The 2003 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 121st season in Major League Baseball, their 46th season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their fourth season at Pacific Bell Park. The Giants entered the 2003 season as defending National League champions, aiming to get back to the World Series and win it. They finished in first place in the National League West with a record of 100 wins and 61 losses. They lost the NLDS in four games to the Florida Marlins, marking the 2003 Giants from what many described a failed season. The Giants would not return to the postseason or win the National League West until 2010.
Offseason November 13, 2002: Felipe Alou was hired as Giants new manager, after Dusty Baker left to become the new manager of the Chicago Cubs. November 15, 2002: Tsuyoshi Shinjo was released by the San Francisco Giants. December 7, 2002: Marquis Grissom signed as a free agent with the San Francisco Giants. December 7, 2002: Ray Durham was signed as a free agent with the San Francisco Giants. March 18, 2003: Clay Bellinger was signed as a free agent with the San Francisco Giants.
Regular season
The Giants only played 161 games. The Giants elected to not make up one game (at New York Mets) that was postponed due to the Northeast blackout of 2003. Had the Giants made up the game and won, the Giants would've been assured home-field advantage in a potential NLCS meeting with the Atlanta Braves due to the Giants winning the season series if both teams held identical records of 101–61. No Division Series matchups would've been altered due to the Marlins and Braves being restricted from meeting in the Division Series as both teams are from the NL East.
Ray Durham and Benito Santiago became the first pair of Giants teammates to homer in each of the team's first two games of a season since at least 1901.
On June 23 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Barry Bonds stole second in the 11th inning, the 500th steal of his career. He became the first major leaguer to collect 500 home runs and 500 stolen bases in a career.
Opening day starters J.T. Snow Ray Durham Rich Aurilia Edgardo Alfonzo Barry Bonds Marquis Grissom Jose Cruz Jr. Benito Santiago Kirk Rueter
Season standings
National League West
Record vs. opponents
Roster 2003 San Francisco Giants Roster Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
Other batters Manager
Coaches (bullpen) (third base) (hitting) (first base) (pitching) (bench)
Player stats
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 Benito Santiago 108 401 112 .279 11 56 1B J.T. Snow 103 330 90 .273 8 51 2B Ray Durham 110 410 117 .285 8 33 SS Rich Aurilia 129 505 140 .277 13 58 3B Edgardo Alfonzo 142 514 133 .259 13 81 LF Barry Bonds 130 390 133 .341 45 90 CF Marquis Grissom 149 587 176 .300 20 79 RF José Cruz Jr. 158 539 135 .250 20 68
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 Neifi Pérez 120 328 84 .256 1 31 Andrés Galarraga 110 272 82 .301 12 42 Pedro Feliz 95 235 58 .247 16 48 Yorvit Torrealba 66 200 52 .260 4 29 Jeffrey Hammonds 36 94 26 .277 3 10 Eric Young 26 71 14 .197 0 3 Marvin Benard 46 71 14 .197 0 4 Rubén Rivera 31 50 9 .180 2 4 Todd Linden 18 38 8 .211 1 6 Cody Ransom 20 27 6 .222 1 1 Tony Torcato 14 16 3 .188 0 1 Alberto Castillo 11 15 3 .200 1 4 Francisco Santos 8 15 3 .200 1 1 Jason Ellison 7 10 1 .100 0 0 Carlos Valderrama 7 7 1 .143 0 0 Lance Niekro 5 5 1 .200 0 2 Trey Lunsford 1 1 0 .000 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 Jason Schmidt 29 207.2 17 5 2.34 208 Kirk Rueter 27 147.0 10 5 4.53 41 Jerome Williams 21 131.0 7 5 3.30 88 Damian Moss 21 115.0 9 7 4.70 57 Jesse Foppert 23 111.0 8 9 5.03 101 Sidney Ponson 10 68.0 3 6 3.71 34 Kurt Ainsworth 11 66.0 5 4 3.82 48 Brian Powell 1 4.2 0 1 13.50 3
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 Jim Brower 51 100.0 8 5 3.96 65 Kevin Correia 10 39.1 3 1 3.66 28 Dustin Hermanson 9 39.0 2 1 3.00 27 Ryan Jensen 6 13.1 0 0 10.80 3
Relief pitchers Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts Player G W L SV ERA SO Tim Worrell 76 4 4 38 2.87 65 Joe Nathan 78 12 4 0 2.96 83 Scott Eyre 74 2 1 1 3.32 35 Félix Rodríguez 68 8 2 2 3.10 46 Jason Christiansen 40 0 0 0 5.19 22 Chad Zerbe 33 1 1 0 4.71 17 Matt Herges 27 1 0 0 2.31 28 Noah Lowry 4 0 0 0 0.00 5 Manny Aybar 3 0 0 0 6.00 2
2003 National League Division Series
The Giants lost to the Florida Marlins in the NLDS. Game 1 – Florida 0, San Francisco 2 Game 2 – Florida 9, San Francisco 5 Game 3 – San Francisco 3, Florida 4 Game 4 – San Francisco 6, Florida 7
This was the last playoff series that the Giants lost before winning 11 straight, a streak that ended in the 2016 Division Series against the Chicago Cubs.
Awards and honors Barry Bonds, National League Most Valuable Player Marquis Grissom CF, Willie Mac Award All-Star Game Barry Bonds Jason Schmidt
Farm system
Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 3rd edition. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 2007Baseball America 2004 Annual Directory
References
External links 2003 San Francisco Giants at Baseball Reference 2003 San Francisco Giants at Baseball Almanac