Top 10 San Francisco Giants Players of All Time

The Giants franchise has the most Hall of Famers (23) and franchise wins in MLB history. They were briefly known as the New York Gothams in the 1800s until they became the New York Giants before moving to San Francisco in 1958. Here is a list of the top 10 players to don the San Francisco uniform, which you can also see published on the Bleacher Report.

10. Matt Williams

The Nevada native played college ball at UNLV before being taken with the third overall pick in the 1986 draft.

Although many people may remember Matt Williams as a member of the Diamondbacks 2001 World Series championship, he played a strong left side of the infield for the Giants from 1987 through 1996.

“Matt the Bat” played on the 1989 World Series (losing) Giants team and had over 1000 hits and nearly 250 home runs as a Giant.

He won three Gold Gloves and appeared as an All-Star four time as a Giant.

9. Robb Nen

Robb Nen was one of the most feared closers of the steroid era, something that shows the true talent the Giants enjoyed closing out ballgames. His fastball hit the high 90s and his slider was just nasty. The three time Giant All-Star played in San Francisco for five years until retiring after the 2002 season because of rotator cuff injuries.

The all-time Giants saves leader is in the top 20 saves leaders of all-time and had a 2.43 ERA over 365 appearances for San Francisco. His name appears three times in the top 5 single season save totals for the Giants.

And oh by the way, in his Giants tenure he had a 10.8 SO/9 ratio and struck out more than four batters per walk allowed.

8. Will Clark

Will the Thrill was the pre-Barry Bonds star of San Francisco. His sweet swing gave him another prestigious nickname, “The Natural.”

Clark was drafted by the Giants organization in 1985 and began playing for them when Bonds was a rookie on the Pirates in 1986. Staying with the career parallelisms with Bonds, he played in the City by the Bay through Bonds first year on the Giants (1993).

He was second in MVP voting in 1989 and made five All-Star appearances for San Fran. He hit as many as 35 HR in a single season and had three seasons of 100+ RBI. A very well liked Giant, Clark fits nicely into San Francisco’s top players.

7. Gaylord Perry

Inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991, Perry wore the San Francisco jersey for 10 years in the 60s and early 70s. During that time he sported a solid 2.96 ERA to go with 134 wins, 21 shutouts, and a 6.3 SO/9 ratio in over 2,200 IP. Over his career, he would win more than 300 games and total over 3,000 strikeouts.

He earned a spot on the NL All Star team twice while on the Giants and was known for throwing a “spit ball” that spun unpredictably and tied up hitters. Gene Tenace, Perry's catcher when the two played for San Diego, told the New York Times: "I can remember a couple of occasions when I couldn't throw the ball back to him because it was so greasy...I just walked out to the mound and flipped the ball back to him."

6. Orlando Cepeda

Cepeda’s nine years in the 50s and 60s began with the Rookie of the Year Award in 1958 and culminated with his induction into the Hall of Fame.

The 11-time All-Star has his number (30) retired in the Giants organization. Sadly he didn’t win an MVP award until joining the St. Louis Cardinals (1967) but his .308 average and nearly 1,300 hits, 200+ home runs, and 750+ RBIs as a Giant earn him a spot in every Giants fans recollection of the greatest Giants.

5. Tim Lincecum

Even though "The Freak" hasn't been doing too well this year, his contribution to the 2010 Giants World Series win earns him a spot in the heart of San Francisco’s best. Hopefully he can turn it around and get his ERA this year back in the respectable range, but don’t forget in his first three seasons in the majors he earned two Cy Young awards.

Also a four-time All-Star, Timmy currently has the Giants all-time record for strikeouts per 9 IP and is making his way up the top 10 list in strikeouts for San Francisco. In his heyday, Lincecum had a dirty changeup to complement his blazing fastball.

If you haven’t already seen his quirky delivery (taught to him by his father), check it out in slow motion.

4. Juan Marichal

The Dominican Dandy was known for more than just his famous leg kick. He won more games than any other pitcher in the 1960s and collected eight All-Star appearances in those ten years.

He would have gotten even more recognition if there weren’t two other dominating starting pitchers in the wild 60s – a couple guys named Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson.

If you haven’t seen his leg kick, here it is in all of its glory.

3. Willie McCovey

Willie Mac played nearly two decades for the San Francisco Giants. His powerful stroke was a dominant force in the middle of the Giants lineup in the 60s.

A member of the 500 home run club, he won the Rookie of the Year Award in 1959. A decade later, he won the NL MVP award , leading the league with 45 HR and 126 RBI.

The 6-time All-Star was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986 and left a lasting impression on San Francisco. The Giants appropriately retired his #44 and the water behind right field, McCovey Cove, also honors this Giant great.

2. Willie Mays

The Say Hey Kid is one of the most legendary players in the game, not just the Giants organization.

His famouse play, "The Catch," occured in the 1954 World Series when Mays was playing for the New York Giants. It was the final World Series the Giants organization would win in the 20^th century. (They would have to wait until 2010 to get their first title in San Francisco.) I think it’s fair to say Willie Mays made the transition to San Francisco in 1958 quite smoothly.

In his 2,857 games as a San Francisco Giant—which is the most of any Giant—Mays leads the team in career home runs, runs scored, hits, total bases, and doubles, among many other statistics. The 24 time All-Star is currently fourth on the list of career home runs with 660 big flys. He was also a 12-time Gold Glove Award winner, 2-time NL MVP, and member of the 3,000 hit club (3,283 hits to be precise).

The Giants retired number 24 in his honor, and I think it’s fair to say that gesture is well deserved.

1. Barry Bonds

Barry Bonds is undoubtedly the greatest player to play in San Francisco – after all, he is arguably one of the greatest players to ever play the game. The most feared hitter of his generation, Giants fans had a blast watching him hit bombs into McCovey Cove. As a reminder of his greatness, just look these numbers:

762 Career Home Runs *

2558 Career Walks *

73 Home Runs in 2001 **

12X Silver Slugger Award Winner

7X National League MVP

14X All-Star

688 Career Intentional Walks *

232 Walks in a Single Season (2004) **

2,935 Career Hits

514 Career Stolen Bases

(* indicates all-time record; ** indicates single season record)

The list goes on and on. Yes, he took steroids, but that doesn’t override the fact that he was the single best player for San Francisco. Whether or not he is a Hall of Famer is a whole different discussion (of which you can read my opinion here).

He wasn’t exactly the most likable guy either, but his presence on the baseball field was simply legendary.

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