by
PerSpeier35
GE regulars have written about their Giants origins over the years, myself included, so those with lock down memories such as Dr. Lefty may remember parts of my story but here goes all at one time.
I was born in 1962 and my parents and younger brother moved to an apartment complex in San Mateo is 1966. In 1967 or 1968 Giants left handed reliever Bill Henry moved in to a nearby unit with his wife and kids, one of whom was a boy my age. I can’t remember his name now but we bonded that summer and played together all the time. They moved back home to Houston when the season ended (looks as though he must have been traded during the season according to Baseball Reference) and I guess in appreciation for me being a good friend to his son he gave me a Giants team autographed ball which is pictured here. It’s the oldest thing that I own that was mine from the start. I keep it protected but it has faded over the years. Mays, McCovey, Marichal and all the rest are represented.
At the time I did not understand what Bill did for a living, I don’t remember seeing him on TV or in his uniform. My earliest Giants memory is this; I used to read the Chronicle Green Sheet every morning. For whatever reason I still remember two headlines on back to back days: “Two Mays Homers beat Cincy 13-6” and “McCovey homers, Giants Lose 5-3” the next day. Thanks to BR I was able to look it up and confirm the dates: June 22 and June 23, 1970 at Crosley field.
As you might have guessed, when Chris Speier came along in the early 70’s he became my favorite player. He played shortstop and I was playing Little League and I was a shortstop. My Giants highlight from the past was August 1, 1975. They beat the Astros 2-1 and I remember listening to the game on my radio. In the ninth inning the Giants trailed 2-1. JR Richard was pitching and Willie Montanez hit a game tying home run and Chris immediately followed with his own to win the game. I was so happy, going crazy, my Mom thought I set the house on fire. BR of course provided all the details, I just remembered the two home runs and my reaction to them.
Prior to that my Dad took me to meet Chris at an autograph signing session at a sporting goods store in Burlingame. We went right up to him, no one was there, imagine how it would be if Brandon Crawford did that today, there would be lines around the block. Anyway, Chris and my Dad and I talked about things that I can’t remember and he signed a big post card of Giants players, Chris and Tito Fuentes and Bobby Bonds were on it but I can’t remember the others and haven’t seen it in a long time. However, I did bring my Bill Henry Giants team ball and had Chris sign it. The autographs were in blue ball point and Chris used a blue Sharpie type of felt pen so it looks odd but I remember that he got a kick out of checking out all the names.
My Mom coined the nickname “PerSpeier”, she thought it was funny, similar to perspire and that stuck with me to the time I started posting on GE maybe about four seasons ago.
In 1971 when the Giants lost to the Pirates in the playoffs and missed going to the World Series I cried my eyes out. I think I was at school and they showed the games on black and white TV’s in the lunch-room. I’m not very emotional about the team anymore but I used to be, believe it or not, and I may be again one day when life settles down.
My most memorable at game moment would have been the Brian Johnson home run game but, sad and embarrassed to admit to this crowd, I was in the parking lot trying to beat the traffic home. Booooo.
I think it was 1981 when the players struck. I was so upset I vowed not to go to any more games. When they resumed play my Dad’s friend gave us tickets and sure enough there I was rooting on the Giants against the Dodgers at the Stick. Great game, memorable for Jack Clark and Larry Herndon colliding in the outfield and both ending up on the ground after chasing down a gapper. I forget which player it was but one of them caught the ball but it trickled out on to the grass as he lay on the ground and the umpire ruled it dropped and I believe the Dodger player made it all the way around and the Giants ended up losing. People were going crazy and I swear that game was the origin of the protest chant “Bull Shit! Bull Shit!” that people used to yell in unison over bad calls. Too bad they didn’t have instant replay back then, I think the play would have been ruled a catch.
One final memory was from the early 80’s. Jack Clark used to lose a lot of homers to the Candlestick winds. My girlfriend and I were at a Friday night game and the Giants were down 4-2 to the Cardinals. I believe Bruce Sutter was pitching and Clark hit a stunning three run homer in the bottom of the ninth through the teeth of the wind for a walk off win. Those of us at the game were going crazy and we were yelling so loud, trying to get a curtain call. I always remember it because the darn PA announcer came on and killed the moment with his booming recap of the game. We were so upset, it was so much fun going bonkers over the dramatic victory.
So that is my Giants origin story and a few memories, I hope you all found it at least somewhat interesting. I’m fortunate and grateful that even in my mid-fifties I’m still healthy enough to be able to play baseball and play it pretty well. Playing today (the day I’m writing this story) in fact, probably just jinxed myself, here’s comes and oh for four and a couple of errors.
Go Giants!
PerSpeier35 in Pinole, CA.
If we want a sure thing, let’s find Larry Jaster to start today.
Great piece. Have a great game today. Perhaps a walk-off hit by you to send the team to beer showers.
Thanks, I actually wrote it last weekend. It did not go well, my team was swept out of the playoffs in the first round.
Sorry. Bright side is you get to enjoy the heck out of the game today.
I wish but I don’t get to see it, issues at work, long story, will follow it online though.
PerSpeier35 this post brings back many memories of the ’70s and ’80s. I loved Chris Speier too when he was an Expo.
And eventually he came back and did well for the team in the late 80’s. I always thought he’d end up being a manager, surprised he topped out as a bench and third base coach.
WillieMac winner for the 1987 NL West champions.
I now get the PerSpeier handle.
Nice.
Nice stuff, you sweaty old coot,
Who says I’m sweaty?
LOL. Sometimes the stories fans write here feel like going through someones personal scrapbook with them some Sunday evening over tea. This a unique community.
It’s an outstanding community. The spirit of baseball and common interests has enriched us. So thankful to be a part of it.
Nice job, PerSpeier35. Great read.
Thanks, TF, glad you liked it. I shared it last week with my fellow Giants fans at work and they thought it was a kick.
Those of us who are “north of highway 50”, as I like to say, have lots of memories of the good (and bad) old days. My lifelong best friend said it best: “my kids have no idea what it means to be a lifelong Giants fan. All they know is the three rings and the sustained run of excellence.” It’s true.
https://twitter.com/AlexPavlovic/status/782617210799788032
Great winnin lineup. Zero qualms. Go get em!
win 2 and your in. Wina nd your in just gets you to a single game elimintation game
Wrong. Win and we’re in NY on Wednesday for the WC game. Lose, then all the other scenarios kick in.
This
OK, with a fresh read I see that you mean it’s win two before we play your Cubs. That’s our hope for sure.
GO GIANTS and vogelstrong!
I will be at park and again will sprinkle win mojo on our boys.
oh and nice read perspeier. thanks for sharing
Thanks, and you are welcome.
have fun
thanks greek.
Pitch angry, Vogelsong!
Nice post…trivia question: What was Billy Henry’s nickname while he was with the Giants?
Gabby?
I have no idea.
Beyond some story about him being a victim of identity theft, he’s a mystery to me as well. He had a brief stent with the Astros, as well. I ought to know more. I read he pitched at UofH and was from Deer Park, Texas, near where I grew up. Go figure.
That could be because DeBakey was in Houston.
LOL. Mike wasn’t one of the Deer Park, DeBakeys. I used to chuckle seeing him on the elevator at the TMC. One rarely sees surgeons in green scrubs and lifters.
Lifters? That’s funny.
For others that didn’t get the “stent” reference, DeBakey was a noted heart surgeon. That’s just in case CC changed stent to stint.
Great surgeon, strange man. Booted his wife, and children’s mother, for a tall Swedish woman and a green Maserati. go figure. 😉
Figure what? He was a glory hog. Make me the same offer.
LOL. Should have gotten a ‘CADy”. I think some Saudi gave him the car. He was famously so cheap he sqeeked.
The Henry family had this great German Shepard name “Stormy.” My Mom was (as still is even in her early 80’s) a great artist and she painted a nice picture of Stormy that she still has at my parents house. I’m not sure if she painted one for the family before they moved away or not.
Well that is interesting about the identify theft and him finding out about it when it was reported that he had died. As a fellow ID theft victim I know how much that stinks (though I’m not aware that I was ever reported as being deceased).
It’s funny with FA and huge $$ in baseball, that we forget that the players used to need off season jobs to make ends meet.
“One Third”as he came in typically to get one out. He was the original Javy Lopez.
Hanky?
Buck? Doug Henry’s long lost father?
Awrsome story PerSpeier35. Great memories.
Thanks, glad you liked it.
Thanks, PS! Didn’t think I’d see a Ty Cline signature anywhere today. Where’s Cap Peterson?
Today will be fun. Yes, there us plenty of pressure…but Step 1 has been accomplished already. Look for the Bochy Pixie Dust to work magic on Span and Conor today
$2?
Keep hating
Snoopy dance when Span goes off today ! 🙂
Yeah, I never heard of that guy. Gaylord Perry signed as “Gay Perry.” I’ll have to look for Cap when I get home, his name doesn’t ring a bell for me either.
Nice article, PerSpeir35. I remember those days too. Good luck with your baseball career, live the dream!
Thanks on all counts. I did jinx myself after all. Wrote last Saturday that I’m lucky to be healthy enough to still be playing, and sure enough, first at bat of the game, with my wife attending for the first time all season, I strained the biceps tendon in my left arm while hitting the ball. I felt and heard it pop and it swelled up right away and my season with my team was over just like that. Never had that injury before. Now I’m just hoping it will heal up in time for the father & son tournament I’m playing in down in Phoenix at the end of this month. I was born in Phoenix and have a number of cousins and an aunt still living there and my son is so looking forward to playing in the spring training complexes (including one at Tempe Diablo Stadium), this thing just has to heal up but it’s still puffy and sore after eight days. I should have left that last paragraph out, it didn’t have anything to do with the Giants and it jinxed the heck out of me.
Darn, sorry to hear that! Hope it heals in time for the tournament!
I’ve popped the capsule on one bicep and severed the tendon on the other. If you wonder about the prognosis, I’d be happy to discuss the likely outcomes with you.
Lay it on me, brother. A guy on our team who knows about such injuries did some strength testing on my arm and determined that it wasn’t too bad, just rest it for a couple of weeks, ice it frequently, Motrin, etc. I went to the doctor the next day and she ended up with the same prognosis and treatment. After eight days the inside of my elbow is still swollen, though not to the extent it was last weekend. I wouldn’t give it a second thought expect I’m so committed to playing in four weeks.
Go for it. No need for me to put any negative vibes on you. Mine are fine as long as I don’t push it. Be ready for it to cramp up if you over-strain it. Just don’t believe it will have the same strength as before.
One thing occurred to me when you mentioned the elbow. Look up lower bicep tendon and see if any of the symptoms from a tear look familiar. The elbow part concerns me. Mine were both upper bicep tendon problems, so it all could be markedly different.
Thanks for sharing! 🙂
You bet. You’re on deck (maybe?).
one of my favorite at-the-ballpark moments this year (in the second half) was getting to see Vogey again when the pirates were in town (also at the time I was still pretty salty about Moore whom he was pitching against) and being able to give him two standing Os.
Hope to give him another one today, albeit from home. 👏🏼⭕️
I was at that game too. It was so cool that the Giants showed a video tribute to him on the big screen with the words, “Forever Giant.” Could you imagine any other team doing that for a visiting player who used to play for them? Classy.
That is the word I was pondering on my walk. Another Bay Area team owner talks about winning with class. It is not a term you attach to yourself. It is a way of life.
Peavy giving the Blach a pep talk even though he has had the kind of year that would send many off a ledge. Tributes to the Vogeys and Michael Morse’s when they come to play you. Including your Hall of Famers and contributors when your championship team meets the President.
So Giants, go out there and show them how it is done. Win with class.
What’s up with the 12 PM starts in October?
So playoff teams can’t manipulate their pitching, if needed, as a result of east coast scores or some similar stupid reason like that. Heard it discussed yesterday on the post game show.
Real good piece, PS35. Thanks. It made me remember some of my own experiences, including the Brian Johnson game.
That signature looked familiar. I bought a game used ball at a yard sale a few years back. The woman said it was her son’s, was gotten as a foul at a game in Candlestick. It had a signature on it, was a little worn-down and a bit battered. She didn’t know who signed it but told me when the game was. I deduced it was probably Speier, but wasn’t sure till I saw your photo. The large R at the end was the giveaway. Your sig is far more legible.
Yes I chewed her out for selling it off from her son, but she assured me that a friend of a friend had taken them, got the ball, corralled Chris to sign and then gave it to her son. Who, she said didn’t really like baseball all that much. I still felt rotten for him. I’m going to see if I can find it, and send off a photo, see what you think.
Anyway good post, this is a good feature of the “new blog”. Thanks Greek.
“Lets WIN two!”
Thanks JS. When I was growing up this older kid on the street we lived on got a McCovey foul ball at a game. This was before people were crazy about foul balls. We played catch with it in the street and I missed a throw and it went in the gutter and down the storm drain. He didn’t even care it was just a ball.
538 Game line for today. http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2016-mlb-predictions/giants/?ex_cid=rrpromo
https://i.imgur.com/IxODDuB.png
Wainwright is on the mound against Vogelsong today. He’s gotten hammered in his last 3 starts and hasn’t gotten out of the 5th. Maybe there’s a shot for Vogelsong if the Pirates can muster some early offense for him.
All the games being played between noon and 1?
Noon and noon-15.
Come on y’all. It’s 75 minutes to game time. GAME FACE!!
So cool that every game today starts at 3:00 PM EDT.
lots or scoreboard watching from the dugouts today
True that. I can’t follow the AL wild card race. Watch the rainout and must-play game, Cleveland at Detroit, become a significant one. I think I read where even if Detroit is eliminated they have to play so that Cleveland can gain some home-field advantage.
“PURR”-Speier
Great piece young man. Enjoyed reading about another San Matean local.
You will go go 3 for 4 today.
Thanks Clutch. Wrote it last week though, season’s over, catching up on work today.
I got a late response to your post PerSpeier, thought I’d respond to one of your posts to make sure you saw it!
“OMG!
What a treat to read your stories PerSpeier!
I was at that game where Clark and Herndon collided. The batter was Lee Lacy. If I remember right, the score was 4-4 in the top of the ninth when it happened. Neither Giants player could get up and Lacy just kept running while I screamed my lungs out! I feel like I was down the first base line even though I usually sat in the left field bleachers. Of course, in those days, it was a simple proposition to hop over the cement railings at the switchbacks beyond the left field seats!”
Thanks Moooooooooose, glad you liked it. Do you have a guest piece in the works?
That was the last game that my Dad attended. He was always great with me and my brother, playing catch in the street or taking us to the school field to hit us balls or throw BP but he wasn’t much for going to the Giants games and spending all that money (even though tickets were only about $5 back then. To this day he has little interest in baseball unless me or my brother are playing.
New Post: http://fe0.84e.myftpupload.com/pregame/game-162-preview-giants-play-to-clinch-wild-card-berth-and-sweep-dodgers-in-regular-season-finale/
High Tides and Green Grass, let’s go Giants! https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/514d9fed4faf81438b618155b4671d88e7d2eb27a378a13e813c7d55223f79e4.png
Great post. Thanks PS35
Awesome post, PS35! Thanks!
Thanks Lefty, glad you liked it, not easy following in your footsteps.
OMG! What a treat to read your stories PerSpeier!
I was at that game where Clark and Herndon collided. The batter was Lee Lacy. If I remember right, the score was 4-4 in the top of the ninth when it happened. Neither Giants player could get up and Lacy just kept running while I screamed my lungs out! I feel like I was down the first base line even though I usually sat in the left field bleachers. Of course, in those days, it was a simple proposition to hop over the cement railings at the switchbacks beyond the left field seats!
@PuigRomoDirkDonDrysdale
LOL
Great post, PerSpeier! So cool! Really awesome to hear your story!
I too was at the SF-LA game that night. In fact, I was in the press box that night! I was a budding cub reporter, you might say, for the Watsonville daily newspaper, and I covered that game for our paper that night. Some reporter I was, I was too star struck to say a word to anyone, either in the press box or in the clubhouse afterwards. And I know memory is a funny thing, because my memories get tangled up all the time, so I hope you don’t mind if I throw out a little more about that particular ballgame since I “covered” it and have my article in a scrapbook somewhere. First of all, McCovey homered that night, and the biggest highlight for me was soaking in the atmosphere after the game as Willie gave his interview to the press. The way he talked, with his Alabama drawl, was so slow. He was just larger than life! Secondly, the Giants actually won that ballgame on a Darrell Evans RBI single. The Giants were leading, 4-2, and almost every other reporter had left the press box to get on the elevator down to the clubhouse when Lacey hit that ball to right center with one on. Second base ump Jim Quick was late getting out and made no signal for awhile, eventually signaling no catch. Lacy motored all the way around the bases to tie the game. The Giants were furious that the call hadn’t been made clearer. Jim Barr was on the mound, and he was quite hot. Doug Harvey was working the plate that night, and he let Barr get away with a lot of arguing because he knew Quick had blown the play. The other reporters rushed back up into the press box during the long argument and the time spent checking on Jack Clark. (Davey Lopes came into the Giants clubhouse after the game to check on Clark — class!) The other reporters were all questioning me about the play. In the clubhouse, we all gathered around Joe Altobelli first, and he smoked and did not make eye contact with anyone while he gave us his perspective. Darrell Evans then held court at his locker, and Darrell was very good with the media — I think he was having a really fun night, having just hit the game-winner. I drifted over to McCovey, and then I actually spoke pretty much one-on-one with Jim Barr. Then, I went looking for my car and drove back to Watsonville, typed up my story, and went home at around 3:30 am. Not a night I’ll soon forget.
Hey, I missed this one, you were the last to post on this thread. Thanks for the update on that game, it was one that I didn’t look up in BR when I was writing the guest story. Glad Darrell won it, he was my Mom’s favorite player. How long did you stay with reporting?
I had an offer for a regular FT gig as one of two sports guys for my hometown newspaper, but I was just six months away from my degree. So I passed it by. I felt like I owed it to my mom since it was her very careful planning and sacrificing that had gotten me through 3 1/2 years of private college. After I graduated, I continued as a stringer but never got another FT position in the field. It was a really fun sidelight, and I kept it up for awhile, but soon I got a sales job and it was work, work, work.