1989 San Francisco Giants season

The 1989 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 107th season in Major League Baseball, their 32nd season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their 30th at Candlestick Park.  The Giants finished in first place in the National League West with a record of 92 wins and 70 losses. It was their second division title in three years. The Giants defeated the Chicago Cubs in five games in the National League Championship Series. However, they were swept by their cross-Bay rivals, the Oakland Athletics, in an earthquake-marred World Series.

Offseason
December 8, 1988: Mike Aldrete was traded by the San Francisco Giants to the Montreal Expos for Tracy Jones.
February 27, 1989: Ernie Camacho was signed as a Free Agent with the San Francisco Giants.

Regular season

Opening Day starters
 Brett Butler
 Will Clark
 Terry Kennedy
 Candy Maldonado
 Kevin Mitchell
 Rick Reuschel
 Robby Thompson
 Jose Uribe
 Matt Williams

Season standings

Record vs. opponents

Notable transactions
April 14, 1989: Goose Gossage was signed as a Free Agent with the San Francisco Giants.
June 5, 1989: Clay Bellinger was drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the 2nd round of the 1989 amateur draft. Player signed June 8, 1989.
June 16, 1989: Tracy Jones was traded by the San Francisco Giants to the Detroit Tigers for Pat Sheridan.
June 18, 1989: Charlie Hayes was traded by the San Francisco Giants with Dennis Cook and Terry Mulholland to the Philadelphia Phillies for a player to be named later and Steve Bedrosian. The Philadelphia Phillies sent Rick Parker (August 7, 1989) to the San Francisco Giants to complete the trade.
 August 2, 1989: Bob Brenly signed as a Free Agent.
August 10, 1989: Goose Gossage was selected off waivers by the New York Yankees from the San Francisco Giants.

Major League debuts
Batters: Mike Benjamin (July 7)  Greg Litton (May 2)
Pitchers: Randy McCament (June 28)  Russ Swan (August 3)  Stu Tate (September 20)

Game log and schedule

Postseason

Roster
{| class="toccolours" style="font-size: 95%;"
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! colspan="10" style="background-color: black; color: #FFFDD0; text-align: center;" | 1989 San Francisco Giants
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| colspan="10" style="background-color: #fd5a1e; color: #FFFDD0; text-align: center;" | Roster
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| valign="top" | Pitchers 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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| valign="top" | Catchers 
 
 
 Infielders 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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| valign="top" | Outfielders 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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| valign="top" | Manager Coaches  (Hitting)
  (Third base)
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  (Bench)
  (Pitching)
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Dave Dravecky
The previous season, a cancerous desmoid tumor was found in Dravecky's pitching arm. He underwent surgery on October 7, 1988, removing half of the deltoid muscle in his pitching arm and freezing the humerus bone in an effort to eliminate all of the cancerous cells. By July 1989, he was pitching in the minors, and on August 10, he made a highly publicized return to the major leagues, pitching 8 innings and defeating Cincinnati 4-3. In his following start five days later against the Expos, Dravecky pitched three no-hit innings, but in the fifth inning, he felt a tingling sensation in his arm. In the sixth inning he started off shaky, allowing a home run to the lead off batter and then hitting the second batter. Then, on his first pitch to Tim Raines, his humerus bone snapped, ending his career.

To see a pitcher break his arm with a loud cracking sound while doing something as ordinary as throwing a pitch, then fall to the ground rolling in agonizing pain, was shocking, unusual, and upsetting, especially for those who had followed his touching story.  The pitch was replayed on television repeatedly over the following days.

The Giants won the National League pennant in 1989, and in the post-game celebration, Dravecky's arm was broken a second time. A doctor examining Dravecky's x-rays noticed a mass in his arm. Cancer had returned. Eighteen days later, Dravecky retired from baseball, aged 33, leaving a 64-57 record with 558 strikeouts and a 3.13 ERA in 1,062.2 innings.  He won the 1989 Willie Mac Award honoring his spirit and leadership.

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

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

 Pitching 

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

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

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

National League Championship Series

Game 1
October 4 at Wrigley Field in Chicago

Game 2
October 5 at Wrigley Field in Chicago

Game 3
October 7 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California

Game 4
October 8 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California

Game 5
October 9 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California

The Giants made it to their first World Series since 1962 with a 3-2 win over the Cubs to win the 1989 National League pennant, four games to one. The final game pitted Mike Bielecki against a well-rested (due to his quick exit from Game 2) Rick Reuschel. Reuschel made amends for his poor start in Game 2 by giving up only one run over eight innings. The one run Reuschel gave up was an unearned run the Cubs scored when Walton reached on an error by Mitchell and then scored on Sandberg's double. The Cubs held the 1-0 lead until the seventh inning when Will Clark tripled and scored on Mitchell's sacrifice fly.

With two outs in the eighth, the Cubs appeared ready to perhaps send the series back to Chicago. But Candy Maldonado pinch-hit for Reuschel and walked. Bielcki then proceeded the load the bases by walking both Butler and Thompson. Don Zimmer sent for Mitch Williams to end the jam, but Clark drove a single to center that gave the Giants a 3-1 lead. The Cubs strung together three straight singles with two outs in the ninth to pull within a run, but Bedrosian got Sandberg to ground out to second to end the game and the series.

The Giants were in their first World Series since 1962. Clark's stellar performance earned him Most Valuable Player honors for the Giants. Clark hit .650 with eight RBIs.

World series

It was the first World Series in which the losing team never had the lead and never had the tying run at the plate in its final turn at-bat.

Game 1
October 14, 1989, at Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California.

Game 2
October 15, 1989, at Oakland Coliseum in Oakland, California

Game 3
October 17, 1989, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco

The game was delayed until October 27, or about ten days, due to the Loma Prieta earthquake.

Game 4
October 28, 1989, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco

Award winners
 Will Clark, NLCS MVP
 Dave Dravecky, Hutch Award
 Dave Dravecky, Willie Mac Award
 Kevin Mitchell, National League MVPAll-Star Game'Farm system

References

External links
 1989 San Francisco Giants at Baseball Reference 1989 San Francisco Giants at Baseball Almanac''

Category:National League West champion seasons
Category:National League champion seasons
Category:San Francisco Giants seasons
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