The Giants - The Golden Age (1950-1959)  
   
 
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      Yr City P W L   Yr City P W L   Yr City P W L           Decade  
      1950 New York 3 86 68   1953 New York 5 70 84   1957 New York 6 69 85           Click  
      1951 New York 1 98 59   1954 New York 1 97 57   1958 San Francisco 3 80 74           on Logo  
      1952 New York 2 92 62   1955 New York 3 80 74   1959 San Francisco 3 83 71              
                  1956 New York 6 67 87                          
                                                             
                                                       
   
  Titles: Top Giants Players of the Fifties  
    1951 NL Pennant (Lost to Yankees)  
  1954 World Series (beat Cleveland) Pitchers:  
    John Antonelli (30.6) -  70  
  BallPark:  Sal Maglie (23.83) -   57  
   Polo Grounds (1950-1957) Ruben Gomez (15.42) -   47  
  Seals Stadium (1958-1959) Jim Hearn (12.13) -   43  
    Larry Jansen (12.16) -   42  
  Team Name:  Hoyt Wilhelm (11.55) -   26  
  Giants Marv Grissom (13.92) -   22  
    Dave Koslo (5.75) -   19  
  Owner: Al Worthington (7.66) -   18  
   Horace Stoneham Sad Sam Jones (5.73) -   14  
    Mike McCormick (0.99) -   12  
  President:  Sheldon Jones (1.1) -   10  
  None Jack Sanford (3.43) -   9  
    Stu Miller (10.02) -   8  
  General Manager:     
   Chub Feeney Catchers:  
  Wes Westrum (10.63) -   39  
  Managers:  Bob Schmidt (1.52) -   10  
  Leo Durocher (1950-1955)    
  Bill Rigney (1956-1959) First Basemen:  
    Whitey Lockman (9.93) -   32  
  No Hitters:  Orlando Cepeda (6.87) -   24  
  None Bill White (3.31) -   9  
    Willie McCovey (3.11) -   5  
  Hall of Famers:    
  Hoyt Wilhelm Second Baseman:  
  Orlando Cepeda Eddie Stanky (13.43) -   19  
  Willie McCovey  Davey Williams (5.17) -   11  
   Monte Irvini  
  Red Schoendienst ShortStop:  
  Willie Mays Alvin Dark (27.02) -   63  
    Darryl Spencer (7.16) -   13  
  Rookie of the Year    
  Willie Mays (1951) Third Base:  
  Orlando Cepeda (1958) Hank Thompson (22.6) -   49  
  Willie McCovey (1959) Jim Davenport (3.14) -   5  
       
  MVP Outfield:  
  Willie Mays (1954) Willie Mays (58.83) -   149  
    Monte Irvin (18.67) -   45  
  Cy Young Bobby Thomson (15.2) -   39  
  None Don Mueller (4.3) -   24  
    Jackie Brandt (2.95) -   12  
  Notable Events: Willie Kirkland (3.85) -   12  
    Dusty Rhodes (3.53) -   6  
  1950 - New York picks up shortstop Alvin Dark, 28 and second baseman Leon Wagner (2.55) -   3  
   Eddie Stanky, 34, from the Braves in a six player deal. The two would become Felipe Alou (2.31) -   2  
   long time managers in the big leagues and Durocher liked their leadership     
  qualities altho', ironically, it was those same leadership qualities that got them Notable Events:  
  banished from Boston as they led a revolt against manager Billy Southworth    
  while they were there.  1953 - Willie Mays serves in the military and Monte Irvin breaks his  
    ankle. The Giants don't have a chance.   
  1950 - The Giants enter the decade on the heels of, by far, the worst decade    
  this once proud dynasty has endured. They went 73-81 in 1949, no cause for 1953 - Ruben Gomez, twenty five year old righty, is brought up from   
  optimism there. They do have a major thing going for them, however. Two years Kansas City  
  earlier, Chub Feeney brought a new sherrif to Manhattan: Manager Leo Durocher.   
  Leo had been fired by Brooklyn essentially for comments he had made about  1954 - Twenty four year old lefty Johnny Antonelli is pried away from the  
  Dodger ownership. A big loss for the Dodgers as you have to wonder how many Braves in exchange for outfielder Bobby Thomson  
   of those World Series Brooklyn was losing to the Yankees in the Fifties  
  would have gone the other way if Durocher was in charge of the club. He was an 1954 - Mays and Irvin return in 1954 and the Giants win the World  
  outstanding baseball man with a burning desire to win. Durocher had already   Series. Mays makes one of the great catches in World Series  
  started the metamorphosis of the team molding it into his own aggressive history to lead the way.  
  win or die trying mentality. Leo had jettisoned the big lumbering sluggers like  
  Johnny Mize, Walker Cooper, Sid Gordon and Willard Marshall to get a more 1955 - Leo Durocher retires as manager at the end of the season. He was  
  nimble squad going. The players that had set the big league single season  one of the rare managers that made a difference. Leo's wife was actress  
  home run record were getting them nowhere. Lorraine Day and he wanted to be out on the west coast with her. He did a   
   Leo's kind of guys on the 1950 roster: bunch of TV gigs out there, but was out of his element. Bill Rigney, who was  
  □  C - Wes Westrum, 27, signed in 1941 managing AAA Minneapolis is the new guy. It's a dropoff for sure.  
  □  1B - Whitey Lockman, 23, signed in 1943    
  □  2B - Eddie Stanky, 34, picked up in a trade with Braves prior to the season  1957 - The Giants leave New York after the season. Not much you can say.   
  □  SS- Alvin Dark, 28, picked up in a trade with Braves prior to the season Giants owner Horace Stoneham was weak and incompetent and Dodgers  
  □  3B - Hank Thompson, 24, picked up from the Browns as a FA in 1949 owner Walter O'Malley easily coerced Stoneham to move as it would not have  
  □  Outfielder Don Mueller, 23, signed in 1944 been financially feasible travelwise to have only one club on the west coast  
  □  Outfielder Bobby Thomson, 26, signed in 1942 Horace was the classic inheritor - clueless about how to run a business  
  □  Outfielder Monte Irvin, 31, signed out of the Negro Leagues in 1949 successfully once the parent (Charles Stoneham) died. The only thing that  
  □  Righthander Larry Jansen, 29, purchased from San Francisco of PCL in 1946 kept the franchise viable was Chub Feeney, who was Horace's nephew.  
  □  Righthander Sal Maglie, 33, Rule 5 draft from Detroit in 1941 Chub had started with the Giants as a batboy when Charles was still alive  
  □  Lefthander Dave Koslo, 30, purchased from Milwaukee in 1941 and by the time he was twenty five, became team president. Any success the  
  □  Righthander Jim Hearn, 29 - picked up on waivers from the Cards in '50 Giants had in the Fifties and Sixties could be laid at Chub's doorstep.   
    A huge loss for the Giants is when Chub left to become commissioner of the  
   1950 - Righty Sal Maglie, 33, returns to the Giants after a four year hiatus National League in 1970.  
  being banned from baseball for jumping to the Mexican League in 1946.    
    1958 - The Giants move to San Francisco. The shame of it for New York  
  1950 - New York finishes third with an 86-68 mark. The turnaround has begun.  fans was that the Giants were on the verge of transitioning from an old  
    over the hill group to an exciting bunch of young players. The farm system  
  1951 - Marks the beginning of the Willie Mays era for the Giants was brimming with young stud hitters, but they were all outfielder / first  
  as he wins rookie of the year. Mays is twenty and had earlier baseman types. These players were Bill White, Leon Wagner, Jackie  
  played in the Negro National League. You could make a good case Brandt, Willie Kirkland, Felipe Alou, Orlando Cepeda and Willie McCovey.  
  for Mays being the greatest all-around player of all time - off the Willie Mays was the only one who New York fans had been able to enjoy  
  charts in hitting, power, base running, fielding, throwing and savvy watching. Of the above group, Wagner, White, Kirkland and Brandt would be  
    jettisoned as there was no room for them. Meanwhile Cepeda and Alou   
  1951 - the Giants win the pennant overtaking the Dodgers after would come up in 1958 with Orlando becoming rookie of the year.   
  being behind by as much as 13 1/2 games. Durocher's minions go 37-7 to  McCovey would come up in 1959 and he would also become rookie of the  
  finish the season and then beat the Dodgers in a three game playoff. year. There would also be another good youngster, third baseman Jim  
  Bobby Thomson hits a three run homer with two out in the bottom of Davenport who would come up in 1958. With these guys, San Francisco  
  the ninth to win it for the Giants. had an incredibly entertaining lineup to watch with Mays, McCovey and   
  Cepeda as the heart of the order and Alou and Davenport as a couple of  
  1952 - Knuckleballing righthander Hoyt Wilhelm is a rookie at age twenty nine other good sticks in support. Unfortunately, as good as Chub Feeney was  
   and goes 15-3. He had started in organized ball ten years earlier and after at mining great hitters, he couldn't seem to figure out how to get pitching to  
   his stint in the military, he knocked around the minors for six more seasons match. Feeney was not able to get much yield for the excess hitting talent   
  before getting his big chance. Oddly, he was very successful in the minor he had on hand. For White, Wagner, Kirkland and Brandt, Feeney   
  leagues, but it didn't seem that anyone had faith in knuckleballers at the big picked up pitchers Sad Sam Jones, Billy O'Dell, Billy Loes, second   
  league level. Wilhelm had the last laugh, pitching in the majors until he was baseman Don Blasingame and outfielder Harvey Kuenn. If Feeney had been  
  forty nine - another twenty years.  able to get equal value for what he gave up, San Francisco probably would  
    have won a few more titles during the Sixties.