San Francisco Giants Baseball
The San Francisco Giants have been around for quite a while, but they weren’t always located in San Francisco. In 1883, a National League team was formed in New York called the Gothams. After a rousing extra-innings victory over Philadelphia in 1885, manager Jim Mutrie was so overcome that he supposedly blurted out a description of his team that immediately became the franchise's new nickname. He called them his Giants. The Giants won their first pennant in 1888. They then go on to defeat the St. Louis Browns to win their first world championship.
After two disappointing seasons the owner of the Giants considers moving them to Minnesota in 1957, but decides to go to the west coast. The San Francisco Giants are greeted by a huge opening day parade in 1958 before taking the field at Seal Stadium.
In 1999, current players, old players and fans said good-bye to Candlestick Park. The assembled players gathered at the pitching mound, Mays threw the last-ever pitch at Candlestick Park. Behind the plate was his godson, the Giants' All-Star left fielder Barry Bonds. After catching the ball, he handed it over to one of their most loyal fans, Marge Wallace. Home plate was dug up and a helicopter landed to take it to its new home. The plate took its rightful spot at Pacific Bell Park as the strains of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" played.
The San Francisco Giants don’t break in the new park with a bang in 2000. They lose their first six games there, but win the love of their fans by selling out every game in the new park. Jeff Kent wins the NL MVP while Dusty Baker captures his third Manager of the Year Award.
Barry Bonds had an amazing season in 2001 by breaking Mark McGwire’s homerun record. He did it by hitting 73 even though he was walked 177 times. He also had an incredible .863 slugging percentage.
AT&T Park
AT&T Park is the first privately financed ballpark in Major League Baseball since Dodger Stadium (1962). The Giants' new home features an inspiring nine-foot statue of one America's greatest living ballplayers, Willie Mays, at the public entrance. 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.
A unique public promenade has been developed along the waterfront from right field to center field where fans of all ages can watch the game through a fence at no charge and where San Franciscans can enjoy new access to the bay year round. Ferries dock directly adjacent to the ballpark beyond the right field wall.
The left-field outfield contains the huge Coca-Cola bottle with childrens' slides and miniature AT&T Park. Two playground slides actually wind their way through the Coke bottle, and next to it is a miniature park where kids can bat balls and run the bases. Beyond the center-field scoreboard is a restaurant area with BBQ and seafood. The right-field concourse is fairly narrow, but extremely popular, as folks gather to watch Barry Bonds try to crank one into McCovey Cove.