Overview
Baseball great Bobby Thomson selects his all-time Giants team—five players at each position plus the top five managers—covering the team's more than 100-year history in two cities, New York and San Francisco.
Press Releases
From New York to San Francisco, the Giants have been around for more than 100 years, and in those seasons there have been countless talented ball players who have worn the Giants uniform, including dozens of Hall of Famers.
What great players would you choose for your Giants dream team? Would it be Freddie Linstrom or Matt Williams as your top third basemen? Frankie Frisch or Jeff Kent at second base? John McGraw or Leo Durocher as your best manager?
Few and Chosen: Defining Giants Greatness Across the Eras by Bobby Thomson with Phil Pepe (Foreword by Willie McCovey) at long last establishes the pecking order of the best players and managers in Giants history listed No. 1 – 5 at each position.
Arguing for or against your most beloved/reviled player on the team is one of the most enjoyable aspects of being a baseball fan. Where should Barry Bonds rank among Giants left-fielders? Objectivity inevitably comes to the forefront at these times and the crux behind many arguments becomes revealed for what it is – mere opinion.
Few and Chosen: Defining Giants Greatness Across the Eras offers concrete facts and statistics to support the rankings of the best players as created by former San Francisco Giant star Bobby Thomson.
Thomson’s major league career in New York was a rousing success, highlighted by a home run to end the regular season dubbed the “Shot Heard Round the World” that won the National League pennant in 1951. The Scot was also named an All-Star three times while playing for the Giants.
Few and Chosen possesses many surprises for Giants fans, with rankings that will raise a few eyebrows. But when readers see the empirical numbers next to analysis and commentary from a Giants icon they will understand that the ultimate roster for the Giants has finally been created.
About the Authors
Bobby Thomson was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and raised on Staten Island. He was a New York Giant from 1946 through 1953 and again in 1957. On October 3, 1951, his “shot heard ’round the world,” a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth of the third playoff game, gave the Giants a 5–4 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers and the National League pennant.
Phil Pepe is the author of over 40 books on sports, including collaborations with Yankee legends Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin and Whitey Ford. This is his fifth book in the ongoing series of Few and Chosen titles (Yankees with Whitey Ford, Cardinals with Tim McCarver, Red Sox with Johnny Pesky, Cubs with Ron Santo previously) created by Triumph Books, each is co-written by Pepe. Pepe was the Yankees beat writer for the New York Daily News from 1968-1981 and is former president of the Baseball Writers Association of America.