PROGRAMMING NOTE: NBC Sports Bay Area is looking back at the Giants' 60 Memorable Moments since the franchise moved from New York to San Francisco. Tune into Giants Pregame Live at 4pm to see the next two moments you can vote on! Then, after the Giants and Braves conclude, tune into Postgame Live to see which moment will move on to the next round! Make your vote count!
1. Cody Ross' two home runs off Roy Halladay in Game 1 of the 2010 NLCS (Seven-time winner -- Defeated Joe Morgan's three-run homer off Terry Forster to eliminate Dodgers on final day of 1982 season)
(From Cody Ross)
'Best memory out of the 60 hands down'
In Game 1 of the NLCS we had the hardest matchup that we were going to face the entire playoffs. We were staring down the Late Roy Halladay, who in my opinion was the best pitcher I've ever faced. He threw a Perfect Game against me when I was on the Marlins earlier in the year and was coming off a no-hitter in the NLDS against the Reds in his previous start. Not to mention he's a 2x Cy Young award winner and an 8x All-Star.
As I walk to the plate in the 3rd inning of a 0-0 game I'm realizing Roy has not given up a hit yet again. He was one of those pitchers who had a chance to throw a no-hitter every time he took the mound. That's how good he was. Up until this point, I had tried every approach with little-to-no success against him. I tried to work the counts and see pitches, stay inside the ball and hit it the other way, stay up the middle, etc etc... none of these seemed to get the job done. Finally that cold October night I said to myself, "Just try and hit a home run"... and all of a sudden on a 1-1 count I swung as hard as I could and "Bang! A HR!" The best contact I'd ever had against Roy and I was just as surprised as anybody in the ballpark or the millions watching on TV. I couldn't feel my legs running around the bases and couldn't believe what just happened. It was the first hit he had given up in the playoffs and it was a go-ahead home run to put us up 1-0 with Tim Lincecum also throwing a gem.
As I stepped up to the plate in the top of the 5th the game was tied 1-1. At this point I had a ton of confidence and felt like nobody could get me out. I went with the same approach of trying to hit a home run and on a 2-0 pitch the unthinkable happened again! Hard contact and I see the ball flying over the left field fence. I took a peek at Roy and he was in disbelief just as I was.
Sports
There are many memorable playoff HR stories but it's hard to find one against one of the most dominating pitchers in this era. It will definitely go down as one of my greatest baseball memories. I hope all the Giants fans enjoyed it as much as I did.
VS.
2. Barry Bonds pirouette home run against the Dodgers in 1997
(From Shawn Estes)
It was mid September and we arrived home after a miserable road trip and a four-game losing streak, which included a deflating walk-off loss to the Braves a couple days before, to find ourselves two games back of our rivals, the Dodgers.
As always when the Dodgers came to town, Candlestick was rockin' with 50,000 plus chanting 'Beat LA' as soon as we took the field. I remember the nervous energy in the ball park that night with the sense we had to win both games of a short two-game series to gain any momentum in making a run at the postseason.
Chan Ho Park, who was having a solid year and always pitched well against us, was on the bump for the Dodgers. We countered with Kirk Rueter who had been on a roll and was feeling extremely confident. Woody, as he's better known, had a clean 1st inning and got our team back in the dugout with a chance to pounce first. After Stan Javier lined out, Darryl Hamilton walked which set the stage for Barry Bonds and a moment I'll never forget.
Barry had been struggling coming into the series going 2 for his last 14 and with the help of his father and our hitting coach Bobby Bonds, figured something out with his swing during batting practice earlier that day. There was always a buzz when Barry stepped into the box but on this night it was at another level. The fans knew what was at stake and, what had been a magical year for our club after losing almost 100 games the year before, figured the tone could be set with an early run or two. On a 2-2 count Barry launched a Chan Ho fastball deep to right center for a two-run home run. As he finished his swing knowing he had gotten all of it he dropped his bat, did a pirouette, a little fist pump, and rounded the bases which proved to be the winning run as we won the game 2-1. I had never heard Candlestick so loud and knew at that moment we would win the game. The pirouette surprised everyone as we had never seen Barry do that before and as much as Barry was a showman would never show up the competition. I asked him later on if the pirouette was premeditated and he claims it wasn't and that it was just a reaction of his excitement in the moment. Regardless it was an iconic moment that paved the way to a division title for a team that went from worst to first.
VOTE HERE:
Which #SFGiants 60th Anniversary moment was more memorable?
The winning moment will move on to the next matchup.— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) May 4, 2018
