Brian Stephen Giles (JAYH-ulz; born January 20, 1971) is a former Major League Baseball outfielder. During his career he played for the Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates and San Diego Padres. The left-handed Giles was a two-time All-Star and had a career line of .291/.400/.502 with 287 home runs, 411 doubles, 1,078 runs batted in (RBI), and 1,183 walks in 1,847 games.
His younger brother, Marcus Giles, is a former Major League infielder who was most notable for playing with the Atlanta Braves organization. Marcus and Brian played together on the 2007 San Diego Padres.
Professional career
Cleveland Indians
Giles was born in El Cajon, California, and attended Granite Hills High School. He was drafted by the Cleveland Indians in the 17th round of the 1989 Major League Baseball draft. By 1994, Giles had worked his way up to Triple-A, where he batted .313 for Charlotte making the International League All-Star team. In 1995, Giles was again in Triple-A, where he batted .310 for Buffalo and made his major league debut as a September callup on September 16 (where he would bat .556 in nine at-bats with the Indians). He was also an American Association All-Star. Giles hit .355 in 51 games for the Indians in 1996 and hit .314 in 83 games with Buffalo, again making the American Association All-Star team. In 1997, Giles established himself as a major league regular, playing 130 games for the Indians and 112 games in 1998.
Pittsburgh Pirates
On November 18, 1998, he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for pitcher Ricardo Rincón.
In 1999 with the Pirates, Giles emerged as a power-hitting outfielder who also hit for average and showed plate discipline. He began a streak of hitting at least 35 home runs for four straight seasons, during which he batted no lower than .298 and was named Pittsburgh Pirates Player of the Year each year.
Giles led the 2000 club in doubles, triples, home runs, RBIs and walks. His 123 RBIs were eight shy of Paul Waner's club record of 131 set in 1927. He became the first Pirate ever to hit at least .300 with 30 plus home runs and 100 plus RBIs in back-to-back seasons, he became the third player in club history with 100 runs, 100 RBIs and 100 walks in the same season, after Barry Bonds in 1992 and Ralph Kiner from 1948–51. His 114 walks were the most by a Pirate since 1992, Bonds drew 127 walks. Giles' 74 home runs in two seasons with the club represent the most in back-to-back seasons since Willie Stargell hit 77 in 1972–73. He was named National League Player-of-the-Week after hitting .400 with two doubles, three home runs and 12 RBIs between May 2 and May 7 and shared player of the week honors with Colorado's Todd Helton after hitting .523 with three doubles, one triple, three home runs, eight RBIs and six runs scored between August 12 and August 20. Giles was named to the All-Star team for the first time in his career. He finished ninth in voting among National League outfielders.
In 2001 Giles established career highs in games played, at bats, runs and hits. He tied career highs in doubles, triples and stolen bases. At the end of the season he ranked tenth among NL players in runs (116), on-base percentage (.404), and slugging percentage (.590). His runs total was the highest by a Pirate since Ralph Kiner in 1951. He led the Pirates in batting, home runs and walks. He tied Dave Parker's club record for most total bases, 340, by a left-handed hitter. Giles hit his 100th career home run as a member of the Pirates on August 9; he is one of 17 players to homer 100 times as a Pirate. He was selected to play in the All-Star Game for the second consecutive year.
In 2002, Giles drew a career-high 135 walks, ranking him second in the National League behind San Francisco's Barry Bonds, who led with 198. He also established the club record for most base on balls in a season by a left-handed batter. His .450 on-base percentage tied him for the second-best mark in the majors, he also ranked second in the league in slugging percentage with .622, sixth in home runs, second with 80 extra-base hits ranked second behind San Francisco's Jeff Kent, tied for second in the league with 13 outfield assists and also finished third in the NL with 24 intentional walks. He homered once every 13.1 at bats, the third-best ratio in the league behind Bonds' 8.8 and Sammy Sosa's 11.3.
San Diego Padres
Giles in 2007.
On August 26, 2003, he was traded to his hometown San Diego Padres for Jason Bay, Óliver Pérez, and minor leaguer Corey Stewart.
Giles continued to be a patient and reliable hitter in San Diego, leading the majors with 119 walks in 2005. From 2004–2006, Giles played in over 150 games each season for the Padres, but in 2006, his batting average dropped to a career-low .263. On May 14, 2006, he drew five walks in a game, one shy of the record of six. In 2007, joined by his brother Marcus, signed as a free agent to be the starting second baseman, Giles batted .271, but missed time with an injured knee.
In 2008, Giles, in the third and final guaranteed year of his contract with the Padres, vetoed a potential trade to Boston,[1] citing a desire to remain close to his family.[2] In 2008, 58% of his strikeouts were "looking", by far the highest percentage in the major leagues.[1]
In 2009, through July 1 Giles had the lowest batting average (.191), slugging percentage (.271), and OPS (.548) in the major leagues.[2] However, he went on the disabled list soon afterward with an arthritic right knee and missed the rest of the season.
As of August 22, 2018 the San Diego Padres have cut ties with Brian Giles and his brother Marcus, over domestic violence issues.[3]
Retirement
On February 7, 2010, Giles signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers and received an invitation to spring training.[4] However, after playing in just two spring training games as a designated hitter, he announced his retirement on March 11, 2010.[5]
Personal life
Giles was sued by his former girlfriend for more than $10 million. She alleged Giles broke an oral and/or implied agreement that he would take care of her for an indefinite period of time. She alleged Giles began abusing her in 2002, and battered her while she was pregnant with Giles' child, and caused her to have a miscarriage. She dropped the allegations that Giles caused the miscarriage before the trial began. A jury found that both Giles and his girlfriend, Cheri Olvera, committed acts of domestic violence against each other but that there were no damages. The jury also refused to award damages on Olvera's contract claim, finding that Olvera's alleged terms were not clear enough so that both Olvera and Giles could understand what each was required to do. Instead, the jury found that Olvera must return the $107,000 engagement ring Giles provided to her or pay the $107,000 as damages.[6] Following Giles' dispute with Olvera and given the nature of the court case, Giles' endorsement contract with Nair Hair Removal products was terminated.
Pacific Trading Cards, Inc. was an American trading card company founded in 1980 by Mike Cramer and known for its brightly colored, die cut cards.[1] The company invented the nine-card plastic sheets collectors use to store trading cards.[2] The company also produced memorabilia such as bobbleheads and the Ken Griffey Jr. chocolate bar.[1] The company was purchased by Playoff in 2004. In 2021, a Tom Brady rookie card produced by Pacific sold for $117,000 eBay.[1]
Company history
Early years
Mike Cramer, the founder of Pacific Trading Cards, began collecting baseball cards at nine years old.[1] His first card was a Babe Ruth card from a nickel pack of Fleer 1960 All-Time Greats cards.[1] He began selling soda bottles and mowing lawns so that he could buy more cards, collecting over 11,000 cards by the time he was eleven years old.[1] By the time he was fifteen, Cramer had collected more than 500,000 cards.[1] He ran ads, buying and selling cards from his family home in Arizona.[1] Beginning in 1969, Cramer spent ten seasons Alaskan king crab fishing, earning and saving money which he later used to purchase his first home and found Pacific Trading Cards.[1] He married his wife, Cheryl, in 1973 in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and she began helping him with his trading cards business, even helping him move boxes trading cards onto his boat on their wedding night.[1][2][3] In 1977, Cramer entered into a deal with Topps and purchased all of their closeout cases of cards.[1] Cramer stored truckloads of trading cards in a storage unit.[1] Cramer began running a mail-order catalog from his home in Edmonds, Washington, and began buying and selling cards full-time.[1]
1980s
In 1980, Cramer opened a trading cards store in the Perrinville neighborhood of Edmonds.[1] There was a warehouse factory across the street that began producing trading cards for the Triple-A Pacific Coast League.[1][2] Pacific was the first company to begin making plastic sheets to put trading cards in binders.[2] As the company began making cards, Cramer shot many of the card photos himself.[3]
In 1989, Cramer built a manufacturing plant in Lynnwood, Washington, which produced the company's cards.[1] At its height, the factory employed 230 people.[1] The company released a Ken Griffey Jr. chocolate bar in 1989 after converting one of their card-wrapping machines to wrap chocolate bars, selling almost one million bars.[1][3][4]
1990s
By 1990, Pacific was manufacturing and distributing ten lines of trading cards including Major Indoor Soccer League, Baseball Legend, and Senior Baseball League.[4] Following the success of the Ken Griffey Jr. candy bar in the year prior, Pacific also released two collector's candy bars named for baseball players Tony Gwynn and Wade Boggs.[4]
In 1991, Pacific received a license to produce a limited edition set of 550 NFL trading cards.[5] That year, Pacific also released a set of 110 Desert Storm trading cards featuring leaders, weapons, and soldiers involved in Operation Desert Shield.[6] Pacific released sets of non-sports trading cards for I Love Lucy[2] and the 30th anniversary of The Andy Griffith Show.[7]
In 1993, Pacific finally received its first Major League Baseball license and began producing MLB cards in the Spanish language.[2] While other companies had done bilingual French and English hockey cards, Pacific was the first company to make bilingual baseball cards in Spanish.[8]
In 1999, Pacific released the first-ever Kurt Warner and Tom Brady rookie cards.[9][3] While Cramer was in Northern California for the annual East-West Shrine Bowl, he shot dozens of photos of Brady, who was a quarterback at Michigan at the time.[3] Brady was not invited to the 2000 NFLPA Rookie Photo Shoot because he was a sixth-round pick, but Cramer used the photos he had shot and put Brady in Pacific's 2000 NFL sets. Pacific released its first set in May 2000, making Pacific's #403 Brady card the first NFL trading card ever produced of Brady.[3] The company also signed Brady to an autograph deal, getting a total of 700 cards signed.[3] In 2021, one of Tom Brady's Pacific rookie cards sold for $117,000.[1]
2000s
In 2000, Pacific Trading Cards released a Manny Ramirez baseball card featuring a corked bat, causing controversy.[1] Many people thought that releasing a card featuring a corked bat was a publicity stunt, but employees from Pacific claim that is not the case.[2] Cramer claims the bats were sourced from the teams and then sent away to be cut up.[2] The pieces of the bats were then sent to Great Western Press, where the baseball cards were printed.[2] The cards were finally sent back to Lynnwood and were packaged at Pacific's headquarters.[2] They later found out that a card with a piece of cork was sent to a dealer and Pacific immediately stopped production and went through the cards, finding a few more which were not released.[2]
In 2003, Pacific lost its NFL license.[9] The National Football League Players Association pulled Pacific's license after sports card shop owners complained that there were too many card brands and products.[9] By 2004, the only major license Pacific held was for the National Hockey League.[2] When the 2004–05 NHL lockout started, Cramer decided to retire and sold Pacific Trading Cards to Playoff.[1][9] Playoff was later sold to Panini Group, which continued Pacific's Prism line under the slightly altered name "Prizm".[9]
Products
Sports trading cards
Baseball
Pacific Eight Men Out
Pacific Legends (1985-1990)
Pacific Senior League (1989-1990)
Pacific Tom Seaver "Tom Terrific" (1991)
Nolan Ryan Texas Express Series II (1991)
Pacific Jugadoes Calientes (1993)
Pacific Prisms (-1996
Pacific Mariners (1995)
Pacific Harvey Riebe (1995)
Pacific Advil Nolan Ryan (1996)
Pacific Marlins (1997)
Aurora (1998-2000)
Pacific Omega Baseball (1998)
Pacific Home Run Heroes (1998)
Pacific Home Run History (1998)
Crown Royale Baseball (1998-2000)
Revolution (1998-2000)
Pacific Nestle (1998)
Paramount (1998-2000)
Pacific Crown Collection (1999-2000)
Private Stock (1999)
Pacific Vanguard (2000)
Paramount Update (2000)
Football
NFL Football (1991-2003)
NFL Steve Largent (1988)
Ice Hockey
NHL Hockey (-2004)
Soccer
Major Indoor Soccer League
Softball
Pacific Baerga Softball (1996-1997)
Nonsports trading cards
Wizard of Oz (1990)
Operation Desert Shield (1991)
I Love Lucy (1991)
The Andy Griffith Show (1991)
Saved By the Bell (1992)
”Saved by the Bell Collage Years (1994)
Rad Dudes(1991)
”Leave it to Beaver”(1983)
”World War II (1992)
”Total Recall (1990)
”Gunsmoke (1992)
”Where are They” (1992)
”Eight Men Out” (1988)
”Garfield” (2000)
”Bingo Movie” (1991)
”Pukey-mon” (2000)
Chocolate bars
Chocolate bars came with a limited edition baseball card.
Ken Griffey Jr. (1989)[4]
Tony Gwynn (1990)[4]
Wade Boggs (1990)[4]
Memorabilia
Heads Up Bobbleheads
NHL Mini Sweaters
Memoir
In October 2023, Cramer's book, Cramer's Choice: Memoir of a Baseball Card Collector Turned Manufacturer was published by McFarland & Company.[1] Cramer began writing the book a few years prior, after he was diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma, intending to document his life for his children and grandchildren.[1][2] Bob Uecker had originally given Cramer the idea for the book.[2] He wrote 117,000 words on an iPad, letter by letter, and later sent it to McFarland, which immediately accepted the manuscript.[1] The final product is about 90,000 words.[1]