1.
Which Giant was named the most valuable player of the 2010 National League Championship Series?
Correct Answer
B. Cody Ross
Explanation
B. Cody Ross took NLCS MVP honors after batting .350 with three homers and five RBIs as the Giants beat the Phillies in six games. He got things started by hitting two home runs off Phillies ace Roy Halladay in the Giants’ 4-3 win in Game 1. Ross finished the series with a 1.385 OPS. Wilson deserved strong consideration after saving three games and throwing five scoreless innings with two hits allowed, no walks and seven strikeouts.
2.
Which Giant was named the most valuable player of the 2010 World Series?
Correct Answer
B. Edgar Renteria
Explanation
B. Edgar Renteria was named Series MVP after the Giants beat the Texas Rangers in five games. The shortstop hit .412 with two home runs, including the decisive three-run homer off Cliff Lee in Game 5.
3.
What year did AT&T Park open?
Correct Answer
C. 2000
Explanation
C. AT&T Park, then called Pacific Bell Park, opened at the beginning of the 2000 season.
4.
In which season did the Giants fall short of the playoffs despite their best won-lost record of the San Francisco era?
Correct Answer
B. 1993
Explanation
The 1993 Giants finished 103-59 but lost the National League West to the Atlanta Braves by one game. (The wild card was not added until a year later.) The ’93 Giants’ record remains the best by any nonplayoff qualifier since 1954.
5.
Which Giant was named most valuable player of the 1987 N.L. Championship Series?
Correct Answer
A. Jeffrey Leonard
Explanation
A. Despite San Francisco’s seven-game loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1987 NLCS, Giants outfielder Jeffrey Leonard was named series MVP. He batted .417 in the series and homered in each of the first four games.
6.
How many home runs did Barry Bonds hit in his record-setting 2001 season?
Correct Answer
C. 73
Explanation
C. Barry Bonds hit 73 home runs in 2001, breaking the mark of 70 set by Mark McGwire three years earlier.
7.
Other than Juan Marichal and Gaylord Perry, who was the only other Giants pitcher to throw a no-hitter at Candlestick Park?
Correct Answer
C. Ed Halicki
Explanation
Ed Halicki no-hit the New York Mets at Candlestick on Aug. 24, 1975, in the second game of a doubleheader. John Montefusco pitched a no-hitter the next season in Atlanta and Jonathan Sanchez in 2009 at AT&T Park.
8.
Which current Giants pitcher started his career with the team before being traded away in 2001?
Correct Answer
B. Ryan Vogelsong
Explanation
B. Ryan Vogelsong made his major league debut for the Giants in 2000. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2001 as part of the deal that brought pitcher Jason Schmidt to San Francisco. After a long odyssey that included three seasons in Japan, Vogelsong returned to the Giants in 2011.
9.
Who has played the most games for the San Francisco Giants?
Correct Answer
C. Willie McCovey
Explanation
C. Willie McCovey played 2,256 games for the Giants during the San Francisco era. Willie Mays is second with 2,095 and Barry Bonds third with 1,976.
10.
Other than Barry Bonds, who was the last Giant to win the National League MVP award?
Correct Answer
B. Jeff Kent
Explanation
B. Jeff Kent was named the league’s MVP in 2000. Kevin Mitchell won the award in 1989, with his teammate Will Clark finishing second in the voting.
11.
What is Tim Lincecum’s career high for victories in a season?
Correct Answer
B. 18
Explanation
B. Tim Lincecum went 18-5 in 2008 in winning the first of two consecutive National League Cy Young Awards. He led the league in strikeouts with 265 and winning percentage at .783.
12.
In 1993 which 20-game winner led the Giants in wins?
Correct Answer
C. John Burkett
Explanation
C. John Burkett was 22-7 with a 3.65 ERA and tied the Atlanta Braves’ Tom Glavine for the National League lead in victories. (Jack McDowell of the Chicago White Sox had 22 wins to lead the American League.) Billy Swift was 21-8 with a 2.82 ERA for a team that won 103 games but missed the playoffs. It was the first 20-win season for both, and neither came close to winning 20 again.
13.
Which Giant pitched a shutout in the team’s first game in San Francisco in 1958?
Correct Answer
A. Ruben Gomez
Explanation
A. Ruben Gomez pitched a six-hitter to beat the Dodgers 8-0 on April 15, 1958, at Seals Stadium. Daryl Spencer and Orlando Cepeda, playing his first major-league game, hit home runs.
14.
Who set a San Francisco Giants record with 31 home runs in his rookie season?
Correct Answer
B. Jim Ray Hart
Explanation
B. Jim Ray Hart hit 31 home runs as a rookie in 1964. Will Clark only hit 11 in 111 games, because of injury. Posey hit 18 in his rookie season of 2010
15.
Which team did Dave Dravecky defeat in his comeback game in August 1989, 10 months after he underwent surgery for a cancerous tumor in his pitching arm?
Correct Answer
B. Cincinnati Reds
Explanation
B. Dave Dravecky beat the Cincinnati Reds 4-3 on August 10, 1989, at Candlestick Park. In his next start, five days later in Montreal, the humerus bone in his left arm snapped as he delivered a pitch, and he would never pitch again. The cancer returned, requiring amputation of Dravecky’s left arm in 1991.