How They Got Here: The San Francisco Giants is a
one-by-one look at how each member of the 2012 World Series Champion San
Francisco Giants found their way to the squad. We'll look at all of the
players on the roster, as well as notable players who did not make the
postseason roster for whatever reason and the coaching staff and general
manager. Part twelve tells us of the young relief pitcher George Kontos.
George Kontos was born on June 12, 1985, in Lincolnwood, Illinois. He went to high school at Niles West High School in Skokie, Illinois. He was named High School Baseball Player of the year in Illinois for the 2003 school year. A tri-sport athlete, he also lettered in golf and basketball. He attended college at Northwestern University, and despite his unattractive collegiate statistics, he was a fifth round draft pick of the New York Yankees in 2006. He began with the Class A Short Season Staten Island Yankees in Staten Island, New York, of the New York-Pennsylvania League, working fourteen starts with a 2.64 earned run average and eighty-two strikeouts over seventy-eight and one-third innings pitched. In 2007, Kontos was assigned to the Tampa Yankees in the Class A Advanced Florida State League. He appeared in nineteen games, seventeen of which he started, with his end-of-season numbers reading 4.02 for earned run average, 101 strikeouts, and ninety-four innings. He made another step up in the 2008 season, pitching in the Class AA Eastern League with the Trenton Thunder of Trenton, New Jersey. Here, he posted 3.68 earned run average with 152 strikeouts in 151 and 2/3 innings over twenty-seven starts. Kontos was only able to make thirteen appearances in 2009, and his season ended in June after tests revealed damage requiring Tommy John ligament surgery to repair his elbow. Between Trenton and the Class AAA International League with the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees in Scranton, Pennsylvania, he produced a 3.15 earned run average over thirteen starts, with sixty-three strikeouts over seventy-one and one-third innings. He returned in 2010, pitching with Tampa first, before stepping up to Trenton again, and then ending the year in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. He made twenty-four appearances, primarily working out of the bullpen to assist his injury rehabilitation, posting a 3.60 earned run average, thirty-eight strikeouts, and forty-five innings of work. On December 9, 2010, the San Diego Padres drafted Kontos from the Yankees in the Rule 5 Draft, but after a lackluster spring training showing, he was returned to the Yankees organization. Kontos spent most of the 2011 season pitching in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, making forty appearances (four starts), and the statistics read a 2.62 earned run average, ninety-one strikeouts, and eighty-nine and one-third innings pitched. The results were good enough that the major league Yankees decided to call Kontos up for September, where he made seven appearances over six innings. He had an earned run average of 3.00 and struck out six batters. Early in the 2012 season, the Yankees flipped Kontos to the San Francisco Giants to address their need of another catcher, and in that the deal New York received Chris Stewart to fill their void. Kontos was assigned to the Fresno Grizzlies of the Class AAA Pacific Coast League, and appeared in twenty-three games, in which he had a 1.71 earned run average, twenty-six strikeouts, and thirty-one and two-thirds innings to his credit before the Giants added him to their major league bullpen. In the big leagues, Kontos played from June 10th onward, making forty-four appearances with a strong 2.47 earned run average, forty-four strikeouts, and forty-three and two-thirds innings. He stayed with the team during their postseason run, pitching in mostly batter-determined situations, although his effectiveness was questionable. In his eight games, he had a 6.75 earned run average, but his performance was not detrimental, as he won his first World Series Championship when the Giants swept away the Detroit Tigers.
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