1981 San Francisco Giants season

1981 San Francisco Giants
1981 San Francisco Giants
League	National League
Division	West
Ballpark	Candlestick Park
City	San Francisco, California
Owners	Bob Lurie
General managers	Spec Richardson, Tom Haller
Managers	Frank Robinson
Television	KTVU; (Lindsey Nelson, Gary Park, Edgard Martinez)
Radio	KNBR; (Lindsey Nelson, Hank Greenwald, David Glass)

The 1981 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 99th season in Major League Baseball, their 24th season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their 22nd at Candlestick Park. Giants manager Frank Robinson became the first black manager in the history of the National League.^[1] Robinson was also the first black manager in the history of the American League.

Offseason

December 8, 1980: Chris Bourjos and Bob Knepper were traded by the Giants to the Houston Astros for Enos Cabell.^[2]
December 9, 1980: DeWayne Buice was drafted from the Giants by the Oakland Athletics in the 1980 minor league draft.^[3]
December 12, 1980: John Montefusco and Craig Landis (minors) were traded by the Giants to the Atlanta Braves for Doyle Alexander.^[4]
December 12, 1980: Joe Strain and Philip Nastu were traded by the Giants to the Chicago Cubs for Jerry Martin, Jesús Figueroa, and a player to be named later.^[5] The Cubs completed the deal by sending Mike Turgeon (minors) to the Giants on August 11, 1981.^[6]
February 9, 1981: Joe Morgan was signed as a free agent by the Giants.^[7]
March 23, 1981: Billy Smith was purchased by the Giants from the Philadelphia Phillies.^[8]
March 31, 1981: Gorman Heimueller was released by the Giants.^[9]

Regular season

Season standings

v
t
e
NL West
Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Cincinnati Reds	66	42	.611	—	32‍–‍22	34‍–‍20
Los Angeles Dodgers	63	47	.573	4	33‍–‍23	30‍–‍24
Houston Astros	61	49	.555	6	31‍–‍20	30‍–‍29
San Francisco Giants	56	55	.505	11½	29‍–‍24	27‍–‍31
Atlanta Braves	50	56	.472	15	22‍–‍27	28‍–‍29
San Diego Padres	41	69	.373	26	20‍–‍35	21‍–‍34

NL West First Half Standings	W	L	Pct.	GB
Los Angeles Dodgers	36	21	.632	—
Cincinnati Reds	35	21	.625	1⁄2
Houston Astros	28	29	.491	8
Atlanta Braves	25	29	.463	9+1⁄2
San Francisco Giants	27	32	.458	10
San Diego Padres	23	33	.411	12+1⁄2

NL West Second Half Standings	W	L	Pct.	GB
Houston Astros	33	20	.623	—
Cincinnati Reds	31	21	.596	1+1⁄2
San Francisco Giants	29	23	.558	3+1⁄2
Los Angeles Dodgers	27	26	.509	6
Atlanta Braves	25	27	.481	7+1⁄2
San Diego Padres	18	36	.333	15+1⁄2

Record vs. opponents

1981 National League record v t e Sources: [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]
Team	ATL	CHC	CIN	HOU	LAD	MON	NYM	PHI	PIT	SD	SF	STL
Atlanta	—	3–2–1	6–5	4–8	7–7	3–7	3–3	4–5	2–3	9–6	5–7	4–3
Chicago	2–3–1	—	1–5	1–6	6–4	4–7	5–8–1	2–10	4–10	3–3	5–5	5–4–1
Cincinnati	5–6	5–1	—	8–4	8–8	5–4	7–3	5–2	4–2	10–2	9–5	0–5
Houston	8–4	6–1	4–8	—	4–8	5–2	6–3	4–6	2–4	11–3	9–6	2–4
Los Angeles	7–7	4–6	8–8	8–4	—	5–2	5–1	3–3	5–1	6–5	7–5	5–5
Montreal	7–3	7–4	4–5	2–5	2–5	—	9–3	7–4	10–3	4–2	2–5	6–9
New York	3–3	8–5–1	3–7	3–6	1–5	3–9	—	7–7	3–6–1	2–5	2–4	6–5
Philadelphia	5-4	10–2	2–5	6–4	3–3	4–7	7–7	—	7–5	4–2	4–3	7–6
Pittsburgh	3–2	10–4	2–4	4–2	1–5	3–10	6–3–1	5–7	—	6–4	3–7	3–8
San Diego	6–9	3–3	2–10	3–11	5–6	2–4	5–2	2–4	4–6	—	6–7	3–7
San Francisco	7–5	5–5	5–9	6–9	5–7	5–2	4–2	3–4	7–3	7–6	—	2–3
St. Louis	3–4	4–5–1	5–0	4–2	5–5	9–6	5–6	6–7	8–3	7–3	3–2	—

Opening Day starters

Notable transactions

April 20, 1981: Mike Ivie was traded by the Giants to the Houston Astros for Dave Bergman and Jeffrey Leonard.^[11]
May 17, 1981: Phil Ouellette was signed by the Giants as an amateur free agent.^[12]
August 3, 1981: Mike Sadek was released by the Giants.^[13]

Roster

1981 San Francisco Giants

Roster

Pitchers

Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Manager

20 Frank Robinson

Coaches

8 Vern Benson
9 Don Buford (First Base)
12 Jim Davenport (Third Base)
5 Jim Lefebvre (Hitting)
47 Don McMahon (Pitching)
42 John VanOrnum (Bullpen)

Game log

Regular season Game log

First half

1981 regular season game log: 27–32 (Home: 13–15; Away: 14–17)

April: 9–12 (Home: 4–8; Away: 5–4)

#	Date	Opponent
5	April 13	Dodgers
6	April 14	Dodgers
7	April 15	Dodgers
19	April 27	@ Dodgers
20	April 28	@ Dodgers
21	April 29	@ Dodgers

May: 16–13 (Home: 8–5; Away: 8–8)

#	Date	Opponent	Score
—	May 1	@ Phillies	Postponed (Rain) (Makeup date: May 2)
22	May 2 (1)	@ Phillies
23	May 2 (2)	@ Phillies
24	May 3	@ Phillies
25	May 4	@ Phillies
29	May 8	@ Expos
30	May 9	@ Expos
31	May 10 (1)	@ Expos
32	May 10 (2)	@ Expos
33	May 12	Phillies
34	May 13	Phillies
35	May 14	Phillies
36	May 15	Expos
37	May 16	Expos
38	May 17	Expos
42	May 22	@ Astros
43	May 23	@ Astros
44	May 24	@ Astros
—	May 26	@ Reds	Postponed (Rain) (Makeup date: August 14)
48	May 29	Astros
49	May 30	Astros
50	May 31	Astros

June: 2–7 (Home: 1–2; Away: 1–5)

#	Date	Time (PT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Streak

Legend: = Win = Loss; = Postponement
Bold = Giants team member

Games canceled

1981 regular season game log

June

#	Date	Time (PT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Streak

July

#	Date	Opponent	Score
—	July 3	Dodgers	Canceled
—	July 4	Dodgers	Canceled
—	July 5	Dodgers	Canceled
—	July 10	@ Dodgers	Canceled
—	July 11	@ Dodgers	Canceled
—	July 12	@ Dodgers	Canceled
—	July 16	@ Phillies	Canceled
—	July 17	@ Phillies	Canceled
—	July 21	@ Expos	Canceled
—	July 22	@ Expos	Canceled
—	July 24	Phillies	Canceled
—	July 25	Phillies	Canceled
—	July 26	Phillies	Canceled
—	July 28	Expos	Canceled
—	July 29	Expos	Canceled
—	July 30	Expos	Canceled

August

#	Date	Opponent	Score
—	August 3	@ Astros	Canceled
—	August 4	@ Astros	Canceled
—	August 5	@ Astros	Canceled

Legend: = Postponement

Second half

1981 regular season game log: 28–23 (Home: 15–10; Away: 13–13)

August: 12–8 (Home: 5–2; Away: 7–6)

#	Date	Opponent
52nd All-Star Game in Cleveland, Ohio
58	August 10	Astros
59	August 11	Astros
60	August 12	Astros

September: 14–13 (Home: 9–6; Away: 5–7)

#	Date	Opponent
86	September 7	@ Dodgers
87	September 8	@ Dodgers
88	September 9	@ Dodgers
89	September 11	@ Astros
90	September 12	@ Astros
91	September 13	@ Astros
96	September 18	Astros
97	September 19	Astros
98	September 20	Astros
99	September 22	Dodgers
100	September 23	Dodgers
101	September 24	Dodgers

October: 2–2 (Home: 1–2; Away: 1–0)

#	Date	Time (PT)	Opponent	Score	Win	Loss	Save	Time of Game	Attendance	Record	Streak
—	October 2		Padres	Postponed (Rain) (Makeup date: October 3)

Legend: = Win = Loss; = Postponement
Bold = Giants team member

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Milt May	97	316	98	.310	2	33
1B	Enos Cabell	96	396	101	.255	2	36
2B	Joe Morgan	90	308	74	.240	8	31
3B	Darrell Evans	102	357	92	.258	12	48
SS	Johnnie LeMaster	104	324	82	.253	0	28
LF	Jack Clark	99	385	103	.268	17	53
CF	Larry Herndon	96	364	105	.288	5	41
RF	Jerry Martin	72	241	58	.241	4	25

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Dave Bergman	63	145	37	.255	3	13
Billy North	46	131	29	.221	1	12
Jeffrey Leonard	37	127	39	.307	4	26
Rennie Stennett	38	87	20	.230	1	7
Jim Wohlford	50	68	11	.162	1	7
Billy Smith	36	61	11	.180	1	5
Bob Brenly	19	45	15	.333	1	4
Mike Sadek	19	36	6	.167	0	3
Max Venable	18	32	6	.188	0	1
Joe Pettini	35	29	2	.069	0	2
Guy Sularz	10	20	4	.200	0	2
Mike Ivie	7	17	5	.294	0	3
Chili Davis	8	15	2	.133	0	0
Jeff Ransom	5	15	4	.267	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Doyle Alexander	24	152.1	11	7	2.89	77
Tom Griffin	22	129.1	8	8	3.76	83
Ed Whitson	22	123.0	6	9	4.02	65
Vida Blue	18	124.2	8	6	2.45	63
Allen Ripley	19	90.2	4	4	4.07	47

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Alan Hargesheimer	6	18.2	1	2	4.34	6

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Greg Minton	55	84.1	4	5	21	2.88	29
Al Holland	47	100.2	7	5	7	2.41	78
Fred Breining	45	77.2	5	2	1	2.55	37
Gary Lavelle	34	65.2	2	6	4	3.84	45
Mike Rowland	9	15.2	0	1	0	3.45	8
Bob Tufts	11	15.1	0	0	0	3.52	12
Randy Moffitt	10	11.1	0	0	0	7.94	11

Awards and honors

1981 Larry Herndon LF, Willie Mac Award

All-Star Game

Vida Blue, reserve

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Phoenix Giants	Pacific Coast League	Rocky Bridges
AA	Shreveport Captains	Texas League	Jack Mull
A	Fresno Giants	California League	Wayne Cato
A	Clinton Giants	Midwest League	Wendell Kim
Rookie	Great Falls Giants	Pioneer League	Ernie Rodriguez

References

^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.198, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
^ Chris Bourjos at Baseball Reference
^ DeWayne Buice at Baseball Reference
^ Doyle Alexander at Baseball Reference
^ "Giants trade twice on final day". The Ledger. Lakeland, Florida. Associated Press (AP). December 13, 1980. p. 3D. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
^ Joe Strain at Baseball Reference
^ Joe Morgan at Baseball Reference
^ Billy Smith at Baseball Reference
^ Gorman Heimueller at Baseball Reference
^ "1981 San Francisco Giants Roster by Baseball Almanac".
^ [1]
^ Phil Ouellette at Baseball Reference
^ Mike Sadek at Baseball Reference

External links

1981 San Francisco Giants at Baseball Reference
1981 San Francisco Giants at Baseball Almanac

[1] Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.198, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0

[2] Chris Bourjos at Baseball Reference

[3] DeWayne Buice at Baseball Reference

[4] Doyle Alexander at Baseball Reference

[80_trade-5] "Giants trade twice on final day". The Ledger. Lakeland, Florida. Associated Press (AP). December 13, 1980. p. 3D. Retrieved December 22, 2014.

[6] Joe Strain at Baseball Reference

[7] Joe Morgan at Baseball Reference

[8] Billy Smith at Baseball Reference

[9] Gorman Heimueller at Baseball Reference

[10] "1981 San Francisco Giants Roster by Baseball Almanac".

[11] [1]

[12] Phil Ouellette at Baseball Reference

[13] Mike Sadek at Baseball Reference

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