The
San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team based
in San
Francisco
, California
, who currently play in the National League West Division.
One of the oldest
baseball teams, the
Giants have won the most games of any team in the history of
baseball.
The Giants played in New York City
through the 1957 season, after which they moved
west to California to become the San Francisco Giants.
New York Giants history
Early days and the John McGraw era
The Giants began life as the second baseball club founded by
millionaire tobacconist
John B. Day and veteran amateur baseball player
Jim Mutrie. The Gothams (as the Giants were
originally known) were their entry to the
National League in 1883, while their other
club, the
Metropolitans (the
original
Mets) played in the
American Association.
Nearly half of the original Gotham players were members of the
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 over
the
St. Louis Browns
in an early incarnation of the
World
Series. They repeated as champions the next year with a pennant
and World Series victory over the
Brooklyn Bridegrooms.
It is said that after one particularly satisfying victory over the
Philadelphia Phillies, Mutrie
(who was also the team's manager) 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
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, when they moved to San Francisco.

1908–16, 1919–22, 1928–29

1923–27, 1930–31
.png/150px-New_York_Giants_Cap_(1948_-_1957).png)
1948–57
The Giants remained a powerhouse during the last half of the 1880s,
culminating in their first league pennant in and another in .
However, in , nearly all of the Giants' stars jumped to the upstart
Players' League, whose New York
franchise was also named
the
Giants. The new team even built its park next door to the
National League Giants' Polo Grounds. With a decimated roster, the
Giants finished a distant sixth. Attendance took a nosedive, and
the financial strain affected Day's tobacco business as well. The
Players' League dissolved after the season, and Day sold a minority
interest to the PL Giants' principal backer, Edward Talcott. As a
condition of the sale, Day had to fire Mutrie as manager. Although
the Giants rebounded to third in 1891, Day was forced to sell
controlling interest to Talcott at the end of the season.
Four years later, Talcott sold the Giants to
Andrew Freedman, a real estate developer
with ties to
Tammany Hall. Freedman was
one of the most detested owners in baseball history, getting into
heated disputes with other owners, writers and his own players. The
most famous one was with star pitcher
Amos
Rusie. When Freedman only offered Rusie $2,500 for 1896, Rusie
sat out the entire season. Attendance fell off throughout the
league due to the loss of Rusie, prompting the other owners to chip
in $50,000 to get him to return for 1897. Freedman hired former
owner Day as manager for part of 1899.
In 1902, after a series of disastrous moves that left the Giants
53½ games behind, Freedman signed
John McGraw as a player-manager,
convincing him to jump in mid-season from the
Baltimore Orioles of the
American League and to bring with
him several Orioles' players. McGraw would go on and manage the
Giants for three decades, one of the longest and most successful
tenures in professional sports. McGraw's hiring was one of
Freedman's last significant moves as owner of the Giants; after the
season he was forced to sell his interest to
John T. Brush.
Under McGraw the Giants won 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
John Montgomery 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
reigning world champion Boston Americans (now known as
the "Red Sox")—because McGraw considered the new
American League as little more than a
minor league. His original reluctance
was because 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 Brush leading an effort to
formalize the rules and format of the World Series. The
Giants won the
1905 World Series over the
Philadelphia Athletics,
with
Christy Mathewson nearly
winning the series single-handedly.
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. The game was a replay of a tied game
that resulted from the
Merkle Boner.
They lost the rematch to the Cubs, who would go on to win their
second 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 (the Giants and
the A's both won pennants in 1913; two seasons later, both teams
finished in eighth [last] place).
After losing the 1917 Series to the Chicago White Sox (the White
Sox's last World Series win until 2005), the Giants 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 (prior to their move
to Minnesota).
1930–57: 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. During this time the Giants
won three pennants, defeating the
Senators in the
1933 World Series and losing to the
Yankees in
1936 and
1937. Aside from Terry himself, the other
stars of the era were Mel Ott and
Carl
Hubbell, one of the very few pitchers in baseball history to
master the
screwball (along with Mathewson
and
Fernando Valenzuela). Known
as "King Carl" and "The Meal Ticket", Hubbell gained fame during
the
1934
All-Star Game, when he struck out five future Hall of Famers in
a row:
Babe Ruth,
Lou Gehrig,
Jimmie
Foxx,
Al Simmons, and
Joe Cronin.
Mel Ott succeeded Terry as manager in , but the war years proved to
be difficult for the Giants. Midway during the
1948 season Brooklyn Dodgers manager
Leo Durocher left the Dodgers to became
manager of the Giants. This hire was not without controversy. Not
only was the mid-season switch unusual, but Durocher had been
accused of gambling in 1947 and subsequently suspended for the
entire
1947 season
by Baseball Commissioner
Albert "Happy"
Chandler. Durocher remained at the helm of the Giants through
the
1955 season,
and those eight years proved to be some of the most memorable for
Giants fans, particularly because of the arrival of
Willie Mays and arguably the two most famous
plays in Giants' history.
1951: The "Shot Heard 'Round the World"
One of the most famous episodes in Major League Baseball history,
and possibly one of the greatest moments in sports 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.
Mays' catch and the 1954 Series
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 fly ball by
Vic Wertz to deep center field. At the time the
game had been tied 2–2 in the eighth inning. With men on first and
second and nobody out, an extra-base hit could have blown the game
wide open, and given the
Cleveland Indians the momentum
to win not only Game One, but perhaps the World Series itself.
Instead, Mays caught the ball 450 feet from the plate, whirled and
threw the ball to the infield, keeping the lead runner,
Larry Doby, from scoring.
The underdog Giants went on to sweep the series in four straight,
despite the Cleveland Indians having won a then-
American League record 111 games that year.
This was the last World Series victory for the Giants, subsequently
losing in
1962,
1989, and
2002. It would be their last appearance as
the New York Giants, as the team moved to San Francisco prior to
1958 season.
Memorable New York Giants of the 1950s
In
addition to Bobby Thomson and Willie Mays, other memorable members
of the Giants teams during the 1950s include: Hall of
Fame
manager Leo Durocher,
coach Herman Franks, Hall of Fame
outfielder Monte Irvin, outfielder and
runnerup for the 1954 NL batting championship (won by Willie Mays)
Don Mueller, Hall of Fame knuckleball relief pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm, starting pitchers Larry Jansen, Sal
Maglie, Jim Hearn, Marv Grissom, Dave
Koslo, Don Liddle, Rubén Gómez, and
Johnny Antonelli, catcher Wes Westrum, catcher Sal
Yvars, shortstop Alvin Dark, third
baseman Hank
Thompson, first baseman Whitey
Lockman, second baseman Davey
Williams, and utility players: Bill
Rigney, Daryl Spencer, Bobby
Hoffman, and Dusty
Rhodes among others. In the late 1950s and after the move to
San
Francisco
two Hall of
Fame First Basemen Orlando Cepeda and
Willie McCovey joined the
team.
1957: 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 Metropolitan
Stadium
in Minneapolis-St. Paul
, which was home to their top farm team, the
Minneapolis Millers.
Under the rules of the time, the Giants' ownership of the Millers
gave them priority rights to a major league team in the area.
At this time, the Giants were approached by San Francisco mayor
George Christopher.
Despite objections
from shareholders such as Joan
Whitney Payson, majority owner Horace Stoneham entered into negotiations
with San Francisco officials around the same time that Dodgers'
owner Walter O'Malley was courting
the city of Los
Angeles
. O'Malley had been told that the Dodgers
would not be allowed to move to Los Angeles unless a second team
moved to California as well. He pushed Stoneham toward relocation.
In the summer of 1957, both the New York Giants and the Brooklyn
Dodgers announced their moves to California, and the golden age of
baseball in the New York area 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.
Payson and
M. Donald Grant, who became the Mets' chairman,
had been the only Giants board members to vote against the Giants'
move to California. The "NY" script on the Giants' caps and the
orange trim on their uniforms, along with the blue background used
by the Dodgers, would be adopted by the Mets.
1958: The San Francisco Giants history begins
As with 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 the team away from San Francisco. Most
disappointingly for the large fan base that they have maintained
ever since their arrival in the city, the Giants have failed to win
a World Series title since the move from New York.
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1958–present
1958–61: Seals Stadium and Candlestick Park
When the
Giants moved to San Francisco, they played in Seals Stadium
for their first two seasons. The stadium,
which was located at 16th & Bryant St. across from the
Stempel's Bakery, had been the home of the
Pacific Coast League (PCL)
San Francisco Seals, a minor
league affiliate of the
Boston Red
Sox, from 1931–1957. 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
(sometimes known simply as "The 'Stick"), a stadium
built on a point in San Francisco's southeast corner overlooking
San
Francisco Bay
. The new stadium quickly became known for
its strong, swirling winds, cold temperatures, and thick evening
fog that made for a formidable experience for brave fans and
players. The park had a built-in radiant heating system, but it
never worked. Candlestick Park's reputation was sealed in the ninth
inning of the first 1961
All-Star Game when,
after a day of calm conditions, the winds rose. A strong gust
appeared to cause Giants relief pitcher
Stu
Miller to slip off the
pitching rubber during his
delivery, resulting in a
balk (and a baseball
legend that Miller was "blown off the mound").
There were also many times that Candlestick Park was covered in
fog, both inside and out, coming in from the ocean seven miles to
the west (through what is known as the "Alemany Gap," a type of
wide gorge through which the ocean winds come without major
topographical obstacles). At one time, a fog horn was played inside
the stadium between innings giving Candlestick another reputation.
Other times, the winds would also whirl around in the parking lot,
but inside the stadium it would be calm. But even with its
reputation of being cold, windy, and foggy, it stood its ground
when the ground below it shook violently during the
1989 World Series.
At 5:04 p.m., the
Loma Prieta
Earthquake
shook the San Francisco Bay Area
during the pre-game ceremonies before Game
3. For 15 seconds the stadium rocked and there was fear that
the standing light fixtures above would fall onto the crowd.
However, only minor injuries were reported, and the stadium's
structure was deemed safe ten days later.
1962 World Series
In 1962, after another memorable pennant chase with the
Dodgers which resulted in a
playoff series which the Giants won, the Giants brought a World
Series to San Francisco. However, the Giants lost the series four
games to three to the
New
York Yankees. The seventh game went to the bottom of the ninth
inning, 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 his brother Matty not scoring on Mays'
double, which started a lifelong dedication to fundamentals on
Felipe's part. In addition, Richardson was not originally
positioned to catch the drive – he only moved there (three steps to
the left) in reaction to a foul smash by McCovey on the previous
pitch.
Giants
fan (and resident of nearby Santa Rosa
) Charles Schulz made
a reference to the real world in one of his Peanuts strips soon afterward. In the
first three panels of the strip of December 22, 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, the same
scene appears. This time, Charlie cries,
"Or why couldn't
McCovey have hit the ball just two
feet
higher?"
1963–84: Always a bridesmaid, never the bride
Although the Giants did not play in another World Series until
1989, the teams of the 1960s continued to be pennant contenders
thanks to several future Hall-of-Famers. These included
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. A Giants highlight came in 1963 when
Jesús Alou joined the team, and along with
Felipe and Matty formed the first all-brother outfield in Major
League history.
The Giants' next appearance in the postseason came in . 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 did produce
two more Rookie of the Year winners (
Gary
Matthews Sr. in 1973 and
John
Montefusco in 1975).
In 1976,
Bob Lurie bought the team, saving
it from being moved to Toronto. A year later, Toronto was awarded
an expansion team (the
Blue Jays),
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 time for the Giants, as they finished
no higher than third place in any season. That third place season
was 1978. They had a young star in the likes of
Jack Clark, along with veteran first
baseman
Willie McCovey, second
baseman
Bill Madlock (whom the Giants
had acquired from the Chicago Cubs,) shortstops
Johnnie LeMaster and
Roger Metzger, and third baseman
Darrell Evans. Veteran pitchers
Vida Blue,
John
Montefusco,
Ed Halicki, and
Bob Knepper rounded out the starting rotation
with Vida Blue leading the way with eighteen victories. The most
memorable moment of that
1978 season occurred on
May 28, 1978, when pinch hitter
Mike Ivie,
acquired from the
San Diego Padres
during the offseason for Darrel Thomas, hit a towering grand slam
off of Dodgers pitching ace
Don Sutton in
front of Candlestick Park's highest paid attendance of 58,545. They
were atop of the NL West for most of the season, but the
Dodgers heated up to
eventually win the West and the NL Pennant.
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 hit a
homer against the
Dodgers on the final day of
the season to make sure
Atlanta won the NL West.
In 1984,
the Giants hosted
the All-Star
Game at Candlestick
Park
.
1985–89: Nadir and resurrection
In 1985, a year which saw the
Giants lose 100 games (the
most in franchise history), 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 from 1985 to 1992. In Craig's first five full seasons with
the Giants, the team never finished with a losing record.
Under Roger Craig's leadership (and his unique motto, "Humm Baby")
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: The "Thrill", World Series and the Earthquake
Although the team used fifteen different starting pitchers, the
1989 Giants won the National League pennant. They were led by
pitchers Rick Reuschel 1989 National League All-Star Game Starter)
and
Scott Garrelts (the 1989 National
League ERA champion) and sluggers Kevin Mitchell (the 1989 National
League
MVP) 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 (who hit .650, drove in eight runs,
including a grand slam off
Greg Maddux
in Game 1) 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 eighth 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
twenty-seven 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 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. The
Giants never would hold a lead in any of the 4 games and never even
managed to send the tying run to the plate in their last
at-bat.
1992: Farewell San Francisco?
Following the 1989 World Series defeat to the Oakland A's, 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 to the
Tampa Bay
Area
, but National League owners voted against the
acquisition. The team was instead sold to an ownership group
including managing general partner
Peter
Magowan, the former CEO of
Safeway,
Harmon Burns, and his wife,
Sue Burns.
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 locally-grown
superstar free agent
Barry Bonds (a move
which MLB initially blocked until some terms were negotiated to
protect Lurie and Bonds in case the sale failed), a move that
shaped the franchise's fortunes for more than a decade.
1993: "The last pure pennant race"
The Barry Bonds era began auspiciously as Bonds put up the numbers
for the third MVP of his career: 46 homers, 129 runs and 123 RBI,
(.336 BA, .458 OBP, .677 SLG, for a total of 1.135 OBP+SLG), all
career highs.
Matt
Williams was solid again (38 HR, 110 RBI, .294 BA), with Robby
Thompson and Will Clark (in his last season with the Giants)
providing offensive support.
John
Burkett and
Bill Swift both had 20+
wins, and closer
Rod Beck was dominant with
48 saves and a 2.16 ERA.roster> All this led the Giants to a
103–59 record in
Dusty Baker's first
year as manager, which earned him the Manager of the Year
award.
But despite the
Giants' great record, the
Atlanta Braves — fueled
by solid seasons from
David Justice,
Ron Gant,
Deion
Sanders and their midseason acquisition of
Fred McGriff from the
San Diego Padres — came back from a
ten-game deficit to the Giants to win the NL West by a single game.
The Braves also had 20+ wins from both
Tom
Glavine and
Cy Young Award winner
Greg Maddux.
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 three runs in the first four 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 (and
for Giants fans, heartbreaking) winner-take-all outcome as the
"last pure pennant race."
1994–96 seasons
The period of 1994 to 1996 were not good years for the Giants,
punctuated by the
strike that canceled the
rest of the 1994 baseball season and the
World Series. The strike prevented Matt
Williams a chance to beat
Roger Maris's
single season home run record—he had 43 HR in 115 team games, and
was thus on pace for 60 when the strike hit with 47 games left to
play (Bonds had 37, on pace for 52). But the rest of the team was
bad, with no other player having even 10 home runs or even 40 RBI
that late into the season.roster>
The Giants came in last place in both 1995 and 1996, as key
injuries and slumps hurt them. 1995 had a strange feeling about it,
with fans unsure if they would come back after the strike-shortened
1994 season (something that would keep attendances notably lower
for a few more years, probably until the HR chase of 1998). Bonds
continued to be the team's driving force, posting decent numbers
(33 HR, 104 RBI, 109 R and 120 BB in 144 games). Matt Williams and
Glenallen Hill were the only other
Giants with 20+ HR, and the rest of the team had mediocre offensive
numbers. The pitching staff was bad, with only
Mark Leiter having 10 wins (10–12, 3.82 ERA).
Rod Beck had 33 saves, but a 4.45 ERA and a 5–6 record, including
nine
blown saves.
1996 was highlighted by Barry Bonds joining the
40-40 club (42 HR, 40 SB, with 129 RBI,
151 BB and .308 BA). Rookie
Bill
Mueller also provided hope for the future of the club with a
.330 average (66 hits in 200 AB over 55 games). Matt Williams and
Glenallen Hill provided offensive support. Pitching-wise, the team
was not very good. Only Mark Gardner had more than 10 wins (12–7,
4.42 ERA), and Rod Beck had 35 saves, a 3.34 ERA and nine losses on
his record. The low point came in late June when the Giants lost 10
straight games en route to a 68–94 record.
1997
After three consecutive losing seasons, the Giants named
Brian Sabean as their new general manager in ,
replacing
Bob Quinn.
(Sabean may have been acting as GM prior to the announcement, as he
was rumored to have engineered the deal to get
Kirk Rueter from the
Montreal Expos). 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. Snow, Kent, and
Bonds each had over 100 RBI, and pitcher Shawn Estes' 19 wins led
the team. Rod Beck had 37 saves.
The 1997 baseball season also saw the introduction of
interleague play. The Giants faced four
American League teams that year:
Seattle Mariners,
Texas Rangers,
Anaheim Angels and the
Oakland A's, while compiling a
10–6 record.
The Wild-card winning
Florida Marlins ended the
Giants' season with a 3–0 sweep in the
first round of the
playoffs, as the Marlins marched on their way to their first
World Series championship.
1998
In 1998, the Giants were fueled by good seasons from Jeff Kent and
Barry Bonds, both with 30+ HR and 100+ RBI. Also having good
seasons were pitchers Kirk Reuter (16–9 W-L record, 4.36 ERA), Mark
Gardner (13–6, 4.33) and newly acquired
Orel Hershiser (11–10, 4.41). New closer
Robb Nen had 40 saves. The Giants tied for
the NL Wild card but lost a one-game playoff against the Chicago
Cubs.
1999
The next year, (1999), saw the Giants finished second in the NL
West with an 86–76 record. Barry Bonds's production dropped as he
hit .262, his lowest average in a decade. He did however hit 34
home runs while missing more than one-third of the season due to
injury, and other team regulars put up very good numbers in
support. These included J.T. Snow, Jeff Kent, Rich Aurilia, and
Ellis Burks, all who had 20+ HR and 80+ RBI.
Marvin Benard also had a career year in center
field with 16 home runs, 64 RBIs, and a career and team high 27
stolen bases. The pitching staff was paced by
Russ Ortiz (18–9, 3.81) and Kirk Reuter (15–10,
5.41).
With the knowledge that their days in Candlestick Park were coming
to an end, the 1999 season ended with a series of promotions and
tributes. After the final game of the season, a defeat to the Los
Angeles Dodgers, home plate was ceremoniously removed and taken to
the new grounds where the downtown stadium was being built.
2000–01: Downtown Baseball Begins
In
2000, after forty
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. AT&T Park
(originally Pacific Bell Park and later SBC Park)
sits on the shores of China Basin (often referred to as McCovey Cove
by Giants fans) at the corner of 3rd and King
Streets (with an official address of 24 Willie Mays Plaza to honor
the long-time Giant). 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 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,
although by the 1999 season the Giants managed about 25,000 fans a
game. 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 (which even Candlestick had until it
was redesigned in the early 1970s to accommodate the
49ers).
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.
Despite inaugural game festivities at the new ballpark, the Dodgers
would spoil the 2000 season opener, with a three HR performance by
little-known Kevin Elster. However, the Giants would rebound and
put out a solid effort all season long, culminating with a division
title and the best record in the Major Leagues. Jeff Kent paced the
attack with clutch RBI hits (33 HR, 125 RBI) en route to winning
the MVP award, despite Bonds's 49 HR, 106 RBI season. The pitching
staff was decent but not great, although 5 starters had at least 10
victories. These included Liván Hernández (17–11, 3.75), Russ Ortiz
(14–12, 5.01), Kirk Rueter (11–9, 3.96), Shawn Estes (15–6, 4.26),
and Mark Gardner (11–7, 4.05). Robb Nen was nearly perfect, with 41
saves and a minute 1.50 ERA.
The Giants lost the 2000 division series to the
New York Mets, three games to one. They had
started out solid, winning game one bolstered by
Liván Hernández. However, the Mets
won the next three games, despite decent performances by Shawn
Estes, Russ Ortiz and Mark Gardner. Game two in particular had a
tumultuous ending. Down 4–1 in the ninth, J.T. Snow hit a three-run
home run to tie the game, but the Mets scored in the tenth to win
the game.
In
2001 the Giants
were eliminated from playoff contention on the second to last day
of the season. Rich Aurilia put up stellar numbers (37 HR, 97 RBI,
.324 BA) in support of Barry Bonds, who once again gave fans
something to cheer about as he hit 73 home runs, setting a new
single-season record. The pitching staff was good but not great,
with Russ Ortiz (17–9, 3.29) leading a staff that also had Liván
Hernández (13–15, 5.24), and Kirk Reuter (14–12, 4.42). Shawn Estes
and Mark Gardner would have sub-par years, but notably Jason
Schmidt (7–1, 3.39) was picked up in a mid-season acquisition from
the
Pittsburgh Pirates. Robb Nen
continued to be a dominant closer (45 saves, 3.01 ERA).
2002: National League Championship Season and World Series
In the
2002
season, the Giants finished 2nd in the NL West behind the
Arizona Diamondbacks, bolstered
by another MVP season for Barry Bonds (46 HR, 110 RBI, .370 BA, a
then record 198 walks and a .582 OBP) and
Jeff
Kent (37 HR, 108 RBI and .313 BA). Additional roster support
was provided by decent seasons from
Benito Santiago and
Rich Aurilia, plus new acquisitions
David Bell,
Reggie Sanders and
Tsuyoshi Shinjo, who spent only one season
with the Giants before returning to Japan. The pitching staff again
proved solid, with five starters having 12 wins or more, including
Jason Schmidt, who the Giants acquired
in 2001 from the
Pittsburgh
Pirates. Closer
Robb Nen had 43 saves
and a 2.20 ERA, and setup men
Felix Rodriguez and
Tim Worrell were solid coming out of the
bullpen.
The Giants would make the playoffs as the NL Wild Card team. In
their first postseason appearance since 2000, they went on to
defeat the
Atlanta Braves in the
NLDS three
games to two, with Russ Ortiz winning Games 1 and 5 in Atlanta. In
the
NLCS,
they went on to defeat the
St. Louis
Cardinals four games to one, with wins by Reuter, Schmidt and
two by Worrell in relief. Benito Santiago went on to win the MVP
award in the NLCS.
The Giants then went on to face the American League's Wild Card
team, the
Anaheim Angels, now known
as the
Los Angeles Angels
of Anaheim, in the
World
Series. Since its inception, this was the first time that two
wildcard teams met in a World Series. The Giants split the first
two games in Anaheim and took two of three at Pac Bell Park. With
the Giants leading the series three games to two following a 16–4
blowout win in Game 5 at Pac Bell Park, the series shifted back to
Anaheim. With the Giants leading 5–0 going into the bottom of the
7th inning of Game 6, the series' momentum changed decisively when
then Manager
Dusty Baker removed starter
Russ Ortiz and handed him the "game" ball as he left the mound.
Moments later,
Scott Spiezio hit a
three-run home run for the Angels off reliver Felix Rodriguez, who
then went on to win the game 6–5. The following night, Anaheim won
Game 7, 4–1 to claim the Series. Angels third baseman
Troy Glaus was named MVP.
After the 2002 season, the Giants would go through many personnel
changes. Dusty Baker did not have his contract renewed, and left
the team after ten seasons to manage the
Chicago Cubs. Closer
Robb
Nen had pitched despite a damaged shoulder, an injury which
eventually ended his career, retired and Jeff Kent was not
re-signed. Instead, he went to play for the
Houston Astros. Position players
David Bell,
Reggie Sanders,
Tsuyoshi Shinjo and
Kenny Lofton, as well as pitchers
Liván Hernández,
Russ Ortiz and relief pitcher
Aaron Fultz all played for other teams the
following season.
2003: Wire to wire
After two consecutive close second place finishes, the Giants,
under new manager
Felipe Alou, recorded
100 victories for the seventh time in franchise history and the
third time in San Francisco, winning their division for the third
time in seven seasons. The team spent every day of the
season in first place, just the ninth team
to do so in baseball history. Their offense was paced by yet
another MVP season from Bonds (45 HR, 90 RBI, .341 BA, 148 BB, and
an OBP of .529). Decent offensive support was provided by Rich
Aurilia, Marquis Grissom, Jose Cruz Jr., Edgardo Alfonzo, Benito
Santiago, Pedro Feliz and Andres Galarraga. The pitching staff was
led by Jason Schmidt (17–5, 2.34 ERA) and Kirk Reuter (10–5, 4.53),
but had a dropoff after that, as no other starter had 10
wins.
Once again in the playoffs, and just like in 1997, the Giants faced
the
Florida Marlins in the
NLDS. Jason Schmidt won
game one in San Francisco with a complete game victory, but the
Marlins would win the series three games to one as the Giants
bullpen proved unable to prevent their opponent from scoring. Both
times the Marlins were the NL Wild Card and yet went on to win the
World Series.
2004–06: Playoff drought
On November 13, 2003, Brian Sabean engineered what is considered by
many to be the worst trade in Giants history. He traded
Francisco Liriano,
Boof Bonser, and
Joe
Nathan for
A.J. Pierzynski. Pierzynski would last only one
season with the Giants.
In 2004,
Barry Bonds broke his own
records with 232 walks and a .609 OBP on route to his 7th and last
NL MVP award (45 HR, 101 RBI, .362 BA). The team also had a solid
but not stellar supporting cast including Marquis Grissom (22, 90,
.279) and Pedro Feliz (22, 84, .276), along with decent showings by
Ray Durham, Edgardo Alfonzo, Michael Tucker and AJ Pierzynski.
Jason Schmidt was the star of the staff (18–7, 3.20 ERA, 251 SO),
and the team was constantly looking for a new closer (Matt Herges
and Dustin Hermanson split the role during the season). After
sitting out most of the first half of the season, J.T. Snow led the
league in hitting after the All-Star Break.
As in 1993 and 2001, the Giants again avoided elimination from
playoff contention until the final weekend of the season. The team
would come close but still finished two games behind the
division-winning
Los Angeles
Dodgers, marking the third time in four seasons the Giants
would finish within 2½ games of the leader. The season ended in
frustration, as San Francisco needed a three-game sweep of the
Dodgers in the final weekend of the season to force a one-game
playoff in San Francisco for the NL West title. After winning the
first game, the Giants lost the second game 7–3 (L.A. scored seven
runs in the 9th, the last four on a
walkoff
grand slam by
Steve Finley) as the Dodgers clinched the
division title.
Houston won the
wildcard spot the next day, rendering the Giants' season finale (a
victory) meaningless.
The Giants'
2005
season was the team's least successful since moving to its new
stadium. Bonds missed most of the season with a knee injury, 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, 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 (the
Spanish word for "Giants"). 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, the Giants were officially eliminated from the NL
West race after losing to the division 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, as they were bolstered
by a strong starting staff. Despite a losing streak in May, and the
worst batting performance by
Barry Bonds
in about fifteen years 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 ninth 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 (batting .400—34 for 85—in 27 games from
August 21 to September 23), 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
Moisés Alou. The starting staff collapsed,
bombed in all nine games, and Giants pitching gave up 93 runs on
the trip (by comparison, the Giants gave up 86 runs during the
19-game losing span in August), and the Giants were "officially
eliminated" on September 25, and finished the season with a record
of 76–85, just 1½ games better than the previous season.
On October 2, 2006, the day after the end of the regular season,
the Giants announced that they would not renew the contract of
manager
Felipe Alou, but did extend him
an offer to remain with the club in an advisory role to the general
manager and to baseball operations.
2007: End of the Bonds era
With eleven
free agents excluding
Jason Schmidt who has now signed with
the Dodgers for roughly $15 million a year, a new manager on board
with
Bruce Bochy coming from division
rival San Diego, and the loss of veteran catcher
Mike Matheny due to complications resulting
from
concussions sustained during his
career, the Giants' prospects for the 2007 season were less than
favorable going into the winter off-season. Since then, the team
has agreed to several deals—resigning
Pedro
Feliz,
Ray Durham, and old time
Giants fans favorite
Rich Aurilia, and
picking up catcher
Bengie Molina,
Ryan Klesko, and
Dave Roberts. They also signed
free agent pitcher
Barry Zito to a seven
year contract worth $126 million. The deal, which was the richest
contract for a pitcher in baseball history, includes a $20 million
player option for an eighth year. On January 9, 2007, the Giants
resigned pitcher
Russ Ortiz to compete
for the fifth starting position in spring training. Ortiz was
slotted for the position in late March due to his outstanding
spring.
The Giants started off the regular season slow, had spurts of
promise but more often stretches of mediocre to worse play.
Pitching was often inconsistent or the offense was non-existent
(such as during a pair of 1–0 losses for losing pitcher Matt
Cain).
The season did have memorable action, such as the Giants playing
the Red Sox in Boston for the first time since 1912. Most notable
during the season, however, was Bonds march towards Hank Aaron's
career home run record of 755. Bonds's proximity to the record
brought heavy media attention to the San Francisco Giants.
On July 27, in the first inning of the Giants' three game series
against the
Florida Marlins, Bonds
hit his 754th career home run. Also contributing to the Giants'
12–10 victory was pinch-hitter
Mark
Sweeney, who moved ahead of
Manny
Mota on the all time pinch hits list with a clutch RBI single
in the sixth inning.
Leading
off in the top of the second inning of game two versus the Padres,
before a sell-out crowd at PETCO Park
, Barry Bonds hit a high fastball off the facing of
the upper deck in left field for his 755th career home run.
The opposite-field shot tied the game at 1–1 and tied
Hank Aaron for the all-time home run record. The
Giants lost in extra innings, this time by a score of 2–3.
In the bottom of the fifth inning at home against the Nationals on
August 7, 2007, Bonds hit his 756th home run which caused a melee
in the crowd. Hank Aaron appeared on the big screen and
congratulated Bonds. The Giants went on to lose the game 8–6.
On August 9, 2007, Mark Sweeney was traded to the
Los Angeles Dodgers for AA second
baseman Travis Denker. The trade was the first between the Giants
and the Dodgers since 1985.
The discouraging theme of 2007 would continue as solid pitching was
not backed up with offense.
Tim
Lincecum held the
Chicago Cubs to
two hits through eight innings on August 21, but the team scored
only one run, losing to the Cubs by a score of 5–1.
On September 22, 2007, the Giants officially announced that the
team would not re-sign
Barry Bonds for
the 2008 season. After much speculation and debate, owner
Peter Magowan announced Bonds's departure at a
press conference, stressing the fact that the Giants needed to get
younger and start fielding a more efficient offense.
Barry Bonds played his last game as a San Francisco Giant on
September 26, 2007. He went 0 for 3, driving a ball that was caught
at the warning track in left-center field in his final at
bat.
2008: Without Bonds
The 2008 season marked the first year that Barry Bonds was not a
member of the team since first signing with them in 1992. The
Giants signed former
Philadelphia
Phillies outfielder
Aaron Rowand to
a 5-year, $60 million contract.
Barry
Zito once again got off to a poor start, losing his first eight
decisions. However, the team found hope in pitcher
Tim Lincecum. After going 7–5 in his first
stint in 2007 with the Giants, he exploded onto the scene this year
winning four straight before losing his 1st game of the year on
April 29, 2008, to the
Colorado
Rockies.
Lincecum was selected to the 2008 MLB All-Star Game at Yankee
Stadium
but was unable to pitch due to being hospitalized
with flu-like symptoms. He went on to win
the 2008 NL
Cy Young Award, finishing
at 18–5. He was the first Giant to do so since
Mike McCormick won it in 1967. The
Giants finished the season in fourth place in the NL West with a
record of 72–90.
2009: A mix of the Old and the New
During the off season, the Giants strengthened their pitching staff
by acquiring veteran starting pitcher
Randy Johnson and relievers
Bobby Howry and
Jeremy
Affeldt. The Giants also signed infielders
Edgar Renteria and
Juan
Uribe. Despite these new acquisitions however, questions still
lingered about the teams offensive abilities and whether they would
be able to contend. Nonetheless, the team compiled a 49-39 record
by the
2009
Major League Baseball All-Star Game, good enough for second
place in the NL West.
In addition to the team's overall performance, the first half of
the season provided several memorable moments for the players
themselves. Highlights included Johnson earning his
300th career victory, becoming the
twenty-fourth pitcher in Major League history to do so, as well as
struggling starter
Jonathan
Sánchez tossing a no-hitter against the
San Diego Padres on July 10, the first
Giants no-hitter since 1976 when
John
Montefusco no-hit the Braves. 2009's pitching staff will go
down as one of the strongest starting rotations in Giants
history.
The Giants sent two of their starting pitchers to the All-Star
Game.
Matt Cain, who did not pitch due to
a minor elbow injury, and
Tim Lincecum,
who was chosen to be the starting pitcher for the National League.
It was Lincecum's 2nd straight all-star game appearance and Cain's
1st. The Giants narrowly missed sending a third player the game, as
third baseman Pablo Sandoval was a leading contender to be
the fan's vote for the final roster spot. However the vote went to
Philadelphia Phillies' outfielder
Shane
Victorino.
On July 10,
Jonathan Sánchez,
spot starting in place of an injured
Randy
Johnson and on his first start upon returning to the starting
rotation after a brief demotion to the bullpen, threw a
no-hitter against the
San Diego Padres. Sánchez issued no walks
and struck out a career-high eleven hitters in the game, which was
also his first major league
complete
game and
shutout and the first no-hitter
ever thrown at AT&T Park. He threw 110 pitches to complete the
game, with a final score of 8–0 for the Giants.
On July 19, the club announced that
Sue
Burns, the team's senior general partner who was a virtual
fixture in her seat adjacent to the Giants' dugout, died early
Sunday morning of cancer. She was 58. Burns was the widow of
Harmon Burns, who died in November 2006
at age 61. A financier in the San Francisco Bay Area, Harmon Burns
was a key member of the investor group that purchased the Giants
from Bob Lurie after the 1992 season and prevented them from moving
to Tampa-St. Petersburg. On July 27, the Giants honored Burns in a
pre-game ceremony in which Barry Bonds was also in attendance. In
the game, ace pitcher Tim Lincecum struck out a career-high 15
batters and the Giants defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-2.
On September 23, in beating the Diamondbacks 5-2, the Giants
clinched a winning season at 82-70. This was their first winning
season since 2004.
On September 30, the
Colorado
Rockies' 10-6 victory over the
Milwaukee Brewers eliminated the Giants
from the Wild Card race for 2009.
The Giants completed the 2009 regular season at 88-74, 14 games
above .500, winning 16 more games than the previous season.
Finishing in third place in the NL West behind the Colorado Rockies
and first-place Los Angeles Dodgers, the Giants moved up one spot
from 2008. With the emergence of star player Pablo Sandoval
alongside a dominant pitching staff, the Giants look forward to
making the playoffs next year for the first time since 2003.
Rivalries
Giants-Dodgers
The
historic rivalry between the Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers is the longest in
baseball history, which began when these two National League clubs
both played in New York
City
(the Giants at the Polo Grounds
in Manhattan and the Dodgers at Ebbets Field
in Brooklyn). Both franchises date
back to the nineteenth century, and both moved to California
in 1958, where the rivalry found a fitting new
home, the cities of Los
Angeles
and San
Francisco
having long
been rivals in economic, cultural, and political arenas.
Although the feud between the
Boston Red Sox and the New York
Yankees gets more publicity, the Dodgers/Giants rivalry is the
oldest in
baseball. The
Giants have won the World Series five times in their history, while
the Dodgers have won the World Series six times. Since
historically, the playoff race in the NL West has been fairly
tight, the feud often leads to one team spoiling the other's
chances of any hopeful playoff spot. An example of this phenomenon
was in the 1951 season, where the New York Giants and the Brooklyn
Dodgers faced off in a three game playoff. Supported by
Bobby Thomson's
Shot Heard 'Round the
World, the Giants won the game 5–4, defeating the Dodgers in
their pennant playoff series, two games to one. Another more recent
example played out in the 2004 season when the Dodgers beat out the
Giants for the NL West by two games after
Steve Finley broke a 3–3 tie, by hitting a
walk-off Grand Slam in the bottom of the 9th inning, in the
second-to-last game of the regular season, thus sealing the
division for the Dodgers. Unlike other historic rivalries such as
those between the
Cardinals and Cubs and the
Red Sox and Yankees,
the rivalry between the Dodgers and Giants has been very even, with
both teams experiencing success over the years.
Giants-Yankees
Though in different leagues, the Giants historically have had a
rivalry with the
New York Yankees,
beginning as a regional rivalry before the Giants moved to the
West Coast. Before
the institution of
interleague play
in 1997, the two teams would have little opportunity to play each
other. However, they faced off in seven
World Series, in
1921,
1922,
1923,
1936,
1937,
1951, and
1962. The Yankees won five of these
series.
The teams have only met twice in the regular
season with the first meeting occurring in 2002 at Yankee
Stadium
. The teams met again at AT&T Park
in 2007.
In his farewell speech,
Lou Gehrig stated
that the Giants were a team that "[he] would give his right arm to
beat, and vice versa."
Giants-Athletics
A
geographic rivalry with the cross-bay American League Oakland Athletics has grown larger as a
result of the two teams meeting in the 1989 World Series, which Oakland won 4–0
(and which was interrupted by the Loma Prieta Earthquake
moments before Game 3). In addition, the
introduction of
interleague play in
1997 that has called for the teams to play each other about 6 times
every season since 1997.
This rivalry, once limited to
spring-training games, is called "The Battle of the Bay" because
the two teams play on opposite sides of the San
Francisco Bay
. They have played each other fairly evenly,
despite differences that range from league, style of play, stadium,
payroll, fan base stereotypes, and media coverage—all that have
heightened the rivalry in recent years. Since the start of
interleague play, the A's lead the series 34–28. The intensity of
the rivalry and how it is understood varies among Bay Area fans.
Some are fans of both teams. The "split hats" that feature the
logos of both teams best embodies the shared fan base. Other Bay
Area fans view the competition between the two teams as a "friendly
rivalry" with little hatred.
This particular geographic rivalry is generally considered to be
relatively friendly when compared to similar cases, including the
Subway Series (New York Mets and New York Yankees), the Windy City
Series (Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox), and the Freeway Series
(Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim).
The Giants and A's enjoyed a limited rivalry at the start of the
twentieth century prior to the emergence of the Yankees when the
Giants were in New York and the A's were in Philadelphia. The teams
were managed by managing legends
John
McGraw and
Connie Mack, who were
friendly rivals and considered to be the premier managers during
that era. Each team played in 5 of the first 15 World Series (tying
them with the Red Sox and Cubs for most World Series appearances
during that time period). The Giants and A's met in three World
Series, with the Giants winning in 1905, and the A's emerging
victorious in 1911 and 1913.
Baseball Hall of Famers
As of
2009, the Major League Baseball Hall of
Fame
has inducted 66 representatives of the Giants (55
players and 11 managers) into the Hall of Fame, more than any other
team in the history of baseball. The
Los Angeles Dodgers have the second most
(45 players, 9 managers) and the Yankees with the third most (41
players, 11 managers).
Ford C. Frick Award recipients
Names in
bold received the award based primarily
on their work as Giants broadcasters.
* Played as Giants ===Other=== The following inducted members of
the Hall of Fame played and/or managed for the Giants, but either
played for the Giants and were inducted as a manager having never
managed the Giants, or managed the Giants and were inducted as a
player having never played for the Giants: *[[Cap Anson]] –
inducted as player, managed Giants in 1898. *[[Hughie Jennings]] –
inducted as player, managed Giants from 1924–25. *[[Bill
McKechnie]] – inducted as manager, played for Giants in 1939.
*[[Frank Robinson]] – inducted as player, managed Giants from
1981–84. *[[Casey Stengel]] – inducted as manager, played for
Giants from 1921–23. Broadcasters [[Russ Hodges]] and [[Lon
Simmons]] are permanently honored in the Hall's "Scribes &
Mikemen" exhibit as a result of winning the [[Ford C. Frick Award]]
in 1980 and 2004, respectively. As with all Frick Award winners,
neither is officially recognized as an inducted member of the Hall
of Fame. ==San Francisco Giants Wall of Famers== {|
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |- | [[Felipe Alou]] ||
[[Gary Lavelle]] || [[Jim Barr]] || [[Johnnie LeMaster]] ||
[[Willie Mays]] |- | [[Rod Beck]] || [[Jeffrey Leonard]] || [[Vida
Blue]] || [[Kirt Manwaring]] || [[Willie McCovey]] |- | [[Bobby
Bolin]] || [[Juan Marichal]] || [[Jeff Brantley]] || [[Bobby
Bonds]] || [[Jack Clark (baseball)|Jack Clark]] |- | [[Mike
McCormick (pitcher)|Mike McCormick]] || [[Bob Brenly]] || [[John
Burkett]] || [[Stu Miller]] || [[Barry Bonds]] |- | [[Orlando
Cepeda]] || [[Greg Minton]] || [[Kevin Mitchell (baseball)|Kevin
Mitchell]] || [[Will Clark]] || [[Mike Krukow]] |- | [[Randy
Moffitt]] || [[Jim Davenport]] || [[John Montefusco]] || [[Chili
Davis]] || [[Matt Williams]] |- | [[Robb Nen]] || [[Dick Dietz]] ||
[[Gaylord Perry]] || [[Darrell Evans]] || [[Jim Ray Hart]] |- |
[[Rick Reuschel]] || [[Tito Fuentes]] || [[Kirk Rueter]] || [[Scott
Garrelts]] || [[Robby Thompson]] |- | [[J.T. Snow]] || [[Tom
Haller]] || [[Chris Speier]] || [[Atlee Hammaker]] || [[Jeff Kent]]
|- |} ==Retired numbers==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-style:bold;
font-size:100%; border:3px" cellpadding="3" |-align="center" |- !
[[File:GiantsBill Terry.png|95px|]]:
[[Bill Terry]]: 1B, 1923–36; Manager, 1932–41 ! [[File:GiantsMel
Ott.png|95px|]]:
[[Mel Ott]]: OF, 1926–47; Manager, 1942–48 ! [[File:GiantsCarl
Hubbell.png|95px|]]:
[[Carl Hubbell]]: P, 1928–43 |- | [[File:GiantsWillie
Mays.png|95px|]]:
[[Willie Mays]]: OF, 1951–72 | [[File:GiantsJuan
Marichal.png|95px|]]:
[[Juan Marichal]]: P, 1960–73 | [[File:GiantsOrlando
Cepeda.png|95px|]]:
[[Orlando Cepeda]]: 1B, 1958–66 |- | [[File:GiantsGaylord
Perry.png|95px|]]:
[[Gaylord Perry]]: P, 1962–71 | [[File:GiantsWillie
McCovey.png|95px|]]:
[[Willie McCovey]]: 1B–OF, 1959–73 & 1977–80 |
[[File:GiantsJackie Robinson.png|95px|]]:
[[Jackie Robinson]]* |}
{{see also|List of Major League Baseball retired numbers}} In 1944,
Hubbell became the first National Leaguer to have his number
retired by his
team.[http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20030618&content_id=381438&vkey=lou_gehrig&fext=.jsp&c_id=null]
Terry, Ott and Hubbell played/managed their entire careers for the
New York Giants. Mays began his career in New York, moving with the
Giants to San Francisco in 1958; he did not play in 1953 due to his
service in the [[Korean War]]. ===Also honored=== [[John McGraw
(baseball)|John McGraw]] (3B, 1902–06; Manager, 1902–32) and
[[Christy Mathewson]] (P, 1900–16), who were members of the New
York Giants before the introduction of uniform numbers, have the
letters "NY" displayed in place of a number.See [[List of Major
League Baseball retired numbers#Similar honors]]. Broadcasters
[[Lon Simmons]] (1958–73, 1976–78, 1996–2002, 2006) and [[Russ
Hodges]] (1949–70) have a stylised old-style radio microphone
displayed in place of a number. The Giants present the [[Willie Mac
Award]] annually to the player that best exemplifies the spirit and
leadership shown by [[Willie McCovey]] throughout his career. *
Retired throughout the major leagues
Season records
All-time record: 10184-8724 (.539) (most wins in
MLB history)
Current roster
Minor league affiliations
Radio and television
The
Giants' flagship radio station is KNBR
, 680 AM,
which refers to itself as "The Sports Leader". Jon Miller,
Dave
Flemming,
Greg Papa, and
Duane Kuiper take turns as play-by-play
announcers. Miller and Flemming are the regulars.
Typically, when games
are televised on KNTV
, Kuiper
replaces Miller on the radio. When Miller is out of town for
his
ESPN Sunday Night Baseball duties,
Papa usually replaces him. Damon Bruce is responsible for the
Post-Game show, and usually takes calls from KNBR's in-stadium
studio, known as "The Bunker."
Giants'
telecasts are split between KNTV
(over-the-air) and Comcast
SportsNet Bay Area (cable). Miller regularly calls the
action on KNTV, while the announcing team for
CSN telecasts is Duane Kuiper and
Mike Krukow, affectionately known as "Kruk and
Kuip" (pronounced "Krook" and "Kype"). Papa occasionally does
play-by-play on TV as well.
KNTV's
broadcast
contract with the Giants began in 2008, one year after the team and
KTVU
mostly ended a relationship that dated to 1958, the
team's first year in the Bay Area (KTVU continues to air Giants
games that are part of the Major League Baseball on
Fox package).
Home run call glitch
On May 28, 2006, Flemming called the 715th career home run of Barry
Bonds, putting Bonds second on the all-time home run list.
Unfortunately, the power from his
microphone to the
transmitter cut off while the ball was in
flight, so the radio audience heard only crowd noise. Papa took
over the broadcast and apologized to listeners.
Kuiper's TV call was
submitted to the Baseball Hall of Fame
as an artifact, instead of the usual radio
call.
The Curse of Coogan's Bluff
Just as the
Chicago Cubs have the
Curse of the Billy Goat and
the
Boston Red Sox had the
Curse of the Bambino, the Giants have
two superstitious ghosts. The first originates when the New York
Giants left for California at the end of the 1957 season. Fans at
the Giant's home ballpark, the Polo Grounds (located at a site in
New York called
Coogan's Bluff),
professed that the Giants would never win a World Series away from
New York. Since the 1958 season, the Giants have failed to win the
Fall Classic, with near misses in 1962 and 2002, and a four-game
sweep at the hands of Oakland in 1989.
The "Krukow Kurse"
Another curse popular amongst Giants fans is related to long time
Giants personality
Mike Krukow. The
"Krukow Kurse" is a "tongue-in-cheek" hex upon the Giants used to
explain their more than fifty year failure to win the
World Series. It is attributed to current
Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow based upon his yearly optimistic
pre-season predictions that the Giants "have a chance" to win the
World Series. Once Krukow stops making such claims- says the
legend- the Giants will in fact win the World Series.
See also
References
General reference
External links