04-15-2022, 09:42 AM
The Giants were going nowhere with Mays in 1972. Problem was that they telegraphed it and wound up with a nobody, Charlie Williams. The first domino was the Perry trade after the division winning season of '71 for the drunkard Sam McDowell. That was a Charlie Fox move because he disliked Gaylord and blamed the Father/Son film production team for "abducting" the pitcher on a two day shoot at his parents farm in North Carolina. I plead not guilty.
In the pipeline were Maddox, Matthews, Goodson, Kingman and others. They showed great promise in 1973 but Horace, without the brains of Chubb Feeney, now President of the NL, lost them all and ultimately was forced to sell. There was some bad luck involved as Goodson, a sweet swinging LH hitter, was lost chasing a popup and was never the same. Kingman was sold in 1973 to make payroll and soon Mathews was off to free agency and Maddox was traded for the malcontent Willie Montanez. The prized big guy, Bobby Bonds, was traded for the complete azzhole Bobby Murcer who once later said, "I was never a Giant."
It was painful to watch, especially from the top step of the stairs to the clubhouse where on occasion I would stand with a camera.
It was a complete destruction orchestrated by the Stoneham Family made all the more horrible because Horace was such a nice man. His advisors were all aged and failing. Only the farm director was doing his job by still sending terrific young players to the big club. But they all wound up in opponents' lineups.
In the pipeline were Maddox, Matthews, Goodson, Kingman and others. They showed great promise in 1973 but Horace, without the brains of Chubb Feeney, now President of the NL, lost them all and ultimately was forced to sell. There was some bad luck involved as Goodson, a sweet swinging LH hitter, was lost chasing a popup and was never the same. Kingman was sold in 1973 to make payroll and soon Mathews was off to free agency and Maddox was traded for the malcontent Willie Montanez. The prized big guy, Bobby Bonds, was traded for the complete azzhole Bobby Murcer who once later said, "I was never a Giant."
It was painful to watch, especially from the top step of the stairs to the clubhouse where on occasion I would stand with a camera.
It was a complete destruction orchestrated by the Stoneham Family made all the more horrible because Horace was such a nice man. His advisors were all aged and failing. Only the farm director was doing his job by still sending terrific young players to the big club. But they all wound up in opponents' lineups.