photo courtesy of Mothers Cookies: Former San Francisco Giants catcher circa 1986 Brad Gulden was called the original Humm Baby by then manager Roger Craig

By Tony The Tiger Hayes

SAN FRANCISCO–He was a Giant?

Gulden was more than your prototypical, chunky legged back-up catcher – he was also the original Giants’ “Humm-baby.”

The well traveled receiver would appear in just 17 games for the plucky 1986 club, but the hard-nosed style of play Gulden displayed in training camp helped spark a rebirth of the club’s winning clubhouse culture.

After one particularly gritty Cactus League game performance, new Giants manager Roger Craig gushed over the third stringer, calling him a legitimate “Humm-baby.”

Whatever that was.

We soon came to know that “Humm-baby” was practically the highest honor the San Fran skipper could bestow on a Giant.

A derivation of “come-on-baby” , the term “Humm-baby” would come to capsulate the blue collar Giants club over the course of Craig’s seven year Giants managerial term to praise a hustling player, an old school winning play or uncompromising effort.

The slogan was additionally used in Giants marketing campaigns, was emblazoned on bumper stickers and came to define one of the most exciting periods of west coast Orange & Black baseball.

Why was he a Giant?

Based purely on his physical tools Gulden was a major leaguer by the skin of his teeth, but it was his gamer attitude that helped land the backstop a spot on the Giants ’86 opening day roster as a third string catcher behind Bob Brenly and Bob Melvin. Initially he remain with the club into May before going to Triple-A Phoenix before returning to the majors in September.

Before & After

Gulden originally arrived in the majors with the Dodgers but didn’t stay long, moving on to the Yankees, Expos, Mariners and Reds, before signing with the Giants in ’86. In 1979, Gulden auditioned to replace the late Thurman Munson in New York, but hit just .163 in a career high 40 contests. The Giants were is final big league stop.

He wasn’t Terry Kennedy. But…

Gulden batted just .091, (2-for-22) with San Francisco, but still found a way to crack on the Dodgers (5/11/86), driving home the winning run with RBI single off Tom Niedenfuer in the 11th inning of a 9-8 win at Los Angeles.

Giants Footprint

Coincidently, in Gulden’s final big league game, it took a classic “Humm-baby” team-wide Giants performance to topple the Dodgers 6-5 in 16-innings, nearly six hour game (9/28/86). Candy Maldonado tied the game in the ninth with a pinch home run, then Bob Brenly plated the winning run with a single in the 16th. The Giants used 25 players, including a couple pitchers who were forced into outfield duty. Gulden struck out in a pinch hitting at bat.