The Baseball Scholar

These are the greatest individual seasons in San Francisco Giants history, including New York Giants and San Francisco Giants, broken down by player and position. Since we’re celebrating standout seasons, players can show up multiple times especially if they logged meaningful time at different spots on the field. Outfielders and pitchers may also appear for multiple seasons when those performances rank as the franchise’s best at their respective positions.

Catcher

Buster Posey – 2012MVP

• Age: 25
• Years: 2012
• Positions: C
• Teams: San Francisco Giants

Buster Posey Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
7.6	164	148	610	530	78	178	39	1	24	103	69	96	1	1	.336	.408	.549	.957

First Base

Willie McCovey – 1969HOFMVP

• Age: 31
• Years: 1969
• Positions: 1B
• Teams: San Francisco Giants

Willie McCovey Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
8.1	194	149	623	491	101	157	26	2	45	126	121	66	0	0	.320	.453	.656	1.108

Second Base

Rogers Hornsby – 1927HOF

• Age: 31
• Years: 1927
• Positions: 2B
• Teams: New York Giants

Rogers Hornsby Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
10.2	174	155	684	568	133	205	32	9	26	125	86	38	9		.361	.448	.586	1.035

Third Base

Mel Ott – 1938HOF

• Age: 29
• Years: 1938
• Positions: 3B
• Teams: New York Giants

Mel Ott Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
8.9	178	150	652	527	116	164	23	6	36	116	118	47	2		.311	.442	.583	1.024

Shortstop

Rich Aurilia – 2001

• Age: 29
• Years: 2001
• Positions: SS
• Teams: San Francisco Giants

Rich Aurilia Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
6.7	144	156	689	636	114	206	37	5	37	97	47	83	1	3	.324	.369	.572	.941

Outfield

Barry Bonds – 2002MVP

• Age: 37
• Years: 2002
• Positions: LF
• Teams: San Francisco Giants

Barry Bonds Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
11.7	244	143	612	403	117	149	31	2	46	110	198	47	9	2	.370	.582	.799	1.381

Outfield

Barry Bonds – 2001MVP

• Age: 36
• Years: 2001
• Positions: LF
• Teams: San Francisco Giants

Barry Bonds Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
11.9	235	153	664	476	129	156	32	2	73	137	177	93	13	3	.328	.515	.863	1.379

Outfield

Barry Bonds – 2004MVP

• Age: 39
• Years: 2004
• Positions: LF
• Teams: San Francisco Giants

Barry Bonds Hitting Stats

WAR	wRC+	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
10.6	233	147	617	373	129	135	27	3	45	101	232	41	6	1	.362	.609	.812	1.422

Starting Pitcher

Juan Marichal – 1965HOF

• Age: 27
• Years: 1965
• Positions: SP
• Teams: San Francisco Giants

Juan Marichal Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
10.3	60	39	37	22	13	2.13	295.1	24	10	1	78	70	46	240	20.8%	0.91

Starting Pitcher

Christy Mathewson – 1905HOF

• Age: 24
• Years: 1905
• Positions: SP
• Teams: New York Giants

Christy Mathewson Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
9.6	42	43	37	31	9	1.28	338.2	32	8	2	85	48	64	206		0.93

Starting Pitcher

Juan Marichal – 1966HOF

• Age: 28
• Years: 1966
• Positions: SP
• Teams: San Francisco Giants

Juan Marichal Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
9.1	62	37	36	25	6	2.23	307.1	25	4	0	88	76	36	222	18.8%	0.86

Starting Pitcher

Christy Mathewson – 1908HOF

• Age: 27
• Years: 1908
• Positions: SP
• Teams: New York Giants

Christy Mathewson Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
11.8	61	56	44	37	11	1.43	390.2	34	11	5	85	62	42	259		0.84

Starting Pitcher

Christy Mathewson – 1909HOF

• Age: 28
• Years: 1909
• Positions: SP
• Teams: New York Giants

Christy Mathewson Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
9.7	44	37	33	25	6	1.14	275.1	26	8	2	57	35	36	149		0.83

Relief Pitcher

Greg Minton – 1982

• Age: 30
• Years: 1982
• Positions: RP
• Teams: San Francisco Giants

Greg Minton Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
5.4	51	78	0	10	4	1.83	123	0	0	30	30	25	42	58	11.7%	1.22

Relief Pitcher

Frank Linzy – 1965

• Age: 24
• Years: 1965
• Positions: RP
• Teams: San Francisco Giants

Frank Linzy Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
3.8	41	57	0	9	3	1.43	81.2	0	0	21	19	13	23	35	10.5%	1.21

Relief Pitcher

Marv Grissom – 1956

• Age: 38
• Years: 1956
• Positions: RP
• Teams: New York Giants

Marv Grissom Pitching Stats

WAR	ERA-	G	GS	W	L	ERA	IP	CG	ShO	SV	R	ER	BB	SO	K%	WHIP
3.9	42	43	2	1	1	1.56	80.2	0	0	7	15	14	16	49	15.2%	1.08

Honorable Mention

Catcher – Dick Dietz, 1970

First Base – Will Clark, 1989

Second Base – Jeff Kent, 2000

Third Base – Matt Williams, 1995

Shortstop – Brandon Crawford, 2021

Outfield – Barry Bonds, 2003

Outfield – Willie Mays, 1965

Outfield – Barry Bonds, 1993

Starting Pitcher – Johnny Antonelli, 1954

Starting Pitcher – Juan Marichal, 1969

Starting Pitcher – Tim Lincecum, 2008

Starting Pitcher – Joe McGinnity, 1903

Starting Pitcher – Tim Lincecum, 2009

Relief Pitcher – Robb Nen, 1998

Relief Pitcher – Jeff Brantley, 1990

All underlying data used in this analysis is available in The Baseball Scholar Data Library.