The San Francisco Giants played their first game in 1883 but it did not take place in California and they were not called the Giants. It was the New York Gothams that took on the team from Boston and it happened at the Old Polo Grounds in New York. That game ended in a victory for the Gothams and the rest is baseball history.
The first change involved the name and it came in 1885 after a win in extra innings against Philadelphia. Then manager and co-founder Jim Mutrie praised his players in an emotional post game address by calling them his giants. The club dropped the Gothams label and from that time forward, they were known as the Giants.
They secured their first National League pennant in 1888 and then won the championship series against St. Louis in ten games. The following season was tumultuous as the club bounced from venue to venue before July 1889 when they finally landed at the Second Polo Grounds. That would be their home until 1957 when the organization left the east coast and headed to northern California.
The team escaped two subsequent moves. The first was in 1976 when a group led by Bob Lurie bought the franchise and blocked a possible move to Toronto. Sixteen years later, Lurie was frustrated at his inability to get a ballpark built downtown and agreed to sell to a group based in Florida. The team was spared another cross country trek when Peter Magowan spearheaded the effort by a local investment group to buy the team.
Games at Candlestick Park were as challenging for the players as they were for the fans. The location overlooking the bay guaranteed that most days were windy, cold, foggy or some combination of those conditions. The baseball team finally got their downtown stadium in 2000 with a move to China Basin.
With so much history, the Giants have had their share of firsts in the league. In 1902, they were the first squad to introduce the concept of using signs during a game. Manager John McGraw felt the easiest way to communicate with the only deaf-mute player on their squad was to order the players to learn sign language. This eventually led to silent communication between players on the field.
The Alou brothers, Jesus, Matty and Felipe, made Major League history on Sept. 15, 1963 when they took to the outfield at Forbes Park in Philadelphia for the Giants. It marked the first time an outfield was comprised of three brothers. Five days earlier all three went to bat in the same inning.
The players would probably rather forget 1984. That was a season that saw the squad lose 96 games. Fans, however, will remember it as the year Crazy Crab hit the field. The bug-eyed creature was supposed to be the anti-mascot. The intent was to mock traditional sports mascots but the poor thing bore the brunt of a frustrating season. By the time he was retired at the end of the season, Crazy Crab was universally abused by players as well as fans.
The rivalry between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers is legendary. It got its start in the 19th century when both clubs were based in New York. They made the jump to California together and the rivalry only grew fiercer with the change of scenery.
The first change involved the name and it came in 1885 after a win in extra innings against Philadelphia. Then manager and co-founder Jim Mutrie praised his players in an emotional post game address by calling them his giants. The club dropped the Gothams label and from that time forward, they were known as the Giants.
They secured their first National League pennant in 1888 and then won the championship series against St. Louis in ten games. The following season was tumultuous as the club bounced from venue to venue before July 1889 when they finally landed at the Second Polo Grounds. That would be their home until 1957 when the organization left the east coast and headed to northern California.
The team escaped two subsequent moves. The first was in 1976 when a group led by Bob Lurie bought the franchise and blocked a possible move to Toronto. Sixteen years later, Lurie was frustrated at his inability to get a ballpark built downtown and agreed to sell to a group based in Florida. The team was spared another cross country trek when Peter Magowan spearheaded the effort by a local investment group to buy the team.
Games at Candlestick Park were as challenging for the players as they were for the fans. The location overlooking the bay guaranteed that most days were windy, cold, foggy or some combination of those conditions. The baseball team finally got their downtown stadium in 2000 with a move to China Basin.
With so much history, the Giants have had their share of firsts in the league. In 1902, they were the first squad to introduce the concept of using signs during a game. Manager John McGraw felt the easiest way to communicate with the only deaf-mute player on their squad was to order the players to learn sign language. This eventually led to silent communication between players on the field.
The Alou brothers, Jesus, Matty and Felipe, made Major League history on Sept. 15, 1963 when they took to the outfield at Forbes Park in Philadelphia for the Giants. It marked the first time an outfield was comprised of three brothers. Five days earlier all three went to bat in the same inning.
The players would probably rather forget 1984. That was a season that saw the squad lose 96 games. Fans, however, will remember it as the year Crazy Crab hit the field. The bug-eyed creature was supposed to be the anti-mascot. The intent was to mock traditional sports mascots but the poor thing bore the brunt of a frustrating season. By the time he was retired at the end of the season, Crazy Crab was universally abused by players as well as fans.
The rivalry between the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers is legendary. It got its start in the 19th century when both clubs were based in New York. They made the jump to California together and the rivalry only grew fiercer with the change of scenery.
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Bobbie Barton is a fitness trainer She likes SportsFanTreasures.com and recommends you check out their info on Chicago White Sox Watch and Chicago Cubs Bedding
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