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 SportsNet Central at 6pm to see the next two moments you can vote on! Then, after the Giants and Dodgers conclude on Saturday, 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 (Six-time winner -- Defeated First Splash Hit at AT&T Park by Barry Bonds off Rich Rodriguez)
(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. Joe Morgan's three-run homer off Terry Forster to eliminate Dodgers on final day of 1982 season.
(From Bill Laskey, who played for Giants from 1982 to 1985 and in 1988)
1982 my Rookie season...
At the start of September, the Giants were nine games out of first place. With 10 games left in the season, we cut it down to three games. We go into LA and needed to sweep the Dodgers and we did!!
One game out with seven games left...but we lost a couple to Houston to make it three games left vs the Dodgers with both LA and SF one game behind Atlanta. Each team had to sweep each other, but a disappointing loss on Friday, then we got our tail beat on Saturday leading up to the final game...
Fernando vs Me and a packed house...
Ron Cey hit a two-run home run off of me but we battled to tie it. 2-2 after seven innings and we get two on with two out in the 8th when Joe Morgan comes to the plate against Terry Forester a big left hander...
Ba Boom… Morgan belts a three-run HOME RUN.
Greg Minton gets a 1-2-3 ninth inning and we win 5-2, ending the Dodgers hopes of playoff baseball! We left Lasorda scratching his head...
Exciting rookie season for myself: 13-12 record and led the team in wins and most innings pitched, plus I had the lowest ERA on the team.
Topps baseball cards and Baseball Digest All Rookie Team Starting RH Pitcher award....
PLUS…. A great finish and a fun time beating the Dodgers!!
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 1, 2018
