The 1993 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 111th season in Major League Baseball, their 36th season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their 34th season at Candlestick Park. It was the first season with Dusty Baker as manager, having been promoted from previously serving as the hitting coach under Roger Craig. In the offseason, under new ownership and general manager, Barry Bonds left the Pittsburgh Pirates to sign a lucrative free agent contract worth a then-record $43.75 million over six years with the Giants, with whom his father, Bobby Bonds, spent the first seven years of his career, and with whom his godfather Willie Mays played 22 of his 24 Major League seasons. The deal was, at that time, the largest in baseball history, in terms of both total value and average annual salary.Chass, Murray. "Giants Make Investment: $43 Million in Bonds", The New York Times, published December 6, 1992, accessed January 31, 2008. To honor his father, Bonds switched his jersey number to 25 once he signed with the Giants, as it had been Bobby's number in San Francisco (His number during most of his stay with the Pirates, 24, was already retired in honor of Mays). Bonds hit .336 in 1993, leading the league with 46 home runs and 123 RBI en route to his second consecutive MVP award and third overall (of an eventual seven).
As good as the Giants were (winning 103 games), the Atlanta Braves won 104 in what some call the last great pennant race (due to the Wild Card being instituted the following season). As of today, the 1993 Giants have the fourth-highest win total of a non-divisional winner in Major League Baseball history, and the second highest win total of a team that did not make the playoffs (behind the 1942 Dodgers).
In the first half of the season prior to the All-Star Game, the Giants had taken 5 out of the 7 games against the Braves. Prior to the series beginning on August 23, the Giants had only lost 5 series all year long and had not lost more than 4 games in any 7-day period. After leading the National League West by ten games on July 22, and still holding a -game lead a month later, the Giants went 6–15 and relinquished the division lead to the Braves. The Giants then went on a 14–2 run, which left them tied with the Braves with one game remaining, which they lost 12–1 to the 80–81 Los Angeles Dodgers to become the only National League team to win 100 or more games and not make the playoffs in the divisional play era.
Offseason On November 10, 1992, National League owners voted 9–4 against allowing Giants owner Bob Lurie to sell the team for $115 million to a Tampa Bay group, which would have moved the Giants to the Florida Suncoast Dome in time for the 1993 season.
November 17, 1992: Steve Decker was drafted by the Florida Marlins from the San Francisco Giants as the 35th pick in the 1992 expansion draft.Steve Decker Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com December 8, 1992: Barry Bonds signed as a free agent with the San Francisco Giants.Barry Bonds Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com December 10, 1992: Jim Pena was traded by the San Francisco Giants to the San Diego Padres for Paul Faries. December 16, 1992: Hitting coach Dusty Baker was promoted to manager.
Regular season During the season, John Burkett and Bill Swift would be the last pitchers to win at least 20 games in one season for the Giants in the 20th century.Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.98, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, NY,
Opening day starters Barry Bonds John Burkett Will Clark Royce Clayton Kirt Manwaring Dave Martinez Willie McGee Robby Thompson Matt Williams1993 San Francisco Giants Roster by Baseball Almanac
Season standings
Record vs. opponents
Notable Transactions August 3, 1993: Scott Sanderson was selected off waivers by the San Francisco Giants from the California Angels.Scott Sanderson Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com August 28, 1993: Jim DeShaies was traded by the Minnesota Twins to the San Francisco Giants for a player to be named later, Aaron Fultz, and Andres Duncan (minors). The San Francisco Giants sent Greg Brummett (September 1, 1993) to the Minnesota Twins to complete the trade.Jim Deshaies Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com
Draft picks June 3, 1993: Steve Soderstrom was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 1st round (6th pick) of the 1993 amateur draft. Player signed July 28, 1993. June 3, 1993: Bill Mueller was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 15th round of the 1993 amateur draft. Player signed June 4, 1993.
Major League debuts Batters: Rikkert Faneyte (Aug 29) Erik Johnson (Jul 8) J.R. Phillips (Sep 3) Pitchers: Greg Brummett (May 29) Salomon Torres (Aug 29)
Roster 1993 San Francisco Giants Roster Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches (Hitting/first base) (Bullpen) (Third base) (Bench) (Pitching)
Player stats = Indicates team leader = Indicates league leader
Batting
Starters by position Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg.= Batting average Pos Player G AB H HR RBI Avg. C Kirt Manwaring 130 432 119 5 49 .275 1B Will Clark 132 491 139 14 73 .283 2B Robby Thompson 128 494 154 19 65 .312 3B Matt Williams 145 579 170 38 110 .294 SS Royce Clayton 153 549 155 6 70 .282 LF Barry Bonds 159 539 181 46 123 .336 CF Darren Lewis 136 522 132 2 48 .253 RF Willie McGee 130 475 143 4 46 .3011993 San Francisco Giants Statistics and Roster - Baseball-Reference.com
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 Martinez 91 241 58 .241 5 27 Todd Benzinger 86 177 51 .288 6 26 Mark Carreon 78 150 49 .327 7 33 Mike Benjamin 63 146 29 .199 4 16 Jeff Reed 66 119 31 .261 6 12 Steve Scarsone 44 103 26 .252 2 15 Craig Colbert 23 37 6 .162 1 5 Paul Faries 15 36 8 .222 0 4 Luis Mercedes 18 25 4 .160 0 3 Andy Allanson 13 24 4 .167 0 2 John Patterson 16 16 3 .188 1 2 J.R. Phillips 11 16 5 .313 1 4 Rikkert Faneyte 7 15 2 .133 0 0 Jim McNamara 4 7 1 .143 0 1 Erik Johnson 4 5 2 .400 0 0 Steve Hosey 3 2 1 .500 0 1
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 Bill Swift 34 232.2 21 8 2.82 157 John Burkett 34 231.2 22 7 3.65 145 Trevor Wilson 22 110.0 7 5 3.60 57 Bud Black 16 93.2 8 2 3.56 45 Greg Brummett 8 46.0 2 3 4.70 20 Salomon Torres 8 44.2 3 5 4.03 23
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 Bryan Hickerson 47 120.1 7 5 4.26 69 Jeff Brantley 53 113.2 5 6 4.28 76 Scott Sanderson 11 48.2 4 2 3.51 36 Jim Deshaies 5 17.0 2 2 4.24 5
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 Rod Beck 76 79.1 3 1 48 2.16 86 Mike Jackson 81 77.1 6 6 1 3.03 70 Dave Burba 54 95.1 10 3 0 4.25 88 Kevin Rogers 64 80.2 2 2 0 2.68 62 Dave Righetti 51 47.1 1 1 1 5.70 31 Gino Minutelli 9 14.1 0 1 0 3.77 10 Terry Bross 2 2.0 0 0 1 9.00 1 Tim Layana 1 2.0 0 0 0 22.50 1
Awards and honors Barry Bonds, National League Most Valuable Player Barry Bonds, National League leader, Home Runs and Runs Batted InBaseball's Top 100: The Game's Greatest Records, p.59, Kerry Banks, 2010, Greystone Books, Vancouver, BC, Kirt Manwaring C, Willie Mac Award All-Star Game
Farm system
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, N.C.: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
References
External links 1993 San Francisco Giants team page at Baseball Reference 1993 San Francisco Giants team page at Baseball Almanac