San Francisco Giants

Team information

• Inaugural season: 1883
• Home ballpark: Oracle Park, San Francisco, California
• Owner: San Francisco Baseball Associates
• Team colors: Black, orange, gold, and cream

Overview

The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball (MLB) team playing in the National League (NL) West division. The Giants were established in New York in 1883 and became one of the NL’s premier franchises in the early twentieth century. Under the direction of legendary manager John McGraw, the Giants appeared in nine World Series from 1905 to 1924, winning three championships. In New York, the Giants developed fierce rivalries with the city’s other MLB teams—the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers. The rivalry with the Dodgers was especially heated and culminated in a 1951 pennant race decided by one of the most famous home runs in baseball history. The Giants and the Dodgers both relocated to the West Coast in the late 1950s; the Dodgers ended up in Los Angeles, and the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958. However, for five decades, the Giants failed to match the success they had enjoyed in New York. The team did experience a resurgence in the 2010s, capturing three World Series titles during the decade with a well-balanced team devoid of true superstars.

History

In 1883, John B. Day and Jim Mutrie, the owners of the New York Metropolitans—a professional team in the American Association (AA)—decided to establish another New York team in the rival National League (NL). While also technically called the Metropolitans, the NL squad was more commonly referred to as the Gothams. At first, Day and Mutrie focused their attention on their AA team, but as that league was struggling financially, they soon began to see the Gothams as the better investment. In 1885, Mutrie took over as manager of the team, which was renamed the Giants. According to legend, the name originated when Mutrie praised his players as “my giants” after a particularly exciting win in 1885; however, evidence suggests that the name was in use before the season even started.

In 1888 and 1889, the Giants won back-to-back championships in what was then called the World Series. This version of the series was played between the AA and NL champions and had no connection to the modern World Series, which began in 1903. By the turn of the century, the Giants were scuffling and looked to turn things around by hiring John McGraw as manager in 1903. While the short-tempered McGraw was known as “Little Napoleon” for his dictatorial style, he was also one of baseball’s best managers. In 1904, McGraw led the Giants to a NL title but famously refused to play the winner of the AL in the World Series, considering them an inferior league. A year later, the Giants again won the NL pennant and McGraw agreed to participate in the championship series. New York captured its first modern World Series title with a win over the Philadelphia Athletics (the modern Oakland Athletics) in five games. The Giants returned to the World Series in 1911, 1912, 1913, and 1917, losing each time.

For the first two decades of the twentieth century, the Giants were the most prominent team in New York City. That changed by the 1920s, when the New York Yankees began to build a dynasty around slugger Babe Ruth. The Yankees and Giants met in the World Series three consecutive years from 1921 to 1923, with the Giants winning championships in the first two of those meetings. In 1924, the Giants faced the Washington Senators in the World Series but lost in seven games. McGraw managed the Giants until 1932, retiring with 2,763 career wins, second most all-time in MLB history. A year later, the Giants won their fourth championship with a 4–1 series win over the Senators.

The Giants and Yankees squared off in two more World Series in 1936 and 1937, with the Yankees winning both times. The competition between those teams was intense, but nothing like the rivalry that developed between the Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers. As fellow members of the NL, the Dodgers and Giants faced each other often during the season, and by the 1940s, the Dodgers had supplanted the Giants as New York’s best NL team. In 1951, the Dodgers had opened up a thirteen-game lead over the Giants by mid-August and seemed well on their way to a NL pennant. However, the Giants staged a furious comeback to catch the Dodgers on the last day of the season and force a three-game playoff for the NL title. In the deciding third game, the Dodgers held a 4–1 lead in the ninth inning when the Giants began a rally. Outfielder Bobby Thomson clubbed a three-run homer to win the game and send the Giants to the World Series. The home run was dubbed the “shot heard ‘round the world” and is often recognized as the most famous home run in baseball history.

The Giants fell to the Yankees in the 1952 World Series, but bounced back to win the championship in 1954. By this time, the team’s iconic home ballpark, the Polo Grounds, had fallen into disrepair and attendance was suffering. As a result, the Giants’ owner decided to relocate the franchise to San Francisco in 1958. While the Giants made the World Series in 1962—losing another championship to the Yankees—the team often came up short in its quest to capture a sixth title. San Francisco made the playoffs in 1971 and 1987, but lost both times in the National League Championship series (NLCS). In 1989, the Giants faced off against the neighboring Oakland A’s in a Bay Area World Series. However, just prior to Game Three, Northern California was hit by a devastating earthquake that delayed the series for ten days. When it resumed, the A’s completed a sweep of the Giants, 4–0.

In 2002, San Francisco advanced to the World Series but fell in seven games to the Los Angeles Angels. That team was led by controversial slugger Barry Bonds, who would go on to set the all-time record for career home runs in 2007; however, he was also dogged by allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs, leading some to question the accomplishment. In 2010, three years after Bonds retired, a Giants team built on pitching and a hitting lineup of solid role players won an unexpected World Series title. Using a similar formula, the Giants won additional championships in 2012 and 2014—the latter title on the strength of a herculean pitching performance by Madison Bumgarner, who won two games in the series and saved the deciding seventh game with five innings of scoreless relief.

Since 2014, the Giants have struggled to match the success they enjoyed early in the decade. They did win a franchise-record 107 games in 2021, but were knocked out of the playoffs in the Division Series.

Notable players

More than sixty former players, managers, and team officials associated with the Giants have been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The team’s success in the early twentieth century was built around workhorse Christy Mathewson, one of the most dominant pitchers of his era. Mathewson won 372 of his 373 career victories with the Giants from 1900 to 1916 and led the NL in wins four times. He holds the franchise record for wins as well as strikeouts with 2,504. His career win total is third-best in MLB history. Slugging outfielder Mel Ott played his entire career with the Giants from 1926 to 1947. Ott led the NL in home runs six times and finished his career with what was then an NL-record 511 home runs. As of 2020, Ott remains the franchise leader with 1,860 runs batted in (RBIs).

Outfielder Willie Mays began his career with the Giants in 1951 and played in New York and San Francisco until 1972. Mays was one of the best outfielders in baseball history, both offensively and defensively. He hit 646 home runs as a Giant—first in team history—and his 660 career total is fifth in MLB history. He is first on the all-time franchise list with 2,011 runs scored and second in RBIs with 1,859, just one behind Ott’s team record. Mays also won twelve Gold Gloves for defensive excellence in his career. His running, over-the-shoulder catch in the 1954 World Series is considered one of the best defensive plays in baseball history and is often simply referred to as “the catch.”

Two of Mays’ teammates, pitcher Juan Marichal and first baseman Willie McCovey also went on to have Hall-of-Fame careers. Marichal played in San Francisco from 1960 to 1973 and is second on the franchise list in strikeouts with 2,281. McCovey hit 469 home runs as a Giant from 1959 to 1973 and won the 1969 NL Most Valuable Player (MVP) award. When the Giants opened their new ballpark in 2000, they named an area of San Francisco Bay over the park’s right-field wall McCovey Cove in his honor.

While not a Hall of Famer, outfielder Bobby Bonds made two All-Star teams with the Giants from 1968 to 1974. He is perhaps better known as the father of Barry Bonds, who played with San Francisco from 1993 to 2007. Barry Bonds was a fourteen-time All-Star who won a record seven MVP awards—five with the Giants and two with the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 2001, Bonds set the record for most home runs in a single season with 73. Six year later, he passed Hank Aaron’s mark of 755 home runs to establish a new all-time record. Bonds finished his career with 762 home runs and 1,996 RBIs. He hit 586 home runs with the Giants, second only to Mays on the franchise list. However, his accomplishments were later clouded by evidence linking him to performance-enhancing drugs. The accusations were enough to keep Bonds out of the Hall of Fame as of 2024, despite being eligible for inclusion since 2013.

Bibliography

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