2003 memories, ranked - San Francisco Sports Today

J. T. Snow colides with Pudge Rodriguez — Photo by Eliot J. Schechter/Getty Images

It wasn’t all that Marlins series.

With the San Francisco Giants off to their best start since 2003, and before they have a chance to fall off that pace — that team started 13-1 — I thought it would be fun to commiserate about that season by ranking my memories of it from worst to best.

2003 was a transitional year. They’d lost the World Series in devastating fashion the previous October and their relationships with Dusty Baker and Jeff Kent had become frayed to the point that it was time to move on. Unlike NFL teams that lose the Super Bowl, though, the Giants reloaded and were even better than the year before, winning 100 games.

They did it with a mix of new arrivals — Ray Durham in particular, but Jose Cruz Jr. and new manager Felipe Alou — and some of the young pitching that had developed down on the farm — Jerome Williams and Kurt Ainsworth; but also 28-year old Joe Nathan, who’d achieved his final form as a dominant reliever. It was a surprising team that had an amazing season right up until its famous final out. Indeed, 2002, 2003, and 2004 all had memorably tragic endings for our favorite squadron. But let’s not focus on the negatives just yet. 2003 was a lot of fun and so here are my memories of that season, ranked.

10. NLDS Game 3: Marlins 4, Giants 3 — “He dropped it! He dropped the ball!”

Sure, there’s a more famous meltdown in the the NLDS than this (that’s coming up!) but I declare this to be the worst moment of that 2003 season because it encapsulated everything: a team that had coasted for the entire season unraveling when the going got tough. The Marlins had bloodied the Giants (and Sidney Ponson’s) nose in Game 2 and, like in the Angels World Series, here was the team finding a way to surrender. If you were waiting for a Giants to figure out how to lose, the Gold Glove-caliber right fielder dropping a flyball qualifies, and it obviously setup the tragedy of the rest of that series.

9. NLDS Game 4: You know what play I’m talking about

This sticks with you, even if you desperately don’t want it to — it’s no Reggie Sanders getting smacked with Thundersticks while fielding the ball or Dusty Baker giving Russ Ortiz the game ball, but it hurts all the same.

8. April 22, 2003: Pirates 5, Giants 2 — Jesse Foppert’s first career start

It didn’t turn out all that great (4 IP 5 ER 4 BB 3 K), but before there was Matt Cain (and then Tim Lincecum and Madison Bumgarner — you could even throw in Jonathan Sanchez, if you want), there was Foppert, Ainsworth, Jerome Williams, and a host of other young arm hopefuls the fanbase thought could be their next Maddux-Glavine-Smoltz setup and he was one of them. Having some young arms spring up to supplement to fill out a rotation led by Jason Schmidt was a good sign of a healthy organization with a bright future despite losing the World Series the previous year — at least, so it seemed.

I remember some part of this being cold and wet — maybe in Pittsburgh, but also maybe in the Bay Area at the time. Ah, memory. I legitimately can’t remember.

7. April 15, 2003: Giants 8, Astros 4 — “Your numbers don’t match”

This is a purely selfish memory, and it’s weird that I even still remember it. This was the last win of the 2003 Giants’ 13-1 start. Did my presence “jinx” them? Sure, why not?

I was excited to be there because Kurt Ainsworth was on the hill, and before the Championship Era of pitching, he was believed to be the young pitching prospect upon which the Giants’ future hinged. The week before, he’s beat the Dodgers on 8 innings of 1-run ball, so he was basically on his way to being the staff ace, right? Instead, he’d make just 8 more starts for the Giants after this one before being traded to the Orioles in the deal for Sidney Ponson. He wasn’t all that great in this one, and if I recall correctly, the hero of the game was — somewhat improbably — Neifi Perez?

I went to this game with a group of friends along with my girlfriend at the time, and afterwards one of the women in the group waited for my girlfriend to go to the bathroom to ask me why we were together, because, “Your numbers don’t match.” This was the first — and one of the few times — my appearance has ever been positively assessed by a stranger.

6. Edgardo Alfonzo’s awful Giants career

For the rest of my life I might never forget how on Opening Day 2003 in San Diego, Alfonzo went 0-for-4 and left the bases loaded twice (though, technically, the second time was grounding into an inning-ending double play). Signing him to a 4-year deal was not a questionable move to me at the time (and I was delirious with joy from the Ray Durham signing), but within the first week of the season it was clear that Alfonzo had aged out of his usefulness. He remains beloved by Mets fans, but all Giants fans will have of him is his .275/.338/.385 (88 OPS+) and 26 HR. He showed up a bit in that Marlins NLDS, of course, but by then it was too late.

5. Jason Schmidt’s three consecutive complete games

This is probably one of those things that every Giants fan remembers, but then-ace Jason Schmidt closed out the month of June with three consecutive complete games. Two of them came in back-to-back starts against the Dodgers, and one of those was an 11-strikeout shutout masterpiece against a Dodgers team that had won 8 in a row. Benito Santiago called it “The best game of his [Schmidt’s] life.” But then he nearly shut them out again 5 days later (an unearned run thanks to a Rich Aurilia error in the top of the 6th), and 5 days after that he was again dominant on the road in St. Louis.

This streak is almost certainly what set him up to start the All-Star Game for the National League that season (2 IP, 3 K 0 runs on 26 pitches).

4. Barry Bonds’ 500th stolen base

“The first man in the history of the game to have that rather unique double of 500 steals and 500-plus home runs.”

3. Tim Worrell saves 38 games

Why am I putting this above a Barry Bonds memory? Stick with me here. You won’t agree, but I have a very clear reason: his ascendancy represents what Giants Baseball has always been. A franchise with luxury brand aspirations, but Mom n’ Pop shop execution.

The Giants had Robb Nen, but then they couldn’t help Felix Rodriguez develop a second pitch to anoint him as Nen’s obvious successor, so instead they went with the grizzled vet who could throw a slider a bit more reliably. 38 saves ain’t nothing, of course, but it defied reason and it compelled the Giants to continue to think they could put anyone in the 9th inning and make him stick.

Dustin Hermanson, Matt Herges, Tyler Walker all flow from this… which leads us into the Armando Benitez “era.”

2. May 27th: “And that was the worst baserunning in the history of the game!”

Twelve years ago Grant Brisbee wrote a 10-year anniversary piece for this, ahem, momentous occasion, saying,

You might think it’s a shame that Rivera is known only for a baserunning blunder, but that’s not true! He’s also remembered for stealing Derek Jeter’s glove. And he’s also remembered for being the #2 prospect in 1995, just ahead of Chipper Jones and Derek Jeter.“

It was a play so famous that at one point an intrepid entrepreneur turned it into a poster.

That the Giants wound up winning the game in the end was a sign that this was a somewhat magical season, buttressed by the most memorable memory of 2003:

1. The Walk-offs

Even I didn’t remember how many they had. In August, they won three consecutive home games against Atlanta via walk-off. That Ruben Rivera game ended in a walk-off. Barry Bonds’ 500th stolen base setup a walk-off win. They had 13 in all, which remains and Oracle Park era record for the franchise.

There’s no pattern to glean from them, of course. Good Giants teams and bad Giants teams alike have had seasons with multiple walk-offs. Just to give you a sampling:

But walk-offs are exciting! The 2025 Giants already have 2.

Now, I’ve had my fun. What do you remember about the 2003 season?