The Colorfully Competitive Joe Altobelli Era
Photos and text by James Rodrigues
Lefty Giant's manager Joe Altobelli, hits a practice bouncer to Darrell Evans and, in the process, blows-up a piece of the newly laid first baseline. The location was Palm Springs, the situation was pre-game warm ups before a Giants/Angels exhibition game, circa 1978. Evans, a dangerous hitter, always needed work on his game at third. Note the Giants "getting their running in" in the outfield.
Chili Davis and Jack Clark (22) gave the Giants some power in the 3-4 slots in their batting order. Clark won an Angel-Giant exhibition match-up a year earlier with a 9th inning home run. I once saw Davis instantly win a ball game by beating a throw to second on what looked to be a routine forceout.
Pitcher John (the Count) Montefusco works on "his stroke." For a pitcher, he was a pretty good hitter. He tossed a no-hitter against Atlanta. The Giants had a starting rotation made up of Montefusco, Ed Halicki, BobKnepper and Vida Blue. As a unit the foursome pitched well enough to make the cover of "The Sporting News."
Under Joe Altobelli's "player's manager" philosophy, the Giants gave the "Cey, Russell, Lopes and Garvey" Dodgers a real run for their money. At that point in Giant's history, even a competitive season was worth its weight in gold to Giant's fans. Although the N.Y./S.F. Giants franchise has won more "games that count" than any National League team in history, the seventies weren't the proudest of decades for the Giants. They won the N.L. West in 1971, ultimately losing to the Roberto Clemente led Pirates. After that, Joe Altobelli's crew was the only 1970s San Francisco squad to make a race of it. Note: Can you see where the baseline was repaired after Altobelli's earlier accidental mischief?
