For today’s fun lockout experiment, I’m going to try to put together a 26-man roster of the best former San Francisco Giants who only played ONE YEAR with the Giants! Let me know in the comments section if I missed any obvious choices and if I agree, I will update the list with your correction. The rules are simple - the player must have appeared in only ONE season with the San Francisco Giants during his career. However, that particular season doesn’t have to be great - I am judging these players based on their entire careers. This does NOT include the New York era, BUT shout out to Tony Lazzeri and Rogers Hornsby, who are both Hall of Famers who spent just one season with the New York Giants. Here we go!
Starting Lineup
Duke Snider & Willie Mays
LF Andrew McCutchen: This 5-time All Star and former MVP and Gold Glover appeared in a Giants uniform 130 times in 2018, bringing some exciting moments such as a walk-off home run against the rival Dodgers. Unfortunately, the Giants were not contenders that year and he was shipped off to New York.
3B Kris Bryant: While it’s still possible he could play again for the Giants, for now I will include Bryant. He his .262 with 7 home runs down the 2021 stretch for the Giants, helping them win a franchise record 107 games. As for his career, Bryant is already a 4-time All Star with an MVP and Rookie of the Year trophy on his shelf.
CF Duke Snider: The FIRST name to come to my mind for this experiment. The Hall of Fame outfielder was an 8-time All Star with the Dodgers but played in 91 games for the Giants in his farewell season, hitting just .210 with 4 home runs.
1B Joe Carter: The great Joe Carter will start at first base for this team in order to make room for more outfielders. He’s a 5-time All-Star and 2-time World Series Champion who finished his career in the City By The Bay, hitting .295 with 7 home runs in 1998
DH Carlos Beltran: In 2011, the Giants were trying to repeat as World Champions and picked up Beltran at the trade deadline. Beltran hit .323 with 7 bombs, but the Giants fell apart otherwise and failed to make the playoffs. Beltran is a Rookie of the Year with 9 All Star Selections and 3 Gold Gloves.
RF Darryl Strawberry: He was a rookie of the year, 8 time All Star and 3 time World Series Champion. Darryl Strawberry had a polarizing yet amazing career and did play for the Giants in 1994, but struggled, hitting just .239 with 4 bombs.
C Gary Carter: The 11-time All Star and Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter had an amazing career, mostly with the Mets and Expos. However, he stopped by San Francisco in 1990, hitting .254 with 9 homers.
SS Miguel Tejada: Tejada played 16 years in the big leagues, accumulating 2,407 hits and 307 home runs. He made 6 All Star Teams and won an MVP in 2002. His time with the Giants occurred in 2011, when he hit .270 with 4 bombs. (Credit: Stoops)
2B Dan Uggla: No list of one-and-done Giants could be complete with the famous - rather infamous - Dan Uggla, who was a massive slugger from the mid-2000’s to early 2010’s for the Marlins and Braves, constantly crushing over 30 homers per year. The Giants picked him up in 2014, hoping to enjoy some of that amazing power. Instead, he couldn’t manage a single hit with San Francisco, going 0 for 11 with 6 strikeouts. He also made multiple errors, booting the most routine of groundballs. He was so bad.. that he was good.
Jose Vizcaino & Barry Bonds
Starting Rotation
Orel Hershiser
Randy Johnson: The Big Unit, a first-ballot Hall of Famer, spent most of his years dominating batters with the Seattle Mariners and Arizona Diamondbacks. However, he finished his career in a San Francisco Giants uniform, going 8-6 in 2009 while winning his 300th career game.
Warren Spahn: This 17-time All Star is one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game and he did wear a Giants uniform. It was 1965, his final year in the big leagues (This is becoming a pattern). Spahn went 3-4 with a 3.39 ERA for San Francisco.
Steve Carlton: That’s three Hall of Fame lefties! This 10-time All Star won FOUR CY YOUNGS! In 1986, he wasn’t so fantastic for the Giants, however, going 1-3 with a 5.10 ERA.
Orel Hershiser: This all-time Dodgers pitcher ended up in the orange and black for one season in 1998, going 11-10 with a 4.41 ERA. He had an amazing career that I believe is Hall-of-Fame worthy.
LaTroy Hawkins: Amazingly, LaTroy Hawkins put together a 21-year career. Although he didn’t make an All Star Teams or win any major awards, that’s still impressive! He went 1-4 for the Giants in 2005.
Bullpen
Goose Gossage
• Rich “Goose” Goosage (Closer): Goose Gossage was one of the most intimidating closers in baseball history, finishing off his career with 310 saves and 9 All Star Selections. Of those 310 saves, just 4 came with San Francisco in 1989, when he made 31 appearances out of the bullpen for the Giants. He ended the year with a respectable 2.68 ERA with San Francisco.
• Dan Quisenberry (Setup): From around 1980 to 1985, Dan Quisenberry was one of the most dominant closers in baseball. He even made the top 5 in Cy Young voting 5 times, including two second place finishes. Unfortunately, his career went downhill after that and he ended up with the Giants during his last big league career, 1990. He was 0-1 with 13.5 ERA.
• Mike Stanton: Mike Stanton had an impressive 19 year career during which time he made a name for himself with the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees. He saved 27 games for the 1993 Braves, a team that ended up winning 104 games to take the West over the Giants, who had won 103. He would go on to play for those Giants during the twighlight of his career in 2006. He had a decent year, going 4-2 with a 3.09 ERA and 8 saves.
• Jamey Wright: Jamey Wright was selected in the first round of the 1993 draft by the Colorado Rockies. He ended up pitching for 19 years in the big leagues as both a starter and reliever. He ended up throwing over 2,000 innings with a 4.81 ERA. He wasn’t too great in 2006 for the Giants, though. He made 34 appearances, starting 21 games and went 6-10 with a 5.19 ERA.
• Juan Berenguer: One of the most memorable relief pitchers of the 80’s was El Gasolino - Juan Berenguer, who could light up the radar gun before a time when nearly every relief pitcher could. He is most remembered as Minnesota Twin, helping them win a World Series in 1987. His time with the Giants came just prior - in 1986, when he was 2-3 with a 2.7 ERA.
Bench
• C A.J. Pierzynski: A.J. found a ton of success during his 19-year career, especially with the Chicago White Sox. He ended up with an impressive .280 career batting average and 180 home runs. However, his time in San Francisco was difficult as he seemed to butt heads with the front office and teammates. Also, fans didn’t appreciate his ability to consistently ground into double plays. Nevertheless, he had a great career and deserves to be on this roster as a San Francisco Giant one-and-done who had a fantastic career.
• 3B David Bell: David Bell had a fantastic 12 year career accumulating 123 home runs. He was a key player on the National League Champion 2002 Giants, hitting .261 with 20 home runs. (Credit: Michael Baucom)
• IF/2B Scooter Gennett: Gennett will always be remembered for one amazing day when he crushed 4 home runs in a single game in 2017, tying an MLB record. He smashed 27 home runs that year in total, but never really maintained such excellence. The Giants picked him up at the trade deadline in 2019, and he hit just .234 before being designated for assignment.
• OF Eric Davis: Many people like forgot that slugger Eric Davis wore a Giants uniform, hitting .205 with 4 bombs in his final big league season. The rest of his career was much more impressive as he hit .269 with 282 home runs and 3 Gold Gloves.
• OF Deion Sanders: Prime Time Deion Sanders was a huge pick up for the Giants in 1995, and he helped put a charge into the team with an RBI double in his debut. He ended up hitting .285 in his only year in the orange and black.
• OF Dusty Baker: It feels strange to put Dusty Baker on a list of one-and-done San Francisco Giants, but as far his playing career goes, that’s exactly what happened. The 2-time All Star and Gold Glover played for the Giants only in 1984, when he hit .292 with 3 homers. He’s certainly remembered more for his time as a Giants manager from 1993 to 2002.
• OF Kenny Lofton: Kenny Lofted had over 2,400 hits in his 17 year career along with 622 Stolen Bases and should’ve been more highly considered for the Hall of Fame in my opinion. He played with the Giants in 2002, hitting .267 but also contributing in the playoffs and World Series.
Honorable Mentions
• SS Jose Vizcaino: The Giants have been very steady at shortstop, with not many great one-and-dones that I could find. However, the always solid Jose Vizcaino, who spent 18 years in the big leagues, played 64 games for the Giants in 2006, his final season.
• C Damon Berryhill: I’ll always remember Damon Berryhill from watching the Chicago Cubs on WGN. He actually had a nice 10-year career mostly as a backup catcher. He also hit a game-winning three-run homer for the Braves in Game 1 of the ‘92 World Series. As a Giant, he hit .257 with 3 homers in his final big league career in 1997.
• RHP Mike Leake: Mike Leake was a Giant for part of 2015, when he came over in exchange for a young Adam Duvall, who would go onto do big things for the Reds and Braves. Leake didn’t do much in 2015, going 2-5 with a decent 4.07 ERA. However, he has had a solid 10 year career, compiling 105 wins and a Gold Glove.
• OF Adam Duvall: This was a young and talented kid with power who the Giants decided to ship off to Cincinnati in 2015 in exchange for Mike Leake, who pitched in San Francisco long enough to also make this roster. Duvall immediately impressed in Cincinnati by crushing 33 bombs in 2016 and being selected to the All Star Team along with an invitation to perform in the Home Run Derby. Just last season in 2021, he drove in over 100 runs and smashed 38 home runs for the Braves and Marlins. He now has 151 home runs - only 3 with the Giants.