# 1971 San Francisco Giants season

The 1971 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 89th year in Major League Baseball, their 14th year in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their 12th at Candlestick Park. The team finished in first place in the National League West with a 90–72 record. The Giants faced the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLCS, losing three games to one. The Giants were the only team to win the NL West in the 1970s other than the Cincinnati Reds and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

## Offseason

* December 30, 1970: Ron Hunt was traded by the Giants to the Montreal Expos for Dave McDonald.

## Regular season

* The Giants battled their arch rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers, throughout the season for the NL West Division lead. The Giants led by 8.5 games on September 1. In mid September the Dodgers won 8 in a row, including 5 over the Giants to narrow the gap to one game. On the final day of the season, rookie Dave Kingman homered, leading the Giants to a win over the San Diego Padres to take the division crown, allowing Juan Marichal, Willie Mays, and Willie McCovey to play in the post season for the last time together.
* September 5, 1971: In a game against the Giants, J. R. Richard of the Houston Astros struck out 15 batters in his very first game, tying a Major League record first set by Karl Spooner.

### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| San Francisco Giants | 90 | 72 | .556 | — | 51‍–‍30 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 89 | 73 | .549 | 1 | 42‍–‍39 | 47‍–‍34 |
| Atlanta Braves | 82 | 80 | .506 | 8 | 43‍–‍39 | 39‍–‍41 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 79 | 83 | .488 | 11 | 46‍–‍35 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Houston Astros | 79 | 83 | .488 | 11 | 39‍–‍42 | 40‍–‍41 |
| San Diego Padres | 61 | 100 | .379 | 28½ | 33‍–‍48 | 28‍–‍52 |

### Record vs. opponents

1971 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 9–3 | 3–9 | 9–9 |
| Cincinnati | 9–9 | 6–6 | — | 5–13 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 8–4 |
| Houston | 9–9 | 7–5 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 2–10 |
| Los Angeles | 9–9 | 4–8 | 11–7 | 10–8 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 13–5 | 12–6 | 6–6 |
| Montreal | 5–7 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | — | 9–9 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 6–5 | 7–5 | 4–14 |
| New York | 5–7 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 | — | 13–5 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 10–8 |
| Philadelphia | 4-8 | 7–11 | 2–10 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 6–10 | 5–13 | — | 6–12 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 |
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 12–6 | — | 9–3 | 3–9 | 11–7 |
| San Diego | 7–11 | 3–9 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 5–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 3–9 | — | 5–13 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 11–7 | 9–3 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 13–5 | — | 5–7 |
| St. Louis | 6–6 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 14–4 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — |

### Notable transactions

* May 29, 1971: George Foster was traded by the Giants to the Cincinnati Reds for Frank Duffy and Vern Geishert.
* June 1, 1971: Bob Heise was traded by the Giants to the Milwaukee Brewers for Floyd Wicker.
* June 8, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball draft
** Frank Riccelli was drafted by the Giants in the 1st round (18th pick).
** Willie Prall was drafted by the Giants in the 3rd round.

## Game log and schedule

Legend :
| | Giants win |
| | Giants loss |
| | Postponement |
| Bold | Giants team member |
1971 Game Log (90–72) (Home: 51–30; Road: 39–42) :
April (18–5) (Home: 8–2; Road: 10–3)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceRecordReport
1April 6@ PadresSan Diego Stadium
2April 7@ PadresSan Diego Stadium
3April 8@ PadresSan Diego Stadium
4April 10@ CardinalsBusch Memorial Stadium
5April 11@ CardinalsBusch Memorial Stadium
6April 11@ CardinalsBusch Memorial Stadium
7April 12PadresCandlestick Park
8April 14AstrosCandlestick Park
9April 15AstrosCandlestick Park
10April 16CubsCandlestick Park
11April 17CubsCandlestick Park
12April 18CubsCandlestick Park
13April 18CubsCandlestick Park
14April 19CardinalsCandlestick Park
15April 20CardinalsCandlestick Park
16April 21CardinalsCandlestick Park
17April 23@ PiratesThree Rivers Stadium
18April 24@ PiratesThree Rivers Stadium
19April 25@ PiratesThree Rivers Stadium
20April 27@ BravesAtlanta Stadium
21April 28@ BravesAtlanta Stadium
22April 29@ BravesAtlanta Stadium
23April 30@ RedsRiverfront Stadium :
May (19–9) (Home: 13–4; Road: 6–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceRecordReport
24May 1@ RedsRiverfront Stadium
25May 2@ RedsRiverfront Stadium
26May 4PiratesCandlestick Park
27May 5PiratesCandlestick Park
28May 7BravesCandlestick Park
29May 7BravesCandlestick Park
30May 9BravesCandlestick Park
31May 9BravesCandlestick Park
32May 10RedsCandlestick Park
33May 11RedsCandlestick Park
34May 12RedsCandlestick Park
35May 14DodgersCandlestick Park
36May 15DodgersCandlestick Park
37May 16DodgersCandlestick Park
38May 18@ CubsWrigley Field
39May 19@ CubsWrigley Field
40May 20@ CubsWrigley Field
41May 21@ AstrosAstrodome
42May 22@ AstrosAstrodome
43May 23@ AstrosAstrodome
44May 25@ DodgersDodger Stadium
45May 26@ DodgersDodger Stadium
46May 27@ DodgersDodger Stadium
47May 28ExposCandlestick Park
48May 29ExposCandlestick Park
49May 30ExposCandlestick Park
50May 30ExposCandlestick Park
51May 31MetsCandlestick Park :
June (13–15) (Home: 8–5; Road: 5–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceRecordReport
52June 1MetsCandlestick Park
53June 2MetsCandlestick Park
54June 4PhilliesCandlestick Park
55June 5PhilliesCandlestick Park
56June 6PhilliesCandlestick Park
57June 6PhilliesCandlestick Park
58June 8@ ExposJarry Park Stadium
59June 9@ ExposJarry Park Stadium
60June 10@ ExposJarry Park Stadium
61June 11@ MetsShea Stadium
62June 12@ MetsShea Stadium
63June 13@ MetsShea Stadium
64June 14@ PhilliesVeterans Stadium
65June 15@ PhilliesVeterans Stadium
66June 16@ PhilliesVeterans Stadium
67June 18PadresCandlestick Park
68June 18PadresCandlestick Park
69June 19PadresCandlestick Park
70June 20PadresCandlestick Park
71June 20PadresCandlestick Park
72June 22CubsCandlestick Park
73June 23CubsCandlestick Park
74June 25@ AstrosAstrodome
75June 26@ AstrosAstrodome
76June 27@ AstrosAstrodome
77June 28@ PadresSan Diego Stadium
78June 29@ PadresSan Diego Stadium
79June 30@ PadresSan Diego Stadium :
July (15–14) (Home: 8–9; Road: 7–5)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceRecordReport
80July 1CardinalsCandlestick Park
81July 2CardinalsCandlestick Park
82July 3CardinalsCandlestick Park
83July 4DodgersCandlestick Park
84July 5DodgersCandlestick Park
85July 6AstrosCandlestick Park
86July 7AstrosCandlestick Park
87July 8AstrosCandlestick Park
88July 9@ DodgersDodger Stadium
89July 10@ DodgersDodger Stadium
90July 11@ DodgersDodger Stadium
91July 15@ RedsRiverfront Stadium
92July 16@ RedsRiverfront Stadium
93July 17@ RedsRiverfront Stadium
94July 18@ BravesAtlanta Stadium
95July 18@ BravesAtlanta Stadium
96July 19@ BravesAtlanta Stadium
97July 20@ PiratesThree Rivers Stadium
98July 21@ PiratesThree Rivers Stadium
99July 22@ PiratesThree Rivers Stadium
100July 23RedsCandlestick Park
101July 24RedsCandlestick Park
102July 25RedsCandlestick Park
103July 25RedsCandlestick Park
104July 27BravesCandlestick Park
105July 28BravesCandlestick Park
106July 29BravesCandlestick Park
107July 30PiratesCandlestick Park
108July 31PiratesCandlestick Park :
August (14–13) (Home: 9–3; Road: 5–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceRecordReport
109August 1PiratesCandlestick Park
110August 1PiratesCandlestick Park
111August 2DodgersCandlestick Park
112August 3DodgersCandlestick Park
113August 4@ CardinalsBusch Memorial Stadium
114August 5@ CardinalsBusch Memorial Stadium
115August 6@ CardinalsBusch Memorial Stadium
116August 7@ CubsWrigley Field
117August 8@ CubsWrigley Field
118August 8@ CubsWrigley Field
119August 10ExposCandlestick Park
120August 11ExposCandlestick Park
121August 13MetsCandlestick Park
122August 14MetsCandlestick Park
123August 15MetsCandlestick Park
124August 17PhilliesCandlestick Park
125August 18PhilliesCandlestick Park
126August 20@ ExposJarry Park Stadium
127August 21@ ExposJarry Park Stadium
128August 22@ ExposJarry Park Stadium
129August 23@ MetsShea Stadium
130August 24@ MetsShea Stadium
131August 25@ MetsShea Stadium
132August 28@ PhilliesVeterans Stadium
133August 28@ PhilliesVeterans Stadium
134August 29@ PhilliesVeterans Stadium
135August 31BravesCandlestick Park :
September (11–16) (Home: 5–7; Road: 6–9)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceRecordReport
136September 1BravesCandlestick Park
137September 3AstrosCandlestick Park
138September 4AstrosCandlestick Park
139September 5AstrosCandlestick Park
140September 5AstrosCandlestick Park
141September 6@ DodgersDodger Stadium
142September 7@ DodgersDodger Stadium
143September 8@ DodgersDodger Stadium
144September 10@ BravesAtlanta Stadium
145September 11@ BravesAtlanta Stadium
146September 12@ BravesAtlanta Stadium
147September 13DodgersCandlestick Park
148September 14DodgersCandlestick Park
149September 15RedsCandlestick Park
150September 16RedsCandlestick Park
151September 17PadresCandlestick Park
152September 18PadresCandlestick Park
153September 19PadresCandlestick Park
154September 21@ AstrosAstrodome
155September 22@ AstrosAstrodome
156September 23@ AstrosAstrodome
157September 24@ RedsRiverfront Stadium
158September 25@ RedsRiverfront Stadium
159September 26@ RedsRiverfront Stadium
160September 28@ PadresSan Diego Stadium
161September 29@ PadresSan Diego Stadium
162September 30@ PadresSan Diego Stadium :

### Postseason

1971 Postseason Game Log :
National League Championship Series (1–3)
GameDateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveStadiumAttendanceSeriesReport
1 NLCSOctober 2Pirates5–4Perry (1–0)Blass (0–1)Candlestick Park40,9771–0W1
2 NLCSOctober 3Pirates4–9Ellis (1–0)Cumberland (0–1)Candlestick Park42,5621–1L1
3 NLCSOctober 5@ Pirates1–2Johnson (1–0)Marichal (0–1)Giusti (1)Three Rivers Stadium38,2221–2L2
4 NLCSOctober 6@ Pirates5–9Kison (1–0)Perry (1–1)Three Rivers Stadium35,4871–3L3 :

### Roster
## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; SB = Stolen bases
| Pos | Player | G | AB | R | H | Avg. | HR | RBI | SB |
| C | Dick Dietz | 142 | 453 | 58 | 114 | .252 | 19 | 72 | 1 |
| 1B | Willie McCovey | 105 | 329 | 45 | 91 | .277 | 18 | 70 | 0 |
| 2B | Tito Fuentes | 152 | 630 | 63 | 172 | .273 | 4 | 52 | 12 |
| 3B | Al Gallagher | 136 | 429 | 47 | 119 | .277 | 5 | 57 | 2 |
| SS | Chris Speier | 157 | 601 | 74 | 141 | .235 | 8 | 46 | 4 |
| LF | Ken Henderson | 141 | 504 | 80 | 133 | .264 | 15 | 65 | 18 |
| CF | Willie Mays | 136 | 417 | 82 | 113 | .271 | 18 | 61 | 23 |
| RF | Bobby Bonds | 155 | 619 | 110 | 178 | .288 | 33 | 102 | 26 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Hal Lanier | 109 | 206 | 48 | .233 | 1 | 13 |
| Jimmy Rosario | 92 | 192 | 43 | .224 | 0 | 13 |
| Dave Kingman | 41 | 115 | 32 | .278 | 6 | 24 |
| George Foster | 36 | 105 | 28 | .267 | 3 | 8 |
| Fran Healy | 47 | 93 | 26 | .280 | 2 | 11 |
| Bernie Williams | 35 | 73 | 13 | .178 | 1 | 5 |
| Russ Gibson | 25 | 57 | 11 | .193 | 1 | 7 |
| Frank Johnson | 32 | 49 | 4 | .082 | 0 | 5 |
| Ed Goodson | 20 | 42 | 8 | .190 | 0 | 1 |
| Jim Ray Hart | 31 | 39 | 10 | .256 | 2 | 5 |
| Frank Duffy | 21 | 28 | 5 | .179 | 0 | 2 |
| Floyd Wicker | 9 | 21 | 3 | .143 | 0 | 1 |
| Chris Arnold | 6 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 1 | 3 |
| Jim Howarth | 7 | 13 | 3 | .231 | 0 | 2 |
| Bob Heise | 13 | 11 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |
| Dave Rader | 3 | 4 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Gaylord Perry | 37 | 280.0 | 16 | 12 | 2.76 | 158 |
| Juan Marichal | 37 | 279.0 | 18 | 11 | 2.94 | 159 |
| Ron Bryant | 27 | 140.0 | 7 | 10 | 3.79 | 79 |
| Steve Stone | 24 | 110.2 | 5 | 9 | 4.16 | 63 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| John Cumberland | 45 | 185.0 | 9 | 6 | 2.92 | 65 |
| Don Carrithers | 22 | 80.1 | 5 | 3 | 4.03 | 41 |
| Rich Robertson | 23 | 61.0 | 2 | 2 | 4.57 | 32 |
| Frank Reberger | 13 | 43.2 | 3 | 0 | 3.92 | 21 |
| Jim Willoughby | 2 | 4.0 | 0 | 1 | 9.00 | 3 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Jerry Johnson | 67 | 12 | 9 | 18 | 2.97 | 85 |
| Don McMahon | 61 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 4.06 | 71 |
| Steve Hamilton | 39 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3.02 | 38 |
| Jim Barr | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.57 | 16 |

## National League Championship Series

The Pittsburgh Pirates win the series, 3–1, over the Giants.
| Game | Score | Date | Location | Attendance |
| 1 | Pittsburgh – 4, San Francisco – 5 | October 2 | Candlestick Park | 40,977 |
| 2 | Pittsburgh – 9, San Francisco – 4 | October 3 | Candlestick Park | 42,562 |
| 3 | San Francisco – 1, Pittsburgh – 2 | October 5 | Three Rivers Stadium | 38,322 |
| 4 | San Francisco – 5, Pittsburgh – 9 | October 6 | Three Rivers Stadium | 35,487 |

## Award winners

* Willie Mays, Commissioner's Award

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Phoenix Giants | Pacific Coast League | Jim Davenport |
| AA | Amarillo Giants | Texas League | Andy Gilbert |
| A | Fresno Giants | California League | Dennis Sommers |
| A | Decatur Commodores | Midwest League | Frank Funk |
| Rookie | Great Falls Giants | Pioneer League | Dick Wilson |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Great Falls