2008 San Francisco Giants season

The 2008 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 126th year in Major League Baseball, and their ninth at AT&T Park. The team finished in fourth place in the National League West with a 72-90 record, 12 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. 2008 marks their 50th Anniversary in the Bay Area since moving from New York in 1958. It is also their first since 1992 without all-time home run champion Barry Bonds, who was not re-signed following the 2007 season. At the end of the season, Tim Lincecum was voted the 2008 National League Cy Young Award winner.

2008 San Francisco Giants
Major League affiliations
Location
Other information
Owner(s)Peter Magowan (managing general partner)
General manager(s)Brian Sabean
Manager(s)Bruce Bochy
Local televisionKNTV (NBC 11)
CSN Bay Area
Local radioKNBR (680AM)
KLOK (Spanish)
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Pre-season

On September 21, 2007, Giants' ownership announced that Bonds would not return after the 2007 season.[1] The Giants did not resign Ryan Klesko and Pedro Feliz. On December 12, 2007 the Giants signed Aaron Rowand to a five-year and $60 million contract.[2]

The Giants finished spring training with a record of 9–23–2, the worst spring training in their recorded history. The Giants had the highest ERA and the lowest batting average among teams whose spring training was in Arizona. The team lead the majors with 40 errors.[3] The Giants lost a spring training game 4–3 to their Triple-A affiliate Fresno Grizzlies. Giants opening day starter Barry Zito allowed 24 earned runs in 25 innings in Spring training.[4]

Giants spring training included injuries and competitions for several roster positions. Steve Holm won the back up catcher spot against Eliezer Alfonzo and Guillermo Rodríguez. Relievers Merkin Valdez, Erick Threets, and Keiichi Yabu earned spots on the opening day roster. Noah Lowry, Vinnie Chulk, Kevin Frandsen and Omar Vizquel started the season the on disabled list. Brian Bocock was the opening day shortstop in place of Vizquel. Steve Kline was designated for assignment.[5] The Giants claimed Jose Castillo off waivers from the Florida Marlins late March 2008.[6] He was the opening day third baseman. Kevin Correia won the competition to be the team's 5th starter.

The Giants were widely expected to miss the playoffs in 2008, according to numerous sports writers.[7][8]

Regular season

On May 16, 2008, Peter Magowan, the owner who brought Barry Bonds to San Francisco, built a new ballpark and kept major league baseball in the city, announced he would be stepping down as the managing partner of the Giants. Effective October 1, 2008 Bill Neukom would be the new managing partner of the Giants.[9]

Season standings
NL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Los Angeles Dodgers 8478 0.519 — 48–33 36–45
Arizona Diamondbacks 8280 0.506 2 48–33 34–47
Colorado Rockies 7488 0.457 10 43–38 31–50
San Francisco Giants 7290 0.444 12 37–44 35–46
San Diego Padres 6399 0.389 21 35–46 28–53

Record vs. opponents
2008 National League Records

Source:
Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MIL NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL WSH AL
Arizona–3–52–42–415–32–74–28–102–53–33–44–310–811–73–44–26–9
Atlanta5–3–0–63–34–310–83–34–23–611–74–142–55–12–52–56–128–7
Chicago4–26–0–8–75–14–38–95–29–74–23–414–45–24–39–63–36–9
Cincinnati4–23–37–8–1–56–23–121–710–83–43–56–94–35–15–104–39–6
Colorado3–153–41–55–1–5–33–38–104–33–60–55–29–911–73–44–37–8
Florida7–28–103–42–63–5–4–23–45–18–1010–83–24–23–32–514–35–10
Houston2–43–39–812–33–32–4–4–37–85–23–48–83–37–17–84–27–11
Los Angeles10–82–42–57–110–84–33–4–4–23–44–45–211–79–92–43–35–10
Milwaukee5–26–37–98–103–41–58–72–4–2–41–514–14–36–010–56–27–8
New York3–37–112–44–36–310–82–54–34–2–11–74–32–55–14–312–69–6
Philadelphia4–314–44–35–35–08–104–34–45–17–11–4–24–23–35–412–64–11
Pittsburgh3–45–24–149–62–52–38–82–51–143–42–4–3–44–210–73–46–9
San Diego8–101–52–53–49–92–43–37–113–45–22–44–3–5–131–65–13–15
San Francisco7–115–23–41–57–113–31–79–90–61–53–32–413–5–4–37–06–12
St. Louis4–35–26–910–54–35–28–74–25–103–44–57–106–13–4–5–17–8
Washington2–412–63–33–43–43–142–43–32–66–126–124–31–50–71–5–8–10

Game log
2008 Game Log

Roster
2008 San Francisco Giants
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other batters

 Manager

Coaches

Awards and honors

All-Star Game

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Fresno Grizzlies Pacific Coast League Dan Rohn
AA Connecticut Defenders Eastern League Bien Figueroa
A San Jose Giants California League Steve Decker
A Augusta GreenJackets South Atlantic League Andy Skeels
A-Short Season Salem-Keizer Volcanoes Northwest League Tom Trebelhorn
Rookie AZL Giants Arizona League Dave Machemer

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Augusta, AZL Giants

References
  1. Curry, Jack (September 22, 2007). "Bonds Goes From Out of the Park to Out of a Job". The New York Times. Retrieved September 22, 2007.
  2. Henry Schulman (December 13, 2007). "HARD-NOSED Giants sign 'no-nonsense' Rowand to 5-year deal". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
  3. John Shea (March 31, 2008). "First lineup heavy on experience". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
  4. Henry Schulman (March 27, 2008). "Zito, Giants beaten by Triple-A Fresno". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
  5. John Shea (March 31, 2008). "Meet, greet, know Giants Unfamiliar faces in 2008". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
  6. John Shea (March 23, 2008). "Giants add Castillo to help hurting infield". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
  7. John Shea (April 4, 2008). "GIANTS Losing teams still believe Winn: Expectations don't really matter". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
  8. "ESPN predicts the 2008 season". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
  9. Hayes, A.J.(July 31, 2008). "Giants Rookie is First Full-Blooded Filipino in Big Leagues" Archived October 25, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.AsianWeek. Retrieved on 2008-08-01.
  10. Benjie Molina, 2008 recipient
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