# 1976 San Francisco Giants season

The 1976 San Francisco Giants season was the Giants' 94th season in Major League Baseball, their 19th season in San Francisco since their move from New York following the 1957 season, and their 17th at Candlestick Park. The team finished in fourth place in the National League West with a 74–88 record, 28 games behind the Cincinnati Reds.

## Offseason
### Team movement discussion

During the first half of the 1970s, attendance at cold and windy Candlestick Park plummeted, and Giants owner Horace Stoneham had faced financial hardship. Finally, in 1976, he put the team up for sale. In January 1976, Stoneham agreed to sell the team for $13.25 million to a Toronto group consisting of Labatt's Breweries of Canada, Ltd., Vulcan Assets Ltd., and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. The team would begin play with the 1976 season at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium and be called the Giants. In addition, it was briefly rumored they considered a return to the New York metropolitan area, perhaps to a new baseball stadium in the New Jersey Meadowlands. Instead, Bob Lurie led a group to buy the Giants from Horace Stoneham for $8 million.

### Notable transactions

* January 7, 1976: Dennis Littlejohn was drafted by the Giants in the 1st round (2nd pick) of the 1976 Major League Baseball draft (secondary phase).

## Regular season
### Opening Day starters

* Von Joshua
* Gary Matthews
* Willie Montañez
* John Montefusco
* Bobby Murcer
* Dave Rader
* Ken Reitz
* Chris Speier
* Derrel Thomas

### Season standings

vteNL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Cincinnati Reds | 102 | 60 | .630 | — | 49‍–‍32 | 53‍–‍28 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 92 | 70 | .568 | 10 | 49‍–‍32 | 43‍–‍38 |
| Houston Astros | 80 | 82 | .494 | 22 | 46‍–‍36 | 34‍–‍46 |
| San Francisco Giants | 74 | 88 | .457 | 28 | 40‍–‍41 | 34‍–‍47 |
| San Diego Padres | 73 | 89 | .451 | 29 | 42‍–‍38 | 31‍–‍51 |
| Atlanta Braves | 70 | 92 | .432 | 32 | 34‍–‍47 | 36‍–‍45 |

### Record vs. opponents

1976 National League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL |
| Atlanta | — | 6–6 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 8–10 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 4–8 |
| Chicago | 6–6 | — | 3–9 | 5–7 | 3–9 | 11–7 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 12–6 |
| Cincinnati | 12–6 | 9–3 | — | 12–6 | 13–5 | 9–3 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 13–5 | 9–9 | 6–6 |
| Houston | 11–7 | 7–5 | 6–12 | — | 5–13 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 2–10 | 10–8 | 10–8 | 9–3 |
| Los Angeles | 10–8 | 9–3 | 5–13 | 13–5 | — | 10–2 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–3 | 6–12 | 8–10 | 10–2 |
| Montreal | 4–8 | 7–11 | 3–9 | 2–10 | 2–10 | — | 8–10 | 3–15 | 8–10 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–11 |
| New York | 8–4 | 13–5 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 10–8 | — | 5–13 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 |
| Philadelphia | 7-5 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–5 | 15–3 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 12–6 |
| Pittsburgh | 9–3 | 10–8 | 4–8 | 10–2 | 3–9 | 10–8 | 8–10 | 10–8 | — | 7–5 | 9–3 | 12–6 |
| San Diego | 8–10 | 6–6 | 5–13 | 8–10 | 12–6 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 4–8 | 5–7 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 |
| San Francisco | 9–9 | 4–8 | 9–9 | 8–10 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 10–8 | — | 5–7 |
| St. Louis | 8–4 | 6–12 | 6–6 | 3–9 | 2–10 | 11–7 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 6–12 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — |

### Notable transactions

* June 2, 1976: Von Joshua was purchased from the Giants by the Milwaukee Brewers.
* June 13, 1976: Willie Montañez, Craig Robinson, Mike Eden, and Jake Brown were traded by the Giants to the Atlanta Braves for Darrell Evans and Marty Perez.
* June 14, 1976: Joe Strain was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.
* June 21, 1976: Casey Parsons was signed as an amateur free agent by the Giants.
* September 3, 1976: Randy Elliott was signed as a free agent by the Giants.

#### Draft picks

* June 8, 1976: Jeff Stember was drafted by the Giants in the 26th round of the 1976 Major League Baseball draft.

### Roster
## Player stats
### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Dave Rader | 88 | 255 | 67 | .263 | 1 | 22 |
| 1B | Darrell Evans | 92 | 257 | 57 | .222 | 10 | 36 |
| 2B | Marty Perez | 93 | 332 | 86 | .259 | 2 | 26 |
| 3B | Ken Reitz | 155 | 577 | 154 | .267 | 5 | 66 |
| SS | Chris Speier | 145 | 495 | 112 | .226 | 3 | 40 |
| LF | Gary Matthews | 156 | 587 | 164 | .279 | 20 | 84 |
| CF | Larry Herndon | 115 | 337 | 97 | .288 | 2 | 23 |
| RF | Bobby Murcer | 147 | 533 | 138 | .259 | 23 | 90 |

#### 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 |
| Gary Thomasson | 103 | 328 | 85 | .259 | 8 | 38 |
| Derrel Thomas | 81 | 272 | 63 | .232 | 2 | 19 |
| Willie Montañez | 60 | 230 | 71 | .309 | 2 | 20 |
| Von Joshua | 42 | 156 | 41 | .263 | 0 | 2 |
| Marc Hill | 54 | 131 | 24 | .183 | 3 | 15 |
| Jack Clark | 26 | 102 | 23 | .225 | 2 | 10 |
| Johnnie LeMaster | 33 | 100 | 21 | .210 | 0 | 9 |
| Mike Sadek | 55 | 93 | 19 | .204 | 0 | 7 |
| Glenn Adams | 69 | 74 | 18 | .243 | 0 | 3 |
| Steve Ontiveros | 59 | 74 | 13 | .176 | 0 | 5 |
| Gary Alexander | 23 | 73 | 13 | .178 | 2 | 7 |
| Chris Arnold | 60 | 69 | 15 | .217 | 0 | 5 |
| Bruce Miller | 12 | 25 | 4 | .160 | 0 | 2 |
| Craig Robinson | 15 | 13 | 4 | .308 | 0 | 2 |

### 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 |
| John Montefusco | 37 | 253.1 | 16 | 14 | 2.84 | 172 |
| Jim Barr | 37 | 252.1 | 15 | 12 | 2.89 | 75 |
| Ed Halicki | 32 | 186.1 | 12 | 14 | 3.62 | 130 |
| Rob Dressler | 25 | 107.2 | 3 | 10 | 4.43 | 33 |
| John D'Acquisto | 28 | 106.0 | 3 | 8 | 5.35 | 53 |
| Bob Knepper | 4 | 25.0 | 1 | 2 | 3.24 | 11 |
| Frank Riccelli | 4 | 16.0 | 1 | 1 | 5.63 | 11 |

#### 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 |
| Mike Caldwell | 50 | 107.1 | 1 | 7 | 4.86 | 55 |
| Greg Minton | 10 | 25.2 | 0 | 3 | 4.91 | 7 |

#### 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 |
| Randy Moffitt | 58 | 6 | 6 | 14 | 2.27 | 50 |
| Gary Lavelle | 65 | 10 | 6 | 12 | 2.69 | 71 |
| Dave Heaverlo | 61 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 4.44 | 40 |
| Charlie Williams | 48 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2.96 | 34 |
| Tommy Toms | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6.23 | 4 |

## Award winners

All-Star Game
* John Montefusco, reserve

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Phoenix Giants | Pacific Coast League | Rocky Bridges |
| AA | Lafayette Drillers | Texas League | John VanOrnum |
| A | Fresno Giants | California League | Andy Gilbert |
| A | Cedar Rapids Giants | Midwest League | Salty Parker |
| Rookie | Great Falls Giants | Pioneer League | Ernie Rodriguez |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Great Falls