This year the organization is celebrating the team’s 50 years in the city by the bay. I decided to come up with an all-time San Francisco Giants team. Below is a list of the best players by position who made my team.

    C Bob Brenly (1981-89) – The Giants haven’t had many superstar catchers since coming to the west coast, but Brenly was a very solid player. He ranks in the top five in five major offensive categories among catchers in all-time Giants history. Brenly had 632 hits, 162 doubles, 90 home runs, and 327 RBI during his San Francisco career. In 1984, Brenly made the only all-star appearance.

    1B Willie McCovey (1959-73, 77-80) – In the last 50 years the Giants have had some pretty good first baseman, but “Stretch,” was clearly head and shoulders above the rest. McCovey ranks first among first basemen in runs (914), hits (2193), doubles (269), home runs (387), and RBI (1178), in San Francisco history. McCovey had his best year in 1969 when he won the National League MVP. That year he hit .320 and hit 45 home runs and drove in 126 runs.

    2B Jeff Kent (1997-2002) – I wish the Giants would have never gotten rid of Kent. When he wasn’t busy washing his truck, the guy was a pretty damn good ball player. He is by far the best second baseman in San Francisco history. Kent drove in at least 100 runs in each of his six seasons with the Giants. Despite only being with the team for a relatively short time, Kent still is at the top of the list in doubles (275), home runs (187), and RBI (689). He won the National League MVP award in 2000 when he hit .334, with 33 home runs and 125 RBI.

    SS Rich Aurilia (1995-2003, 2007-present) – Aurilia had some very good years in his first stint with the team. He hit at least 20 home runs in three straight seasons (1999-2001). He had his best year in 2001 hitting 37 home runs and driving in 97 runs, and was selected to his only All-Star appearance.

    3B Matt Williams (1987-96) – Williams was a 5-time All Star (1990, 1994-96), and a 3-time Gold Glove winner (1991, 93-94), during his time with the Giants. He is the all-time leader among San Francisco third basemen in home runs (239), runs batted in (711), hits (1046), doubles (170), and runs (566). In the strike shortened season of 1994, Williams led the Major Leagues with 43 home runs.

    OF Willie Mays (1958-71) – Mays is arguably the greatest player in baseball history. The “Say Hey Kid” could do it all. He hit for power and average, stole bases, and his glove was the best in the business. In 1965, Mays won the National League MVP award hitting 52 home runs, driving in 112, and batting .347. He was an All-Star for each of his 14 seasons in San Francisco, capturing game MVP honors in 1963 and 1968. His glove was also second to none as he captured 11 consecutive Gold Gloves from 1958-68.

    OF Barry Bonds (1993-2007) – Simply the best baseball player to put on a pair of cleats since Mays, and the definitely the greatest player in my lifetime. His stats are absolutely mind boggling. Bonds is the greatest home run hitter of all-time (762), no matter what the nay sayers believe. He has more homeruns as a San Francisco Giant (586), than Mays does (459). He also ranks first in San Francisco history in walks (1947), on base percentage (.477), and slugging percentage (.666). In his In his 15 years with the Giants, Bonds won the National League MVP award five times (1993, 2001-04).  It’s difficult to choose which season was his best, but I’d have to go with 2004. That year he hit an NL leading .362 with a MLB record .609 OBP and a MLB record 232 walks. He also had a .812 slugging percentage, becoming only the second player in MLB history (Ruth) to finish with a slugging percentage over .800.

    OF Bobby Bonds (1968-74) – While his son gets most of the attention, Bobby was a pretty good player himself. During his time with the Giants, Bonds was a two-time All-Star (1971, 73), and a three-time Gold Glove winner (1971, 73-74). He also had plenty of speed, stealing 263 bases. His best season with the Giants was in 1971 when he hit 33 home runs, drove in 102 runs, and stole 26 bases.

    SP Juan Marichal (1960-73) – When it comes to the greatest pitcher in San Francisco history the discussion begins and ends with the “Dominican Dandy.”  Marichal is first in wins (238), complete games (244), shutouts (52), and strikeouts (2281).  The right hander with the high leg kick led the NL in wins twice. In 1963 he had 25 wins, and in 1968 he topped that with 26 victories. It’s hard to choose his greatest season because he had quite a few, but I’ll go with 1966. That year Marichal posted a 25-6 record    with a 2.23 ERA, and 222 strikeouts. He also pitched 25 complete games that year, and tossed four shutouts.

    Relief Pitcher Robb Nen (1998-2002) – This one was a tough call. It came down to Nen and fan favorite Rod Beck. I went with Nen. Despite only being a Giant for five seasons, Nen is San Francisco’s all-time saves leader with 206. His best year came in 2000 when he finished with 41 saves and a 1.50 ERA. Nen had one of the nastiest sliders I have ever seen.

    Random Musings:

• It is quite clear now that the Giants were fooling us with there better than expected April. The good vibes of last month have turned into a May malaise. So far in May the Giants are 3-12, they just got swept at home by the White Sox. Go up and down the lineup and most of the team besides Randy Winn, Omar Vizquel, and Ray Durham, is not hitting. San Francisco is 8-for-55 with runners in scoring position. The Fresno Grizzlies lineup could come up here and do better than that.

• Last Thursday there was an article in the San Francisco Chronicle in which Brian Sabean said that he has not contemplated moving some of the veteran players, and that he plans to keep them. Let’s hope that is just a negotiation ploy, otherwise the GM really has lost it. Rich Aurilia and Ray Durham need to be sent packing for sure, and the sooner that happens the better. Durham has been hot, so get rid of him for a rosin bag before he gets hurt again.

• Barry Zito is setting records, just not the records we had hoped he would set. With his loss on Saturday he became the first Giants pitcher since 1890 to lose his first eight decisions. In one of the local papers I read said something to the effect of “Zito pitches better and still loses.” Since when is six walks in five innings good? Zito has pitched better of late, but his ERA in his last three starts has been 4.50. When any pitcher’s ERA is near five that is not a positive thing. If this keeps up, it won’t be long before we start counting down to Anthony Young’s record 27 consecutive losses.

• One of the few positives this past week was the pitching performances of Pat Misch, Tim Lincecum and Jonathan Sanchez. Misch had a rough first inning against the Astros on Wednesday night, but settled down nicely, shutting down the potent Houston offense over his final five innings. Lincecum struck out 10, and pitched six solid innings in the sweltering 95 degree heat on Thursday.  Sanchez rebounded from a few bad starts by limiting the White Sox to two runs in 6 2/3 innings on Friday. Unfortunately the offense did not give him any run support and he was saddled with the tough loss.

• With his seventh inning triple on Sunday, Randy Winn extended his hitting streak to 13 games.