Giants fans are excited. Cautiously excited, mind you, but it feels good to know that as we head towards the All-Star break, thoughts of the post-season for the Orange and Black are percolating.
On the mound, Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain’s ERAs are Marichalian, and currently ranked number two and number three in the National League. Seeing that got me to thinking “When Was the Last Time?” thoughts about the Giants, as in, “When was the last time they had two of the top ERA marks in the league?” Granted, ERA is longer the stat it was, but it’s still an overall good measure in terms of "understandability," and certainly better than wins in term of player performance.
I counted over 35 times when at least two Giants finished in the Top Ten (thank you Baseball Reference) so I narrowed things down to the times they had two in the Top Five.
As expected, Mathewson and Hubbell have starring roles in this show, but surprisingly, Marichal and Co. did not make the mark.
At first glance, it appears Sam Jones and Stu Miller did, and would take the San Francisco crown with their 1-2 finish in 1959, but Miller was not a full-time starter.
So the door is open for Lincecum and Cain, who could have the best finish ever in team history, in terms of ERA for starters. It’s going to be fun to watch these two, especially if their achievements keep them pitching into October.
1954
1. Antonelli 2.296
4. Gomez 2.883
1951
2. Maglie 2.930
5. Jansen 3.036
1950
1.
Maglie 2.709
3.
Jansen 3.011
1936
1. Hubbell 2.309
3. Gabler 3.118
1934
1. Hubbell 2.300
5. Fitzsimmons 3.042
1933
1. Hubbell 1.662
3. Schumacher 2.157
1931
1. Walker 2.256
2. Hubbell 2.649
1930
2. Hubbell 3.873
3. Walker 3.925
1922
1. Douglas 2.626
2. Ryan 3.005
5. Nehf 3.287
1917
1. Mathewson 2.059
3. Tesreau 2.170
4. Demaree 2.209
1912
1. Tesreau 1.963
2. Mathewson 2.119
5. Ames 2.464
1911
1. Mathewson 1.997
4. Marquard 2.496
1910
3. Mathewson 1.894
4. Ames 2.222
1903
2. Mathewson
4. McGinnity
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