Philadelphia Warriors
Manager/Owner: Pete DeStefano
AIM Screen Name: GiantFanPete
Strat-O-Matic Fan Forum Name: GiantsFan
Hometown: Alamo, CA (25 miles east of San Francisco)
Birthdate: 8/31/66
Strat-O-Matic background: I learned SOM baseball from Pete Pryor in the summer of '78. Pete and I grew up together in East Brunswick, NJ.
Most memorable Strat-O-Matic moment: In the summer of '79, Pete's pitcher (I believe it was Gaylord Perry, not sure) threw a 1-hitter against me. Following a walk, my only hit was a 2-run homer by Al Oliver. I went on to win that game 2-1. A close second was J.R. Richard's no-hitter during the 1975 season... a netplayed game vs Todd Hopkins' St Louis Browns.
Favorite Baseball Team: San Francisco Giants
Did You Know? I'm married with no kids. My wife, Sheila, is an amateur triathlete... she finished the San Francisco Marathon in 3:33 in 2003 to qualify her for the 2004 Boston Marathon. She finished her first IronMan Triathlon on June 27, 2004 in 13:18:58.
I enjoy card games (Poker, Hearts & Cribbage especially), softball and hiking.
My brush with fame came about 15 years ago at the Grand Hyatt hotel in New York. I sat down and had a drink with Harry Kalas. Harry is the Phillies' announcer and we chatted about various Phillies' moments over the years. The Phils were my favorite team growing up in NJ.
Warrior stat of 1975: J.R. Richard yielded only 6 homeruns in 219 innings and only one to a right handed batter (434 batters faced).
Warrior stat of 1976: George Brett finished the season with 237 hits, tops in the league.
Warrior stat of 1977: Skip Lockwood was fantastic during the regular season... he led the NL with 37 saves and had a 2.32 ERA. The Angels could only muster 3 hits in 36 at bats as the Warriors took 11 of 14. But in the NLCS, Lockwood got torched... the Angels went 9 for 16 against him on their way to the World Series.
Warrior stat of 1978: Oscar Gamble was one of the few Warrior batters to exceed expectations in 1978. He batted .275 in real life, but hit .318 for the Warriors and was especially effective versus lefties going 27 for 66 (.409) with 4 homers.
Warrior stat of 1979: Gorman Thomas set a Warrior record with 47 homers, but his glove may have been as valuable as his bat... he was 71 for 71 on x-chart chances, including 12 playoff games, which culminated in a World Series victory over Vinny Mancini's Homestead Grays.
Warrior stat of 1980: Expectations were high for George Brett and he did not disappoint... he finished the season batting .413 (194 for 470). Against righties, he hit an obscene .446 (166 for 372) with 42 doubles, 7 triples and 21 homers (.766 slugging %).