23 National League pennants.

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There has almost never been a significant era in baseball history in which the Giants have not been a force.

That record begins in the late 1880s when the team won the 1888 and 1889 National League pennants and both seasons beat the American Association champions in a recognized World Series. The 1889 team had both the better regular season and post-season record; hence it merits a place in the bracket.

The Giants were again a force in the pre-World War I era. Between 1904 and 1917, they won six pennants and the 1905 World Series. That memorable team led by John McGraw and Christy Mathewson is a worthy representative of the era.

Between 1921 and 1924, they became the first time in history to win four consecutive pennants. They added the 1921 and 1922 World Series. The 1921 team becomes a third representative.

The Giants won the World Series in 1933, but the 1936 and 1937 champions – both of which were beaten by the Yankees – were better clubs. The 1937 team merits a spot.

The 1954 Giants memorably upset the powerhouse Cleveland Indians behind a young star named Willie Mays. They’re in. So is the 1962 club, the first great San Francisco team.

The 1989 Giants had the best record between 1967 and 1993; they are in. That leaves one final spot for the best of the recent world champions. Of those three teams, the 2012 Giants had the best regular-season record, so they’re the pick.

The format is identical to previous bracket challenges. Each matchup in the tournament is decided based on seven criteria. You can think of each as a ‘game,’ the winner of four games advancing. The seven criteria are:

1. Game 1: Regular season winning percentage.
2. Game 2: Post-season winning percentage
3. Game 3: Team OPS+
4. Game 4: Team ERA+
5. Game 5 (if necessary): Team WAR
6. Game 6 (if necessary: Fielding percentage above the league average for the season in question.
7. Game 7 (if necessary): Hall of Famers or likely future Hall of Famers

San Francisco Giants: The All-Time Bracket

No. 1 vs. 8 seed

The 1954 club, led by Leo Durocher, compiled a 97-57 regular-season record before surprising the favored Cleveland Indians in the World Series. In his first season since returning from military duty, Willie Mays batted .345, three points better than right fielder Don Mueller. Mays also hit 41 home runs and drove in 110.

He was an obvious Most Valuable Player selection.

Left-hander Johnny Antonelli led the pitching staff with a 21-7 record and 2.30 ERA in 37 starts. Ruben Gomez added a 17-9 record in 32 starts.

The 1989 pennant winners presented an equally impressive offense. Outfielder Kevin Mitchell hit 47 homers with 125 RBIs, and first baseman Will Clark batted .333 with 111 RBIs.

Veteran Rick Reuschel led an experienced pitching staff with a 17-8 record in 32 starts.

Game 1: The 1954 team’s 97-57 .630 regular season performance is nine games better than the 1989 team’s 92-70 .568.

Game 2: The 1989 club beat the Cubs in a four-game NLCS before losing to Oakland in four straight. Their post-season percentage was .444. But it wouldn’t have mattered because the 1954 team went 4-0 through the post-season, and you can’t beat perfect.

Game 3: The 1954 team was only ordinary offensively. Their team OPS+ was just 95. The 1989 team had a 104 OPS+.

Game 4:The Reuschel-led 1989 staff had an ERA+ of 102. But the 1954 team carried a 132 staff ERA+. That will be tough to beat.

Game 5: The 1954 champions wrap it up with a 52.5 WAR that is 13 points better than the 1989 team’s 39.3.

Result: 1954 in five games

San Francisco Giants: The All-Time Bracket

No. 4 vs. 5 seed

Exactly one full century before the 1989 team’s National League pennant, the San Francisco Giants were kings of the baseball universe. That great team included seven future Hall of Famers, more than one-third of all the players who wore a Giants uniform that season.

Begin with pitchers Tim Keefe and Mickey Welch. They combined for a 55-25 record in 86 starts over a monumental 740 innings. Keefe also struck out 225, doing so in an era when only 8 percent of official at-bats resulted in a whiff.

At the plate, catcher Buck Ewing hit .327, first baseman Roger Connor batted .317 with 130 RBIs (in 131 games), and the team’s .282 average was the league’s best.

For the record, the other Hall of Famers were Hank O’Day, Jim O’Rourke and John M. Ward.

The 1921 Giants were the first of four consecutive McGraw-led teams to win a National League pennant, and probably the best of them. Five regulars topped .300 led by Frank Frisch at .341 and Emil Meusel at .329. First baseman George Kelly drove in 122 runs and left fielder Ross Youngs added 102.

The mound staff was led by  Art Nehf, at 20-10 3.63 in 34 starts. The Giants had five solid starters.

Game 1: The 1889 Giants had an 84-43 record for an inspiring .659 regular-season percentage. The 1921 team was 94-59, a .614 record.

Game 2: The 1889 Giants beat Brooklyn 6-3 in a nine-game World Series. The 1921 team beat the Yankees 5-3 in their scheduled best-of-nine. The narrow nod goes to 1889.

Game 3: The 1889 club of Conner, Ewing, Mike Tiernan and the rest compiled a 107 OPS+. The 1921 team only got to 105.

Game 4: The 1889 Giants complete their sweep with a 115 staff ERA+ thanks largely to Keefe (119) and Welch (132). The 1921 Giants had a 105 staff ERA+.

Result: 1889 in four games

San Francisco Giants: The All-Time Bracket

No. 2 vs. 7 seed

The 2012 Buster Posey-led San Francisco Giants were probably the best of the three recent San Francisco World Series winners.   Posey batted .336 to lead the league with 103 RBIs and was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player.

Left fielder Melky Cabrera delivered a ,346 batting average in support. On the mound, the Giants were deep. Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Ryan Vogelsong, Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito all were double-digit winners, Cain on a 2.79 ERA with an All-Star start thrown in for the honor of it.

The 1962 Giants featured Mays as a mature San Francisco hero. He batted .304 with a league-leading 49 home runs and 141 RBIs, finishing second to Maury Wills in MVP voting. Orlando Cepeda hit .306 with 35 homers and 114 RBIs.

Jack Sanford was 24-7 in 38 starts, with Juan Marichal (18-11, 3.36) emerging as a star.

Game 1: The 1962 Giants had a 103-62 regular-season record and .624 percentage that included a best-of-three playoff victory over the Dodgers. The 2012 team was 94-68, a .580 percentage.

Game 2: The 1962 Giants lost a thrilling seven-game series to the Yankees. That gives this win to the 2012 Giants, who were 11-5 in their post-season games, a .688 percentage.

Game 3: The 2012 Giants had a 106 team OPS+. But the 1962 Giants had Mays, who lifted them to a 110 OPS+.

Game 4: The 1962 Giants posted a 101 staff ERA+. As deep as the 2012 Giants pitching was, it managed only an ordinary 96 staff ERA+.

Game 5: The 2012 Giants only accumulated 37.7 WAR. That’s well below the 1962 Giants’ 52.1 WAR.

Result: 1962 Giants in five games

San Francisco Giants: The All-Time Bracket

No. 3 vs. 6 seed

The 1905 New York Giants were led by Christy Mathewson, whose Hall of Fame career may have peaked that year. Mathewson had a 31-5 record in 37 starts with a 1.28 ERA, and he covered 339 innings. Iron Man Joe McGinnity provided ample support, with a 21-15 record and 2.87 ERA in 38 starts and 320 innings.

Outfielder Mike Donlin led the offense with a .356 batting average while another outfielder, Sam Mertes, drove in 108 runs. In a dead-ball era, the Giants averaged an imposing 5.02 runs scored per game. The Mathewson-led pitching staff gave up just 3.26 runs per game.

The 1937 team was the best Giants club between 1905 and 1954. It was led by the recently retired Bill Terry, whose best offensive weapon was outfielder Mel Ott. Ott hit 31 home runs and drove in 95 runs.

In Carl Hubbell, the Giants had the era’s best pitcher. In 1937, Hubbell completed his streak of 24 consecutive victories, finishing at 22-8 in 32 starts. Cliff Melton was 20-9.

Game 1: The 1905 team had a 105-48 record for a .686 percentage. In 1937, the Giants played .625 ball in winning the National League pennant.

Game 2: The 1937 Giants lost the World Series in five games to the Yankees. The 1905 Giants defeated the American League champion Philadelphia Athletics in their five-game World Series, all of them shutouts. Mathewson won three of them and McGinnity one.

Game 3: The 1905 Giants may have lacked immortals with the bat, but they could hit, as attested by their 111 OPS+. The 1937 team had a 98 OPS+.

Game 4: A sweep for 1905. With Mathewson and McGinnity doing the heavy lifting, their 124 ERA+ is too much for 1937’s 114.

San Francisco Giants: The All-Time Bracket

The Semi-finals

Having dispatched the 1989 San Francisco Giants, the 1954 team takes on the 1889 World Champions.

Game 1: The 1954 team had a 97-57 record and .630 winning percentage. But the 1889 team was 83-43 for .659.

Game 2: The 1954 team’s perfect post-season pays off a second time because how could it not?

Game 3: In 1889, the Giants of Connor, Tiernan and Ewing put together a 107 ERA+. That was led by Connor’s 161. In 1954 even Mays’s 175 OPS+ couldn’t lift the Giants above a collective 95.

Game 4: The 1889 Giants of Keefe and Welch had a staff 115 ERA+. The 1954 Giants had a less glamorous, but more efficient staff. It produced a 132 ERA+. This series is even.

Game 5: The 1954 team’s 52.5 WAR easily outdistances 1889’s 34.6.

Game 6: The 1954 team can wrap up a win with fielding skill. Its .975 average is one point below the league average. In 1889 the Giants fielded .920, but that was three points below the league average.

Result: 1954 in six games

The other semi-final pits the Mays Giants of 1962 against the Mathewson Giants of 1905.

Game 1: In 1962 the Giants had a .624 regular-season percentage. The 1905 Giants beat that by the equivalent of eight games at .686.

Game 2: The 1905 Giants won a five-game World Series; the 1962 Giants lost in seven.

Game 3: The 1962 Giants produced a 110 team OPS+. The 1905 team didn’t have Mays, but it did have a 111 OPS+, good for the win.

Game 4: Here’s where Mathewson goes to work. The 1905 Giants present a 124 staff ERA+. The 1962 team only gets to 101.

Game 5: It’s a battle of titans. Mays carries a 10.5 WAR, Felipe Alou goes to 5.3 and the 1962 Giants run up a very respectable 52.1 total. But Mathewson (9.6) nearly matches Mays, Donlin (6.4) beats Alou and infielder Bill Dahlen’s 5.4 leads a group of three Giants regulars who are better than anything else the 1962 team has. The 1905 total is 54.4.

Result: 1905 in five games