San Francisco Giants have established themselves as one of the most prestigious names in American professional sports. Their story began when John B. Day and Jim Mutrie founded a second baseball club. The Giants’ logo features black block letters over a much used baseball that has been rubbed in dirt to diminish the glare. 

History of San Francisco Giants

Earlier San Francisco Giants went by the name of New York Gothams in 1883-1885, after which it changed to New York Giants till 1957. This period was marked with five World Series Championship wins and 18 pennants. 

Their fortunes however seemed to have reversed once the name became San Francisco Giants in 1958. There was a sharp decline in their performance and they failed to win any World Series championship again. In the period between 1958 and 1970, the best finish that the San Francisco Giants could come up with was their World Series Appearance in 1962. At last, they won the 1971 Division Championship. The struggles continued from 1972 to 1986 letting down their fans. 

Slight relief came between 1987-2002 for the Giants members and fans alike with four Division Championship wins and a National League Pennant. 

In 2003 they notched up 100 wins for the seventh time in franchise history and the third in San Francisco. Their 100-61 record kept the Giants at the top of the National League west for the whole season. They were only the ninth wire-to-wire winner of a division or pennant in baseball history. In 2004, the Wild Card and Division eluded them narrowly ending their season one game short of the Houston Astros in the Wild Card race and two games less than the Los Angeles Dodgers in the Division race. 

San Francisco Giants are represented in the Hall of Fame by Steve Carlton LHP, Duke Snider, Warren Spahn and Joe Morgan. The exceptional players whom the Giants considered worthy of retiring numbers are Bill Terry’s #3, Mel Ott’s #4, Carl Hubbell’s #11, Willie Mays’ #24 and Juan Marichal’s #27. 

Stadium History of San Francisco Giants

Seals Stadium became the first ballpark for San Francisco Giants in 1958. They played here for 2 years. In 1960, they moved on to Candlestick Park where they remained for the next 40 years. Another name for Candlestick Park was 3 Corn Stadium from 1995 to 1999. In the year 2000, wind conditions forced them to move to SBC Park. 

The location of SBC is downtown San Francisco in the China Basin area. Pacific Bell paid $50 million for naming rights, which resulted in the ballpark being names Pacific Bell Park from 2000 to 2003. Following the 2003 season, the name changed from Pacific Bell Park to SBC Park with the acquisition of Pacific Bell by SBC Communications Inc. 

SBC Park follows Dodger Stadium opened in 1962 as the first privately funded ballpark built for major league baseball. Its location is among the sunniest, warmest parts of San Francisco. In comparison to Candlestick Park, wind conditions are much better as modern design technology ensures that the construction effectively blocks the wind. Today few can compare to SBC as one of the most popular baseball parks.