Altobelli was behind SF thrills of 1978
San Francisco Giants fans are eternally wedded to the World Series-winning clubs of 2010, 2012 and 2014. The Barry Bonds-Jeff Kent teams and the Will Clark-Kevin Mitchell-Matt Williams outfits still arouse passion among Giants aficionados. And people old enough to have seen Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry and Orlando Cepeda perform swoon with puppy love at the mere mention of any of those names.
The 1978 Giants were different than all the rest. They didn’t reach the postseason, but could be credited for saving Major League baseball in San Francisco. They spent 95 days in first place en route to finishing third with a 89–73 mark. That prompted a stunning attendance increase, ended a skid of four consecutive losing seasons and enlivened the moribund atmosphere at Candlestick Park.
The steward of this memorable season was manager Joe Altobelli, who died of natural causes at age 88 on Wednesday. Los Angeles and Cincinnati won each National League West title from 1972–77, but Altobelli, who used his bench extensively and frequently employed lefty-righty platoons, kept the Giants in the ’78 division race until early September.
“We all loved Joe,” former Giants pitching ace John “The Count” Montefusco said. “He brought some calm to the team, a lot of excitement and some chemistry. I’m really sorry about this. I was glad I got to know him and we’re all better to have played under him.”
In 1977, Altobelli’s first season as Giants manager, San Francisco finished 75–87, nearly duplicating the 74–88 mark that Bill Rigney engineered one year earlier. Then, about three weeks before the 1978 season began, the Giants sent seven players and $300,000 to Oakland for three-time 20-game winner Vida Blue, who would finish 18–10. Numerous others flourished, such as left-hander Bob Knepper (17–11, 2.63 ERA, NL-high six shutouts) and right fielder Jack Clark (.306/.358/.537 slash line with 25 home runs and 98 RBIs), both rookies in ‘77.
An early hint that ’78 would be different occurred in the season opener at Candlestick. Instead of casually jogging to the first-base line during pregame introductions, Blue bounded toward Altobelli, who was standing near home plate. They enthusiastically slapped palms (a “low-10,” if you will).
The Giants secured a pair of extra-inning walkoff victories over St. Louis in a doubleheader sweep on May 14 to gain sole possession of first place. That magic manifested itself so often that the Giants won 42 one-run decisions, a Major League record.
The Giants slipped steadily in the standings after Aug. 15, but by then they had created legions of believers. San Francisco drew 1,740,477 to Candlestick Park in ’78, far exceeding the previous year’s attendance of 700,056.
“The pitching staff got tired or the other teams were just better than us, maybe,” Montefusco said. “But it was fun while it lasted and we brought a lot of fans to the ballpark. It’s amazing what a first-place team will do.”
Just two years earlier, the Giants nearly moved to Toronto. The ’78 attendance spike emboldened the Giants to begin presenting ballot measures for voter approval. The first four failed, primarily because the Giants sought approval for tax increases. The measure that led to construction of Pacific Bell Park (now known as Oracle Park) largely avoided public funding.
Like the Giants, Altobelli was bound for better days. San Francisco fired him with 22 games remaining in the 1979 season, but he became manager of the Baltimore Orioles in 1983 and managed them to that year’s World Series championship.
