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Giants first home in San Francisco
By Jeremy Kahn April 29, 2006 |
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Many people probably think when the San Francisco Giants moved to the “City by the Bay,” in 1958, they moved right into Candlestick Park. Well, most or nearly all-true Giants fans know that when they debuted on April 15, 1958 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the game was played at Seals Stadium. Seals Stadium opened on April 7, 1931, as the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League played there along with the San Francisco Missions. The Missions stayed tenants of the ballpark until 1938 when they left San Francisco and moved to Hollywood. Being the lone tenants, the Seals stayed at the Seals Stadium until the end of the 1957 season, when it was announced that the New York Giants would be leaving New York after 84 years and moving to San Francisco. In need of a home stadium, the Giants played at Seals Stadium for just two seasons until moving to Candlestick Park. That first game was a memorable one, as the Giants defeated their longtime rivals from New York, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who moved from Brooklyn at the same time as the Giants. In defeating the Dodgers by the final score of 8-0, Giants fans in San Francisco learned that there was no love loss between these two teams. Deciding that they needed a new stadium, the Giants left Seals Stadium after the 1959 season, as they would move down Interstate 101 to Candlestick Park. Seals Stadium was demolished just two months after the end of the 1959 season, and currently is the home of a Safeway store at the corner of 16th and Bryant, in the city’s Potrero Hill District. Both the lights and the folding seats were sold foe use Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, Washington, and the seats were used at the stadium until the 2005 season, when they were sold at the basic price of $75 each. |
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