1978 Giants received a boost from dramatic pinch hits
Mike Ivie, whose pinch-hitting dramatics in 1978 helped the San Francisco Giants make a run for the playoffs during a down era for the team, died Friday at his home in North Augusta, S.C., according to Posey Funeral Directors. He was 70.
Ivie, the No. 1 overall draft pick by the San Diego Padres in 1970, was traded before the 1978 season to the Giants for Derrel Thomas and brought drama and hope to Candlestick Park, thanks to his success coming off the bench.
The Giants, who had been in a long dry spell after their 1971 division-winning season, were in first place for much of 1978, the memorable season for longtime Giants fans in which Ivie hit four pinch home runs, including two grand slams.
The most notable came May 28, known simply as the Ivie Game, when a record crowd of 56,103 at Candlestick Park saw the Giants fall behind the Dodgers 3-0. With the bases loaded in the sixth inning, Ivie hit for Vic Harris and smoked a Don Sutton pitch for a grand slam to left field, above a leaping Dusty Baker. The Giants won 6-5.
“Bedlam,” wrote Chronicle beat writer Bob Stevens, describing the crowd’s reaction to the moment.
“I was thinking, just get a fly ball for a sacrifice fly,” Ivie said. “But when I saw Dusty Baker trying to climb the fence, I knew I got it all. It was one of the most memorable moments in my career.”
For Lon Simmons, too. The legendary broadcaster was at the mic on Ivie’s big day and once told The Chronicle that it might have been his favorite call from a game at Candlestick:
“The 2-0 pitch, hit deep to left. Way back, way back, way back, way back. A grand slam! Mike Ivie has grand-slammed.”
“We used to give highlight tapes to the players,” Simmons said, “and I gave that one to Mike. Years later, when I was doing the A’s, I saw him in Detroit, and he told me, ‘Whenever I get down, I pop in that tape, and it puts a smile on my face.’ ”
Ivie hit his other pinch grand slam in the game in which Willie McCovey hit his 500th home run. Ivie also hit a ninth-inning pinch homer Aug. 18 for a win in Philadelphia and finished the
season hitting .308 with 11 homers in 318 at-bats.
The Giants’ playoff drought extended from 1972 through ’86, but the 1978 team gave fans a rare glimpse of a contender. The roster featured Jack Clark, Bill Madlock and Darrell Evans along with McCovey, then 40. Left-hander Vida Blue was acquired from Oakland shortly before the season, joining Bob Knepper, John Montefusco, Ed Halicki and Jim Barr in the rotation.
The Giants ran out of steam at the end of the season and finished in third place behind
the Dodgers and Reds with an 89-73 record. Ivie found himself in the lineup more in 1979 and hit a career-high 27 homers. After that season, he cut a tendon in his right hand while cleaning a hunting knife and needed surgery, wearing a cast for weeks. He played just 79 games in 1980 and was traded in April 1981 to Houston for Jeffrey Leonard and Dave Bergman.
Ivie wrapped up his 11-year pro career with the 1983 Tigers.
“San Francisco was the best place I ever put on a pair of cleats,” Ivie said. “I just loved it there.”
In San Diego, Ivie didn’t live up to the expectations of a first overall draft pick. He broke into the majors as a 19-year-old in 1971 as the Padres’ catcher of the future but struggled with his throws back to the pitcher and moved to first base.
According to Posey Funeral Directors, Ivie had dealt with ongoing health issues and is survived by his wife, Barbara, sons Steven and Scott and several grandchildren.