San Francisco Giants

From the “Fabulous Men of John McGraw,” to the “Shot Heard Around the World,” to the shattering of Babe Ruth’s most prized batting records, the Giants are one of the most celebrated franchises in baseball history.
This book traces their spectacular history by placing every season and career record in chronological order from 1883 to the present. Typical record books eliminate old records when new ones are created but this book never eliminates a record. Instead all new records are simply added to existing chronology lists so that no player or their records are forgotten and the histories of records are forever preserved. Thus we have the most complete record book ever written about the New York-San Francisco Giants.

Four never-before-seen features are presented. First are the Chronology Lists which show the very first Record Setters in 1883, and list every subsequent Record Breaker, until the present Record Holder is revealed. These lists are valuable because not only do they show who broke whose records, but how many years each record stood before broken and all unbroken records. These are all complete and easy to understand.

The second feature is the Record Holders List, which is presented at the end of each chapter and shows the top 5 or 10 record producers. In this way, the team’s greatest players are honored. The third feature includes the individual Record Profiles. These profiles show every record and player’s greatness is further revealed.

The final feature is the Composite Record Holders Lists. This is a compilation of every season and career record of every player in the Giants’ history. Two lists are presented, one for players and one for pitchers. The lists begin with the player and pitcher with the most records and ends with the players with the fewest. This gives glory to every player who has established at least one record.

To best understand the Chronology Lists, see this sample below of the season home run record.

This shows Buck Ewing as the first home run champion in 1883 with 10 round trippers. Four years later, Roger Connor set a new mark with 17 dingers and was tied by Mike Tiernan in 1891. Ten years would go by before George Kelly would become the new champion as he reached the seats 23 times.

Little but powerful, Mel Ott would excite Giants fans by almost doubling the record with 42 mighty blasts in 1929, and his record would last for 18 years before Johnny Mize landed 51 balls into the stands in 1947. It became Willie Mays’time in 1955: “The Say Hey Kid” tied Mize and then became the top gun in 1965 by breaking his own record with 52 rockets. This made him the only 2-time home run champion, a record he holds to this day.

In 2001, Barry Bonds concluded the fireworks by breaking not only every Giant home run record but every home run record in baseball history with 73 incredible home runs. It is doubtful that anyone will ever break the amazing record of Barry Bonds.

Here fans can clearly see the value of the chronology lists. They show the complete history of every record category from beginning to end; it’s absolutely complete. The entire book uses this chronology concept to forever preserve the history of records.

TEAM HISTORY
In 1883, the team was called the New York Gothams; they became the Giants in 1885. While in New York the club did well, winning 5 World Series and 17 pennants while playing in 16 post-season playoffs. They remained the New York Giants until owner Horace Stoneham moved the team to San Francisco in 1957, where they became the San Francisco Giants.

Their first manager was John Clapp in 1883, who was replaced by Jim Price in 1884. Before the year was over, Price lost his job to Monte Ward, who later went on to form the Montgomery Ward department stores. Jim Mutrie took over the team in 1885 and stayed until 1891, winning pennants in 1888 and 1889. Then hard times would fall on the club for the next ten years, when they would hire and fire 14 managers.

Improvement began in 1902, when John McGraw took over and the club would not need another manager for 33 years. “Little Napoleon,” as he was called, won 10 pennants, 3 World Series, and came in second 11 times. Only 3 times during his 33-year helm did the team finish in the second division.

After managing 40 games in 1932, McGraw took ill and was replaced by Bill Terry. Under Terry the team fell from second place to last place, but then he did an about-face and led them back to first place in 1933. The beloved McGraw died on February 25, 1934, which marked a very sad time in Giants history.

Terry was a player-manager for the next five years and did well in leading the team to two pennants and a second- and third-place finish. Mel Ott was the new manager in 1942 and also played for the next six years, but could not bring the team in higher than third place.

Leo Durocher was hired in 1948, coming over from the Dodgers, and in 8 years won two pennants, keeping them in contention all the time. Bill Rigney was manager in 1956 while talk of moving the club out west loomed. The Giants welcomed the move to San Francisco in 1958, contended for three years when Tom Sheehan replaced Rigney in 1960.
Al Dark was boss from 1961 to 1964, winning a pennant in 1962. Herman Franks did a fine job from 1965 to 1968, but finished second four years in a row. Clyde King put in a year and a half, giving way to Charlie Fox in 1970, who won a division title in 1971.

Wes Westrum was the new leader in 1974 and from 1975 to the present, the club would go through nine managers. Roger Craig won two titles, while Dusty Base won three division titles and finished second four times. Felipe Alou won a division title in 2003 and gave way to Bruce Bochy in 2007, who would excite Giant fans by winning three World Series in five years.