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 (Five-time winner -- Defeated Mike Ivie's grand slam off Don Sutton in front of record crowd at Candlestick in 1978)
(From Cody Ross)
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'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.
San Francisco Giants
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. First Splash Hit at AT&T Park by Barry Bonds off Rich Rodriguez
(From Shawn Estes)
From the moment I stepped into an incomplete Pacific Bell ballpark, but with the right field wall finished and visible, I knew Barry Bonds had a hand in its dimensions. I actually gave up the first splash hit into McCovey Cove, albeit a day where I was dressed in jeans and a polo and Barry the same, on a sunny offseason day where I lobbed one in and Barry teed off. That day was for pomp and circumstance but I anticipated it would be a sign of things to come.
I was right, kind of. It definitely was a sign of things to come although Barry was the only one that could really do it. He hit the first one, the second one, the third one… he hit the first 23 out of 25 SF Giants splash hits.
The first one was for sure the most memorable though. It was May 1st and we had only played eight home games, so the opportunities were limited, but Barry stepped to the plate with two on in the sixth inning to face former teammate Rich Rodriguez and launched one deep on an inside fastball into McCovey Cove to put the game out of reach 9-0.
It was extra special for me because I happened to be the starting pitcher that night so appreciated both the run support and Barry making Pac Bell Park history. I remember the fans going crazy in anticipation of the Old Navy splash hit board turning from 000 to 001 and I also recall two boats colliding in the cove trying to retrieve the ball knowing the importance of what just happened. History had been made and I was there not only to witness it but to benefit from it as well.
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