Roger Connor played three years with the Troy Trojans, establishing himself as a star on the rise before he signed with the New York Gothams in 1883.  As the team changed its name to the Giants, Connor elevated himself as one of the best players in the game.

Connor batted over .300 in his first four years in New York and would have likely been named the league MVP in 1885.  That year, Connor led the NL in Hits (169), Batting Average (.371), and OBP (.435).  As the decade was coming to its end, the Giants were becoming one of the top teams in the NL.  

Many people forget that there was a variation of the World Series in the 1880s, and Conner took the Giants to two of them, winning both (1888 & 1889).  He jumped to New York of the Players League in 1890, but when the league folded, he was returned to the Giants.  He left again for the first version of the Philadelphia Athletics in 1892 before he was traded back in 1893.  The Giants dealt him to the Browns during the 1894 Season, which would be it for Connor as a Giant, who had 1,388 Hits with a .319 Batting Average.

Connor was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1976 via the Veteran’s Committee.

Bill Terry played his entire career with the New York Giants and was the last National League player to bat over .400, a feat he accomplished in 1930.  That being said, Terry was far more than that.

Debuting for New York in 1923, Terry was the Giants’ starting First Baseman for years, with his breakout coming in 1925.  Collecting over 200 Hits in six different seasons, Terry batted .341 over his career while also amassing 154 Home Runs and 1,078 RBIs.  Terry never won an MVP (though he finished in the top ten six times), but he did lead the Giants to a World Series Title in 1933.

Terry entered the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1954, and many years later, in 1980, he saw his number 3 retired by the team.

The Giants already had a popular power hitter in Willie Mays, but no rule in baseball says you can't have two.

Willie McCovey joined the Giants organization as an Amateur Free Agent in 1955, and four years later, he was their Rookie of the Year.  With all due respect to McCovey, the Giants didn't know what they had early in his Major League career.  McCovey was a unique Rookie of the Year winner, as he did not even get called up until July 30, and he won the award against slim pickings with only 219 Plate Appearances, but he had an OPS of 1.085 that year.  Pitcher figured out McCovey in 1960, and his Batting Average dropped below .240, and he was sent to the Minors.  

Over the first few years of the 1960s, McCovey showed power but not consistency, and it looked like he was meant to be an average MLB player, but he broke out in 1963, winning the Home Run Title (44), and going to his first All-Star Game.  After a drop-off in 1064 (18 HR, .220 BA), McCovey roared back, with six consecutive 30-plus Home Run Seasons, leading the NL in 1968 (36) and 1969 (45).  In both seasons, McCovey topped the Senior Circuit in RBIs, Slugging Percentage, and OPS, and he won the coveted MVP in 1969.  He would have his third straight Slugging and OPS Titles in 1970.

McCovey remained a potent slugger into the 1970s, but the struggling Giants traded him to San Diego after the 1973 Season, but returned as a Free Agent as a popular veteran in 1977, concluding his career with San Francisco for four seasons before retiring in 1980.

The slugger blasted 521 Home Runs, 469 with the Giants, while also collecting 1,974 Hits and 1,388 RBI for the team.  The Baseball Hall of Fame inducted McCovey in his first year on the ballot in 1986.  The Giants also retired his number 44 in 1980, and he was chosen for the inaugural class of the Giants Wall of Fame in 2008.

Amos Rusie debuted at the Major League level with the Indianapolis Hoosiers in 1889, and you could say he was the original "Wild Thing."  Rusie was prone to wildness, and although there were no radar guns back then, it was generally believed that he was among one of the fastest throwing Pitchers in the sport.

The Hoosiers folded after Rusie’s rookie year, and most of the team, including Rusie, was given to the New York Giants to bolster the flagship of the National League.  Rusie walked many batters, giving more free passes each year from 1890 to 1894, but he countered that by fanning more batters than anyone else in the same period.  Rusie led the NL in Strikeouts five times, and he did not allow many hits either, as he was also a four-time leader in H/9.

Rusie’s wildness was one reason baseball moved the mound ten feet back to 60, the current length.  It didn't stop Rusie from beaning Hughie Jennings in 1897 in the head so hard that the latter was comatose for days, but you were never not entertained by a Rusie start.

Rusie made Giants history, becoming the first player for their team to throw a no-hitter (1891) and the first to win the Pitcher's Triple Crown in 1894 (36 W, 2.78 ERA, 208 SO).  After his 1894 juggernaut of a year, Rusie had an average campaign but was still the team's top star.  Rusie thumbed his nose at Andrew Freedman, the Giants owner, which was that century's version of extending the middle finger.  Freedman fined him $200, a number that was nearly a tenth of his salary, and he sat out the entire 1896 Season in protest.  Fearing a lawsuit, the other owners intervened, paying off Rusie, and the flamethrower returned to win his second ERA Title.  

Rusie’s arm trouble and off-field problems kept him out of the 1899 and 1900 Seasons, but the Giants were able to trade him to Cincinnati straight up for a young Christy Mathewson, which would be the first great heist of the century.  Rusie played in only three Games for the Reds before retiring, while Mathewson became one of the greatest hurlers ever.  Despite that lopsided transaction, Rusie was outstanding in his day, winning 234 Games against 163 Losses with 1,835 Strikeouts and a 2.89 ERA.

Rusie was also a competent batter and fielder, batting .253 with 410 Hits with the Giants, which doesn’t hurt this rank.  

He entered the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977 via the Veterans Committee.