Regular season
- The Giants battled their arch rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers, throughout the season for the NL West Division lead. The Giants led by 8.5 games on September 1. In mid September the Dodgers won 8 in a row, including 5 over the Giants to narrow the gap to one game. On the final day of the season, rookie Dave Kingman homered, leading the Giants to a win over the San Diego Padres to take the division crown, allowing Juan Marichal, Willie Mays, and Willie McCovey to play in the post season for the last time together.
- September 5, 1971: In a game against the Giants, J. R. Richard of the Houston Astros struck out 15 batters in his very first game, tying a Major League record first set by Karl Spooner.[2]
Season standings
| NL West | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco Giants | 90 | 72 | 0.556 | — | 51–30 | 39–42 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers | 89 | 73 | 0.549 | 1 | 42–39 | 47–34 |
| Atlanta Braves | 82 | 80 | 0.506 | 8 | 43–39 | 39–41 |
| Cincinnati Reds | 79 | 83 | 0.488 | 11 | 46–35 | 33–48 |
| Houston Astros | 79 | 83 | 0.488 | 11 | 39–42 | 40–41 |
| San Diego Padres | 61 | 100 | 0.379 | 28½ | 33–48 | 28–52 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | ATL | CHC | CIN | HOU | LAD | MON | NYM | PHI | PIT | SD | SF | STL | |||||
| Atlanta | — | 5–7 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 6–6 | |||||
| Chicago | 7–5 | — | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 11–7 | 6–12 | 9–3 | 3–9 | 9–9 | |||||
| Cincinnati | 9–9 | 6–6 | — | 5–13 | 7–11 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–7 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 8–4 | |||||
| Houston | 9–9 | 7–5 | 13–5 | — | 8–10 | 4–8 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | 10–8 | 9–9 | 2–10 | |||||
| Los Angeles | 9–9 | 4–8 | 11–7 | 10–8 | — | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 13–5 | 12–6 | 6–6 | |||||
| Montreal | 5–7 | 10–8 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | — | 9–9 | 6–12 | 7–11 | 6–5 | 7–5 | 4–14 | |||||
| New York | 5–7 | 7–11 | 4–8 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 9–9 | — | 13–5 | 10–8 | 7–5 | 4–8 | 10–8 | |||||
| Philadelphia | 4-8 | 7–11 | 2–10 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 6–10 | 5–13 | — | 6–12 | 4–8 | 6–6 | 7–11 | |||||
| Pittsburgh | 8–4 | 12–6 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 8–4 | 11–7 | 8–10 | 12–6 | — | 9–3 | 3–9 | 11–7 | |||||
| San Diego | 7–11 | 3–9 | 8–10 | 8–10 | 5–13 | 5–6 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 3–9 | — | 5–13 | 4–8 | |||||
| San Francisco | 11–7 | 9–3 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 6–12 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 13–5 | — | 5–7 | |||||
| St. Louis | 6–6 | 9–9 | 4–8 | 10–2 | 6–6 | 14–4 | 8–10 | 11–7 | 7–11 | 8–4 | 7–5 | — | |||||
Notable transactions
- May 29, 1971: George Foster was traded by the Giants to the Cincinnati Reds for Frank Duffy and Vern Geishert.[3]
- June 1, 1971: Bob Heise was traded by the Giants to the Milwaukee Brewers for Floyd Wicker.[4]
- June 8, 1971: 1971 Major League Baseball draft
- Frank Riccelli was drafted by the Giants in the 1st round (18th pick).[5]
- Willie Prall was drafted by the Giants in the 3rd round.[6]