|
|
|
|
|
Giants move into first home
By Jeremy Kahn May 6, 2006 |
||
|
|
|||
|
When the San Francisco Giants first moved to San Francisco in 1958, owner Horace Stoneham’s team played in Seals Stadium, a former minor league park in the Potrero Hill section of the city. After just two seasons at the corner of 16th Street and Bryant Street, the Giants were ready to move into their brand-new park in the southeast section of San Francisco. In 1957, when Stoneham first announced that he was moving the Giants to San Francisco from New York, he wanted the Giants to play in a brand-new stadium. Stoneham met with then San Francisco mayor George Christopher, and the two men met at Candlestick Point and toured the site. The two men made a deal, and this was where the San Francisco Giants would play their games once the stadium was completed. With the architectural skills of John Bolles, and the engineering of Chin and Hensley, Candlestick Park, as would be known was ready to be built. Charles Harney was named the contractor for the site, and just over two and a half years after deciding on where to put the stadium, it opened on April 12, 1960, when the Giants hosted the St. Louis Cardinals with Vice President Richard Nixon in attendance. Who can ever forget Giants pitcher Stu Miller being blown off the mound by the famous swirling wind of Candlestick. The first All-Star game at Candlestick ended in a 1-1 tie, the only tie in All-Star game history until the 2002 game at Miller Park in Milwaukee. In 1962, the Giants made it to their first World Series since 1954, but lost to the New York Yankees in a dramatic seven-game series. With the tying run on third base and the series-winning run on second, Willie McCovey hit a shot that looked like it would go into right field and give the Giants the championship. Unfortunately, Yankees second baseman Bobby Richardson ended the dream, when he snared the ball for the third out, giving the Bronx Bombers their 21st World Championship and second in a row. The ‘Stick as it would become known was the site of the last Beatles concert on August 29, 1966. Willie Mays, who played for the Giants from 1951-1972 until being traded to the New York Mets broke Mel Ott’s National League record for most home runs on May 4, 1966. Five years later, on July 18, 1971, Mays joined an exclusive club, as he picked up his 3,000th hit at Candlestick. After a 23-year absence the midsummer classic finally made its long awaited return to Candlestick Park on July 10, 1984. Fifty years after Giants pitcher Carl Hubbell struck out five consecutive batters, Dwight Gooden of the New York Mets and Fernando Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Dodgers combined to tie Hubbell’s record, as they struck out five in a row and the National League defeated the American League 3-1. Gary Carter of the Mets was named the game’s Most Valuable Player for the second time in four years after hitting a home run. The Giants finally made it back to the World Series in 1989, when they faced their neighbors from the East Bay, the Oakland A’s. Tragedy struck just 31 minutes before game three, as at 5:04 p.m. on October 17, 1989, a 7.1 earthquake rocked the San Francisco Bay Area, bringing the World Series to a halt. Despite restarting the series 10 days later, the Giants could not recover from the long layoff and the A’s swept the Giants in four games. In 1992, with the help of Safeway President Peter Magowan, who bought the club from Bob Lurie, the Giants stayed in San Francisco after coming within moments of leaving town for Tampa, Florida. Things would change in 1993, as Magowan would hire Dusty Baker as manager and sign the most prized free agent on the market, San Francisco’s own Barry Bonds, whose father Bobby patrolled the outfields of Candlestick with Barry’s godfather, Mays. In the final seven seasons at Candlestick, the Giants would make it to the playoffs in 1997, but were derailed by the Florida Marlins, who would go on to win the World Series in seven games over the Cleveland Indians. The Giants left Candlestick after the 1999 season, but the memories of Candlestick will leave on in that ballpark, as the San Francisco 49ers still play inside the venerable old park on Candlestick Point. |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||