Encyclopedia
The
San Francisco Giants are a
Major League Baseball team based in
San Francisco, California. They play in the West Division of the
National League.
New York Giants history
Early days and the John McGraw era
One of the most storied clubs in American professional sports, the Giants began life as a second baseball club founded by John B. Day and Jim Mutrie. The Gothams were their entry to the
National League in 1883, while their other club, the Metropolitans played in the American Association. Nearly half of the original Gotham players were members of the recently disbanded Troy Trojans, whose place in the National League the Gothams inherited. While the Metropolitans were initially the more successful club, Day and Mutrie began moving star players to the Gothams and the team won its first National League pennant in 1888, as well as a victory or over the
St. Louis Browns in an early incarnation of the
World Series, and repeated the next year with a pennant and World Series victory over the
Brooklyn Bridegrooms.
It is said that after one particularly satisfying victory, Mutrie stormed into the dressing room and exclaimed, "My big fellows! My giants!" From then on, the club was known as the Giants.
The Giants' original home stadium, the
Polo Grounds, also dates from this early era. The first location of the Polo Grounds was located north of
Central Park adjacent to Fifth and Sixth Avenues and 110th and 112th Streets in the
New York City neighborhood of
Harlem. Upon eviction from the Polo Grounds after the 1888 season, the Giants moved uptown and renamed various fields the Polo Grounds which were located between 155th and 159th Streets in the
New York City neighborhoods of
Harlem and
Washington Heights. The Giants played at the Polo Grounds until the end of the 1957 season.
Though considered "the worst owner in the world" during his time, Andrew Freedman changed the Giants' fortunes. In 1902, after a series of disastrous moves that left the Giants 53½ games behind, Freedman signed John McGraw as a player-manager. McGraw would go on and manage the Giants for three decades, one of the longest tenures in professional sports. Under McGraw, the Giants would win ten National League pennants and three
World Series championships.
The Giants already had their share of stars during its brief history at this point, such as Smiling Mickey Welch,
Roger Connor,
Tim Keefe, Jim O'Rourke and
Monte Ward, the player-lawyer who formed the renegade Players League in 1890 to protest unfair player contracts. McGraw would also cultivate his own crop of baseball heroes during his time with the Giants. Names such as
Christy Mathewson,
Iron Man Joe McGinnity,
Bill Terry,
Jim Thorpe,
Mel Ott,
Casey Stengel, and
Red Ames are just a sample of the many players who honed their skills under McGraw.
The Giants under McGraw famously snubbed their first ever modern World Series chance in 1904--an encounter with the
Boston Americans --because McGraw considered the new
American League as little more than a
minor league. His original reluctance was concern that the intra-city rival
New York Highlanders looked like they would win the AL pennant. The Highlanders lost to Boston on the last day, but the Giants stuck by their refusal. McGraw had also managed the Highlanders in their first two seasons, when they were known as the Baltimore Orioles.
The ensuing criticism resulted in Giants' owner John T. Brush leading an effort to formalize the rules and format of the
World Series. The Giants were back in 1905, winning the Series over the
Philadelphia Athletics, with
Christy Mathewson nearly winning the Series single-handedly. It would be the last time that the Giants would best the A's in a post-season series.
The Giants then had several frustrating years. In 1908 they finished in a tie with the
Chicago Cubs and had a one-game playoff at the Polo Grounds which they lost to the Cubs, who would go on to win their second, and so far
last World Series. That post-season game was further darkened by a story that someone on the Giants had attempted to bribe umpire
Bill Klem. This could have been a disastrous scandal for baseball, but because Klem was honest and the Giants lost, it faded over time.
The Giants experienced some hard luck in the early 1910s, losing three straight World Series to the A's, the Red Sox, then the A's again. After losing the 1917 Series to the
Chicago White Sox , the Giants got it together and played in four straight
World Series in the early 1920s, winning the first two over their tenants, the Yankees, then losing to the Yankees in 1923 when
Yankee Stadium opened. They also lost in 1924, when the
Washington Senators won their
only World Series in their history .
1930-1957: Five pennants in 28 seasons
McGraw handed over the team to Bill Terry in 1932, and Terry played for and managed the Giants for ten years, winning three pennants and one World Series. Aside from Terry himself, the other stars of the era were Ott and Carl Hubbell, one of the very few pitchers in baseball history to master the screwball . Known as "King Carl" and "The Meal Ticket", Hubbell gained fame during the 1934
All-Star Game, when he struck out five Hall of Famers in a row:
Babe Ruth,
Lou Gehrig,
Jimmie Foxx,
Al Simmons, and
Joe Cronin.
Mel Ott succeeded Terry as manager in 1942, but the war years proved to be difficult for the Giants. In 1948, Leo Durocher became manager of the Giants, with some controversy--Durocher had been manager of the Giants' rivals, the
Brooklyn Dodgers, but he had been accused of gambling in 1947 and had been suspended and the Dodgers let him go the following year. Durocher remained at the helm until 1955, and those eight years proved to be some of the most memorable for Giants fans, particularly because of the arrival of Willie Mays and two famous games.
The "Shot Heard 'Round The World"
One of the more famous episodes in major league baseball history, the "Shot Heard 'Round The World" is the name given to
Bobby Thomson's
walk-off home run that clinched the National League pennant for the Giants over their rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers. This game was the third of a three-game playoff series resulting from one of baseball's most memorable pennant races. The Giants had been thirteen and a half games behind the league-leading Dodgers in August, but under Durocher's guidance and with the aid of a sixteen-game winning streak, caught the Dodgers to tie for the lead on the last day of the season. The Giants won the pennant.
Mays' catch
In game one of the
1954 World Series at the Polo Grounds, Willie Mays made "
The Catch" -- a dramatic over-the-shoulder catch off a line drive by Vic Wertz to deep center field which could otherwise have given the
Cleveland Indians victory. The underdog Giants went on to win the World Series that year in four straight.
The Move to California
The Giants' final three years in New York City were unmemorable. They stumbled to third place the year after their World Series win and attendance fell off precipitously. While seeking a new stadium to replace the crumbling Polo Grounds, the Giants began to contemplate a move from New York, initially considering Minneapolis/St. Paul. At this time the Giants were approached by San Francisco. Despite objections from shareholders such as Joan Whitney Payson, majority owner Horace Stoneham entered into negotiations with
San Francisco mayor George Christopher around the same time that Dodgers' owner
Walter O'Malley was courting the city of Los Angeles. O'Malley, who needed a second team on the West Coast in order to make his move work, pushed Stoneham toward relocation. In the summer of 1957, both the New York Giants and the
Brooklyn Dodgers announced their moves to
San Francisco and Los Angeles,
California, and the golden era of baseball in
New York City ended.
New York would remain a one-team town with the
New York Yankees until 1962 when Joan Whitney Payson founded the
New York Mets and brought National League baseball back to the city. The "NY" script on the Giants' caps, along with the orange trim on their uniforms, and the blue background used by the Dodgers, would be adopted by the Mets. The Mets still use this color scheme today, with the addition of black in 1995 -- the Giants' orange and black combined with Dodger blue.
San Francisco Giants history
In sharp contrast to the New York years, the Giants' fortunes in San Francisco have been mixed. Though recently the club has enjoyed relatively sustained success, there have also been prolonged stretches of mediocrity, along with two instances when the club's ownership threatened to move it out of San Francisco. Most disappointingly for the large fan base that they have maintained ever since their arrival in the city, the Giants have as yet failed to win a World Series title for San Francisco.
1958-62: Seals Stadium and Candlestick Park
When the Giants moved to San Francisco, they played in
Seals Stadium for their first two seasons. In 1958, Latino hitter
Orlando Cepeda won Rookie of the Year honors. The next season,
Willie McCovey won the same award.
In 1960 the Giants moved to
Candlestick Park , a stadium built on a point in San Francisco's southeast corner overlooking
San Francisco Bay. The new stadium quickly gained a reputation for being one of the most inhospitable in baseball, with swirling winds, cold temperatures and impenetrable evening fogs making for a torturous experience; the radiant heating system installed never worked. Candlestick Park's reputation was sealed in the 9th inning of the 1961
All-Star Game, when after a day of perfect conditions, the winds rose. A strong gust caused Giants relief pitcher
Stu Miller to slip off the
pitching rubber during his delivery, resulting in a balk .
The 1962 World Series
In 1962, after another memorable pennant chase with the Dodgers which resulted in a playoff series, the Giants brought a World Series to San Francisco. Losing the series 4 games to 3 to the
New York Yankees, the seventh game went to the bottom of the ninth with the Yankees ahead 1-0. With
Matty Alou on first base and two outs, Willie Mays sliced a double down the right field line. Right fielder
Roger Maris, whose 61 home run season in 1961 has historically overshadowed his great defensive work, quickly got to the ball and rifled a throw to the infield, preventing Alou from scoring the tying run.
With the speedy Mays on second, any base hit by the next batter,
Willie McCovey, would likely have won the series for the Giants. McCovey hit a screaming line drive that was snared by second baseman Bobby Richardson, bringing the Series to a sudden end. Earlier in the inning, a failed sacrifice bunt by Felipe Alou had ultimately resulted in Matty not scoring on Mays' double, which started a lifelong dedication to fundamentals on Felipe's part. In addition, to rub salt in the wound, Richardson was not originally positioned to catch the drive, he only moved there in reaction to a foul smash by McCovey on the previous pitch.
Giants fan
Charles Schulz made a rare reference to the real world in one of his
Peanuts was a syndicated [i] daily comic strip [i] written and drawn by American [i] ...
strips soon afterward. In the first two panels, Charlie Brown and Linus are sitting on a porch step, looking glum. In the last panel, Charlie cries to the heavens,
"Why couldn't McCovey have hit the ball just three feet higher?" Some weeks later, same scene. This time, Charlie cries,
"Or why couldn't McCovey have hit the ball just two
feet higher?"1963-80: Always a Bridesmaid
1960s
Although the Giants didn't make another World Series until 1989, The Giants of the 1960s continued to be pennant contenders thanks to several future hall-of-famers, including
Gaylord Perry, who pitched a no-hitter with the Giants in 1968;
Juan Marichal, a pitcher with a memorable high-kicking delivery; McCovey, who won the National League MVP award in 1969, and Mays, who hit his 600th career home run in 1969.
1970s
The Giants' next appearance in the postseason was 1971. After winning their division, they were easily defeated in the League Championship Series by the Pittsburgh Pirates and
Roberto Clemente, who then went on to beat the
Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. During this decade, the Giants gave up many players who became successful elsewhere. Some of them included
Garry Maddox, George Foster,
Dave Kingman, and
Gaylord Perry. However, the Giants produced two more Rookies of the Year winners .
In 1976, Bob Lurie bought the team, saving it from being moved to Toronto. A year later, Toronto was awarded an expansion team , but San Francisco baseball fans' worries about losing their beloved Giants had not completely gone away just yet. The rest of the 1970s was a generally disappointing decade for the Giants, finishing no higher than third place in any season. That third place season was 1978. They had young star Jack Clark and veteran pitcher
Vida Blue. They were atop the West for most of the season, but the Dodgers heated up to eventually win the West and the NL Pennant.
1981-92: Nadir and Resurrection
In 1981, the Giants became the first National League team to hire a black manager,
Frank Robinson. However, Robinson's tenure lasted less than four years and was generally unsuccessful. In that tenure, the Giants finished a game over .500 in the strike-shortened 1981 season. The next season, the Giants acquired veterans
Joe Morgan and Reggie Smith. They were in the midst of a three-team pennant race with the Dodgers and Braves. Morgan would hit a homer against the Dodgers to make sure Atlanta won the NL West.
In 1984, the Giants hosted the All-Star Game at
Candlestick Park. 1984 was also the sole year that their infamous ex-mascot, the "graced" the field.
In 1985, a year which saw the Giants lose 100 games , owner Bob Lurie responded by hiring
Al Rosen as general manager. Under Rosen's tenure, the Giants promoted promising rookies such as Will Clark and Robby Thompson, and made canny trades to acquire such players as Kevin Mitchell, Dave Dravecky, Candy Maldonado, and
Rick Reuschel.
New manager Roger Craig served as the Giants' new manager from 1985 to 1992. In Craig's first five full seasons with the Giants, the team never finished with a losing record.
1986-1988
Under Roger Craig's leadership the Giants won 83 games in 1986 and won the National League Western Division title in 1987. The team lost the 1987 National League Championship Series to the
St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. The bright spot in that defeat was Giants outfielder Jeffrey Leonard, who was named the series MVP in a losing effort.
1989
Although the team used 15 different starting pitchers, the 1989 Giants won the National League pennant. They were led by pitchers Rick Reuschel and Scott Garrelts and sluggers Kevin Mitchell and Will Clark.
The Giants beat the
Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series, four games to one.
In Game 5, eventual 1989 NLCS MVP Will Clark came through in the clutch with a bases-loaded single off of the hard-throwing
Mitch Williams to break a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the 8th inning Clark took the first fastball for a strike, then fouled one away. Williams' next pitch missed the outside corner to bring the count to 1-and-2. After Clark fouled off two more pitches, he hit a screaming line drive up the middle to bring in two runs.
In the top of the 9th inning, Steve Bedrosian was shaky as he gave up a run. But ultimately, Bedrosian was able to get
Ryne Sandberg to ground-out for out #3. Fittingly, the hero of Game 5, Will Clark caught the final out from second baseman Robby Thompson. For the first time in 27 years, the San Francisco Giants were the champions of the National League.
After taking care of the Cubs, the Giants faced the
Oakland Athletics in the "
Bay Bridge Series". The series is perhaps best remembered because the
Loma Prieta earthquake on October 17, 1989 disrupted the planned Game 3 of the series at Candlestick Park. After a ten-day delay in the series, Oakland finished up its sweep of San Francisco.
1992-99: A new franchise player
1992
Following the '89 World Series defeat, a local ballot initiative to fund a new stadium in San Francisco failed, threatening the franchise's future in the city. After the 1992 season, owner Bob Lurie, who had previously saved the franchise from moving to
Toronto in 1976, put the team up for sale. A group of investors from
St. Petersburg led by Vince Naimoli reached an agreement to purchase the team and move them across the country. However,
Major League Baseball blocked the move, paving the way for the team to stay in San Francisco with an ownership group lead by Peter Magowan, the former CEO of Safeway.
In addition to the anticipated move to downtown San Francisco, the Giants' ownership also made a major personnel move to solidify fan support. Before even hiring a new General Manager or officially being approved as the new owners, Magowan signed superstar free agent
Barry Bonds , a move that shaped the franchise's fortunes for more than a decade.
1993
The Barry Bonds era started auspiciously as Bonds put up the numbers for the third MVP of his career: 46 homers, 129 runs, 123 RBI, .336/.458/.677/1.135, all career highs. This led the Giants to a great 103-59 record in Dusty Baker's first year as manager, which earned Baker the Manager of the Year award. But despite the Giants' great record, the Atlanta Braves -- fueled by their midseason acquisition of Fred McGriff from the
San Diego Padres -- came back from a 10 game deficit to the Giants to win the NL West by a single game. Desperately needing a win against the Dodgers in the final game of the year to force a one-game playoff with the Braves, the controversial choice of Giants rookie pitcher Salomon Torres proved disastrous as he gave up 3 runs in the first 4 innings and the Giants went on to lose the game 12-1. After
MLB's establishment of the three-division-Wild Card playoff format following the 1993 season,
New York Times sports columnist Dave Anderson captured the feeling of many baseball purists regarding the thrilling winner-take-all outcome as the 'last pure pennant race'.
1994-1996
The period of 1994 to 1996 were not good years for the Giants, punctuated by the strike that cancelled the
World Series in 1994. The strike cost Matt Williams a chance to beat
Roger Maris' single season home run record - he was on pace for over 60 homers when the strike hit with 47 games left to play. The Giants then came in last place in both 1995 and 1996, as key injuries and slumps hurt them. The only bright spot was Barry Bonds, highlighted by his joining the 40-40 club with 42 homers and 40 stolen bases in the 1996 season. Rookie Bill Mueller also provided hope for the future of the club with a .330 average in 66 games.
1997
These bad times led the Giants to name Brian Sabean as their new general manager in 1997, replacing Bob Quinn. . His tenure began with great controversy. In his first official trade as GM, he shocked Giants fans by trading Matt Williams to Cleveland for what newspapers referred to as a 'bunch of spare parts', with the negative reaction being great enough for him to have to publicly explain:
"I didn't get to this point by being an idiot... I'm sitting here telling you there is a plan."Sabean was proven right, as the players he acquired in the Williams trade - Jeff Kent, Jose Vizcaino, Julian Tavarez, and Joe Roa plus the
$1 million in cash that enabled them to sign Darryl Hamilton) - and a subsequent trade for
J.T. Snow were major contributors in leading the Giants to win their first NL West division title of the decade in 1997. The Florida Marlins ended the Giants' season with a 3-0 sweep in the first round of playoffs, as the Marlins marched on their way to their first
World Series championship.
2000s: Downtown baseball
In 2000, after 40 years at
Candlestick Park, the Giants bid a bittersweet farewell to their old home and relocated to a new, privately financed downtown stadium, a long-advocated move.
Pacific Bell Park, later renamed
SBC Park and then in February 2006
AT&T Park, sits on the shores of China Basin at the corner of 3rd and King Streets . Regardless of anything that might happen on the field of play, this move represented an entirely new era for the Giants and their fans. Whereas the team used to occupy what was widely regarded as the least baseball-friendly stadium in all of
Major League Baseball, a throwback to the era of suburban, multi-purpose, concrete "cookie-cutter" stadiums that so many teams moved to during the 1960s and 70s, their new home is regarded as one of the better venues in all of professional sports.
The Giants routinely sell out this nearly 43,000-seat, baseball-only stadium, whereas it was not uncommon for them to have a paid attendance of less than 10,000 in Candlestick's nearly 60,000 seating capacity. The franchise since the move annually vies for highest MLB season attendance, in contrast to being often threatened with having the league-low figure before. While still breezy in the summer time in comparison to other MLB parks, AT&T Park has been a consensus success and has developed the reputation as a "pitcher's park". Its state-of-the-art design minimizes wind-chill, it is well served by mass transit, and it has spectacular views of the bay and the city skyline .
AT&T Park is the centerpiece of a renaissance in San Francisco's South Beach and
Mission Bay neighborhoods. But most important to Giants fans, the new ballpark means they no longer have to worry about their team moving away from San Francisco, at least not any time soon.
2000-2001
The inaugural season at the new ballpark resulted in a surprising division title, with the Giants having the best record in the Major Leagues. The Giants lost the 2000 division series to the
New York Mets, three games to one despite winning the first game in the series behind a well pitched game by Liván Hernández, and having home field advantage. In 2001 the Giants were eliminated from playoff contention on the second to last day of the season, but Barry Bonds gave fans something to cheer about as he hit 73 home runs, setting a new single-season record.
2002
In 2002 the focus returned to the team, with the Giants winning the National League wild card. In the playoffs, they defeated the
Atlanta Braves in the NLDS three games to two, and then the
St. Louis Cardinals four games one . Led by Barry Bonds record 198 walks and .582 OBP , the team faced the winners of the American League wild card, the
Anaheim Angels, in the
2002 World Series. The series' climax was during Game 6, with the Giants leading 5-0 in the seventh inning, just eight outs away from their first championship since moving to San Francisco. The Angels came back to win that game, then won Game 7 to claim their first MLB championship and break the hearts of Giants fans.
2003-2005
Rebounding from the World Series loss in 2002, the Giants recorded 100 victories for the seventh time in franchise history and the third time in San Francisco. The team spent every day of the season in first place, just the ninth team to do so in baseball history. Just like in 1997, the Giants lost to the eventual World Champions, the Florida Marlins, in the Division Series, three games to one.
In 2004, the Giants again avoided elimination from playoff contention until the last day of the season. The team finished one game out in the Wild Card race and two behind the division-winning
Los Angeles Dodgers. The season ended with drama, as the Dodgers came from behind in the ninth inning to defeat the Giants in a late season game, winning on a
Steve Finley grand slam. Bonds also broke his own records with 232 walks and a .609 OBP.
The Giants' 2005 season was the team's least successful since moving to its new stadium. Bonds missed most of the season, closer Armando Benitez was injured for four months, and ace Jason Schmidt struggled after numerous injuries. However, team management has taken advantage of the off year to give playing time to numerous young players, including pitchers Noah Lowry, Brad Hennessey, Kevin Correia, Scott Munter, Matt Cain, and Jeremy Accardo, as well as first baseman Lance Niekro and outfielders Jason Ellison and Todd Linden. The acquisition of Randy Winn from the
Seattle Mariners also proved invaluable in the stretch run.
On May 25, 2005, the Giants held a celebration in honor of
Baseball Hall of Famer
Juan Marichal. A statue of Marichal was dedicated on the plaza outside of the ballpark.
Leonel Fernández, the President of the Dominican Republic, was in attendance. In the two games which followed the ceremonies, the Giants wore uniforms with the word "Gigantes" on the front On July 14, 2005, the franchise won their 10,000th contest defeating their long-time rivals, the
Los Angeles Dodgers, 4-3, becoming the first professional sports franchise to have five digits in its winning total.
On September 28, 2005, the Giants were officially eliminated from the NL West race after losing to the 2005 champion
San Diego Padres. The team finished the season in third place, with a record of 75-87, their worst season - and first losing record - since 1996. Despite the disappointing finish, manager Felipe Alou was offered a one-year extension of his contract by Giants management.
The Giants were expected to contend in 2006, and were picked in many pre-season prognostications to win the NL West, bolstered by a strong starting staff. Despite a losing streak in May, and the worst batting performance by
Barry Bonds in his career the Giants did contend in the less-than-stellar Western Division and by July 23 were in first place. On that day, however, during the last game of a home stand and leading San Diego going into the 9th inning, closer Armando Benitez blew a save by giving up a home run and the Giants lost in extra innings. That was the first loss of a horrendous three-week stretch that saw San Francisco go 3-16, losing nine games by one run.
At the end of August the Giants recovered to again contend for both the division crown and the Wild Card berth. Bonds returned to form after his legs healed , the starting staff pitched well enough to lead the National League in ERA among starters, and the team found an effective closer in Mike Stanton, acquired in a trade at the end of July. However on the final road trip of the season the Giants lost eight of nine games to fall out of all contention for post-season play, despite an offensive explosion by both Bonds and right-fielder
Moises Alou. The starting staff collapsed, bombed in all nine games, and Giants pitching gave up 93 runs on the trip , and the Giants were "officially eliminated" on September 25.
Rivalries
Giants-Dodgers
The historic rivalry between the Giants and the
Los Angeles Dodgers began when both clubs played in
New York City . Both franchises date back to the
19th century, and both moved to
California in 1958, where the rivalry found a befitting new home, the cities of Los Angeles and
San Francisco having long been rivals in economic, cultural, and political arenas. Along with the feud between the
Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees, it is one of the oldest and most storied in
baseball. The Giants have won the World Series 5 times in their history , while the Dodgers have won the World Series 6 times .
Giants-Athletics
Originating in New York and Philadelphia and in different leagues, the Giants and
Oakland Athletics did not strike up a true rivalry until the Athletics moved to Oakland in 1968. The two teams' geographic rivalry was limited to fan discussions and exhibition games until the
1989 World Series, an earthquake-interrupted series won by Oakland, four games to none. With the advent of
interleague play, the Giants and A's now play two regular-season series per year against one another, adding a recurring on-field confrontation to the long-standing off-field rivalry.
Season-by-Season Records
Retired numbers
...
, P, 1900-16
- Lon Simmons Broadcaster, 1958-1973, 1976-1978, 1996-2002, 2006
- Russ Hodges Broadcaster, 1949-1970
- 3 Bill Terry, 1B, 1923-36; Manager, 1932-41
- 4 Mel Ott, OF, 1926-47; Manager, 1942-48
- 11 Carl Hubbell, P, 1928-43
- 24 Willie Mays, OF, 1951-72
- 27 Juan Marichal, P, 1960-73
- 30 Orlando Cepeda, 1B, 1958-66
- 36 Gaylord Perry, P, 1962-71
- 44 Willie McCovey, 1B-OF, 1959-73 & 1977-80
Current roster
Minor league affiliations
References
- Hynd, Noel . The Giants of the Polo Grounds: the glorious times of baseball's New York Giants. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-23790-1.
See also
- Giants statistical records and milestone achievements
- Giants broadcasters and media
- Giants managers and ownership
- New York Giants
External links
