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 3pm to see the next two moments you can vote on! Then, after the Giants and Phillies 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 (Eight-time winner -- Defeated Barry Bonds pirouette home run against the Dodgers in 1997)
(From Cody Ross)
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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.
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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. Willie McCovey's walk-off double against Dodgers in his last homestand at Candlestick in 1980
(From Alex Pavlovic)
These days, Willie McCovey is a fixture at a sparkling ballpark where he watches players try and deposit homers in a cove that carries his name. But nearly 40 years ago, McCovey was stuck at Candlestick Park. He went out in style.
In his final home game against the rival Dodgers, McCovey hit a walk-off. The Giants and Dodgers were tied 3-all in the ninth on June 29, 1980. Rennie Stennett led off with a single before Rich Murray and Johnnie LeMaster made outs. McCovey, 41 at the time, pinch-hit against Bobby Castillo and hit a game-ending double to left. He would make just two more appearances in San Francisco in his career.
During a Hall of Fame career, McCovey never seemed bothered by Candlestick. He had an OPS over .900 at home and hit 236 of his homers there.
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