Ted Wood! Maybe it was the name or something, but I pictured the next Tom Brunansky. Too bad his power never surfaced.

My guy is lefty malo Mike Remlinger who was compared to Sandy Kofax by the great Norm Sherry one spring almost two decades ago. Sherry caught Sandy as a Dodger years before.

NOTE: This is my first post in months. I can't resist this news bit (love the time stamp):

Giants SS Vizquel to Have Knee Surgery
Filed at 4:20 p.m. ET
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- San Francisco shortstop Omar Vizquel will have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Wednesday and is expected to miss four to six weeks.

Nothing like a 41 year old $5 mm Shortstop with a bum knee.

I can go back to the late 50's when the Giants brought up back to back ROYs and future Hall of Famers. I was only 3 in 1958 and four in 1959 but I still foundly remember listing to the exploits of Willie Mays' new side kicks Orlando Cepeda and Willie McCovey with my Mom and my friends on the radio. Yeah, it was my Mom, not my Dad, that loved baseball. She played softball in highschool and college and she was the one that played catch with me and pitched batting practice to me every day and helped me fall in love with baseball.

I also foundly remember the emergance of first Juan Marichal and then Gaylord Perry in the early 60's followed by Jim Ray Hart and then Bobby Bonds in the mid 60's and then KingKong Kingman, Gary Maddux, and Gary Matthews in the early 70's.

By it was John "The Count" Montefusco that I loved the most. He was just so dominate in his Rookie Year (including a no hitter) that I thought I was watching the Giants pitcher that would surpass the great Juan Marichal.

I realize that none of the above did I even hear about as minor leaguers. The minor leagues were just not paid attention to then even by the more ravenious fans such as myself. It was not until the Giants drafted Will Clark that I actually started to follow anyone in the minor leagues and "The Thrill" like "The Franchise" did not last long in the minors before his star bloomed in the majors. Speaking of Will Clark, man is miss those days. Four (count um) four home grown quality infielders with the Trill at 1B, Robby at 2nd, Matty at 3rd, and Jose Uribe at SS! I also remember excitedly awaiting Matty's arrival at the MLB level. It took Matty quite a bit more time to suceed at the MLB level then it took "The Thrill".

In resent times it was the AFW trio that excited me the most. Of course we all know how that worked out. I pray everyday that CLS (Cain, Lincecum, and Sanchez) do not go down a simular path!

In 1976 (I was in HS), the Giants brought up Larry Herndon to play CF. It was mid-year, someone like Von Joshua got hurt. Larry was only 22 at the time. He hit .350 or something for a few months, and was a human highlight film, dashing all over the yard at Candlestick. Lon Simmons went hoarse raving about his exploits. He was my guy. I was very stoked about Larry H being the next big thing. He came down to earth of course, and didn't really put it all together until '82 or '83 in Detroit. It was bittersweet seeing him later win a ring with the Tigers in '84. On the pitching side I remember when Ed Halicki threw his no-hitter in 1975. Clueless HS soph that I was, I figured him to dominate the NL for the next 10 years!

I'd have to say Chili Davis. I remember that in early 1981, the kid came from out of nowhere to challenge for an outfield spot in the spring. He made the trip north with the big club and was inserted into the starting lineup on the second day of the season. He got off to a horrid start and it took him 5 or 6 games to collect his first hit (which was immediately followed by his first stolen base). Next thing we knew, he was gone and Billy North had regained the starting gig in center field.

Since North ad been both a member of the hated Dodgers AND the A's, I just couldn't get behind the idea that he was a Giant. I wanted Chili back.

Fortunately, 1982 arrived and North departed.

Yeah, we got Uribe in the Jack Clark trade with the Cardinals, he wasn't even the marquee player, it was David Green, ugh, I still get green thinking about it... :^) I think we also got a pitcher or two in addition.

Damon Minor, since he looked like Frankenstein. Also, Rob Deer was kind of fun.

Oh, and I'm *still* upset about David Green. I think that Jack Clark trade may have been even worse than the Nathan-Bonser-Liriano fiasco. (ooh, speaking of which, Bonser was also one of my favorite prospects, if only for the name.)

Ah, most of these bring back memories.

I remember Chris Speier coming up and taking over SS, my first season following MLB.

But my first true prospect that I was excited about was Dave Kingman. However, per rainman's comment, I didn't know about him in the minors, only once he came up.

Same with John "the Count" Montefusco, though he was my earliest memory of watching the Giants via TV, when Al Michaels gave him that nickname after he hit a homer in his first official AB.

The first player from the minors I knew about was George Foster when he got traded to the Reds. I was so mad, then and still now.

Randy Elliot was the first player I knew as a hot spring training hitting phenom.

I think probably my first "hot" prospects was Pete Falcone, I was aware of him in spring training and thought he and the Count would man the rotation for years. Boy, was I wrong, he was traded the next year for Ken Reitz, 3B from the Cards, who we then flipped back to the Cards for another pitcher.

Then I think it was Larry Herndon and his great half season, then I guess Jack Clark...

You are right about Uribe. I guess the panful memory of trading Jack Clark made me forget. Just imagine how good the Giants could have been in the Humm Baby Era if Jack Clark was part of it too. We would have beaten the Cardinals in 87 for another World Series trip and then had a better shot at the A's in 89 and therefore between 87 and 89 likely already had our first World Championship. Damm, I am pissed all over again!

Tom O'Malley

Jesse Foppert! I'm so glad he's back in the organization, even if it is just a kind gesture.

Brad Wellman, who I kept reading was the second baseman of the future for quite some time. He was the first minor leaguer I was really aware of, I think.

He never really made it, but I met him a few times after his career was over. Really nice guy.