Bringing Giants Past to Life

It’s been over 35 years since Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper first met and their friendship is a true winning combination. Krukow is the broadcast team’s color analyst on NBC Sports Bay Area and NBC Bay Area telecasts, and on KNBR Radio broadcasts and was named California’s 2015and 2017 Sportscaster of the Year. The former big-league pitcher has received 13 local Emmy awards: On-Camera talent(7); Sports Live Broadcast (2); Sporting Event/Game-Live (2); Arts/Entertainment-Program/Special (1); and Executive Producer Baseball Ballet (1). Kuiper, who does the team’s play-by-play, has also received 13 local Emmy awards for his distinguished broadcasting career: On-Camera talent (9); Sports Live Broadcast (2); and Sporting Event/Game-Live (2). and was named California’s 2020 Sportscaster of the Year as selected by the National Sports Media Association.

The Willie McCovey Award is an annual honor bestowed upon the most inspirational player on the Giants, as voted upon by Giants players, coaches, training staff, clubhouse staff and the fans. Established in 1980,the award is named in honor of legend and Hall of Famer Willie McCovey and is presented before the final Friday night game of the season. Engraved on the plaque that Mike Matheny received in 2005 are the words “Competitive Spirit, Ability and Leadership” to characterize the qualities both McCovey and Matheny exemplify.

William D. Boyce needed help distributing his newspapers and he turned to baseball for help. Boyce, who would go on to found the Boy Scouts of America, knew American’s loved baseball so he enlisted the help of Giants Hall of Famer, Christy Mathewson to help teach boys how to throw his fadeaway (now called the screwball) in exchange for becoming a “Boyce Boy” (aka paperboy). At the time of this advertisement over 30,000 Boyce Boys were selling his papers, which begs the question, were Giants screwball pitchers, Carl Hubbell and Juan Marichal, Boyce Boys?

50 years after making his Major League debut, the Giants portrayed a youthful Orlando Cepeda in bronze. The Baby Bull was awarded the NL Rookie of the Year Award in 1958 by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America and named to San Francisco’s All-Time team by Giants fans. The six-time All-Star, who was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1999, played the first 9 years of his career with the Giants and still holds the franchise record for RBI by a first baseman with 142.

Leonardo da Vinci is credited with creating a wind-up mechanical lion in the early 1500s, but our favorite is still one that was created about 500 years later. A popular novelty, wind-ups (or tin-toys as they were known) entertained kids and grownups alike as until disposable batteries caught on in the 1960s. While wind-up toys don’t have the following they had 100 years ago, the Giants kept the tradition alive when the Tim Lincecum wind-up was distributed in 2009.

Bronze plaques take months to produce and when J.T. Snow’s Wall of Fame plaque was unveiled on September 23, 2008,everything looked good. Located along King Street, the Wall of Fame serves as a living tribute to the organization’s greatest players and executives. It recognizes retired players whose records stand highest among their teammates based on longevity and achievements. Those honored have played a minimum of nine seasons for the San Francisco Giants, or five seasons with at least one All-Star selection as a Giant. The day after the unveiling, Snow signed a one-day contract with the Giants and the team quickly created the second plaque. The updated plaque, with “2008” added to his years with the Giants, is currently installed with the 52 other legends on the wall.

On July 20, 1969,Neil Armstrong made a giant leap for mankind when he took the first steps on the moon. On July 20, 2020,Alyssa Nakken made a giant leap for womankind when she stepped onto the baseball field. With her stopwatch in hand, Nakken made her way to the first base coaches box in the seventh inning and made history by becoming the first woman in Major League history to coach on the field during the game. She began her career with the Giants in 2014 as a baseball operations intern. She later transitioned to Giants Enterprises where she played an active role in the health & wellness initiatives of the San Francisco Giants. Along with coaching, Nakken served as a co-chairwoman of the Giants first Employee Resource Group -“Momentum” whose vision is to foster a company culture of genuine appreciation for, and commitment to, the empowerment of women.

In 1984 the Giants summarized the Community Days in a scrapbook. Over half the home games that season were dedicated to Bay Area communities and the players did their part to make everyone feel at home in Candlestick Park. The third annual Sunnyvale day was held on September 23rd,and it was a true community event, with Sunnyvale Mayor Ron Gonzales throwing out the first pitch and The Spirit of Sunnyvale Marching Youth Band entertaining the crowd. The team on the field got in on the fun and made sure everyone went home happy by beating the Dodges 4-2.

Sunday, October 4, 1992 was the final game of the baseball season, but it was almost the last game for the San Francisco Giants. In August of 1992, an “agreement in principle” to sell the team was signed by Giants owner Bob Lurie and a group of investors in Tampa Bay, Florida. 3 ½ hours before the final game Giants Manager Roger Craig called a special team meeting and had the difficult job of telling the players that this would be the last time they would be wearing “San Francisco” on their jerseys. Luckily, a group of investors led by Peter Magowan had other ideas and the Giants were able to celebrate Opening Day in San Francisco in 1993.-From the Nick Peters Collection

Sergio Romo is known for his no-dot slider, but it was his fastball that won the 2012 World Series for the Giants. Miguel Cabrera was at the plate with two outs in the bottom of the tenth inning, and the Triple Crown winner was waiting on Romo’s famed no-dot slider. The Giants closer had a different idea, “Buster [Posey] and I were the only ones that knew a fastball was coming. ”With a count of 2-2the Tigers 3rdbaseman watch the fastball go into Posey’s glove for the final strike of the 2012 season. The Giants finished the month of October with seven straight wins and their seventh World Series championship.

Like all Giants fans, Huey Lewis still laments the outcome of the 1962 World Series and has wonderful memories of watching Willie Mays saying, “I was a big Giants fan. Watching Mays in his heyday, it just doesn’t get any better than Willie Mays.” Lewis took his fandom up a notch with the video for his 2020 song “Her Love Is Killin’ Me”. In the video former Giants manager lip syncs while being “interviewed” by the three-time All-Star, Rick Sutcliffe. The admiration between Lewis and the Giants goes both ways, he (along with The News) performed the National Anthem at Candlestick and AT&T Park, delivered the lineup card to the umpires and even coached first base for the Giants.

The only player to win the Most Valuable Player Award in both leagues, Frank Robinson brought a lifetime of baseball experience when he became the Giants Manager in 1981.As a player, Robinson was a 14-time All Star, won the triple crown and was a World Series MVP, but after his retirement he continued to make history. While Robinson is widely known for becoming the first African American manager in the American League, he is also notable for being the first African American manager for the National League when he joined the Giants. After Robinson was announced as the Giants manager Jack Clark commented, “Just hanging around the great ones has an effect. You pick up the little things that helped make them great, instead of trying to learn your own way.”

Honored by the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the 2010 Ford C. Frick award winner for baseball broadcasting excellence, Jon Miller, the “Voice of the Giants”, joined the Giants in 1997in the broadcast booth on KNBR Radio, NBC Bay Area and NBC Sports Bay Area. A Bay Area native, Miller began his broadcasting career as a student at the College of San Mateo and broadcast baseball, football and basketball games on KCSM, the college’s radio and TV stations. Prior to joining the Giants Miller spent time with ESPN (21 years), the Orioles (14 years), Rangers (2 years) and Red Sox (3 years). In 2020 Miller was named “one of the 50 most significant off field figures in baseball in the past 50 years” by the Society of American Baseball Research.

Looking good was as important in 1914 as it is today. Everyone from Charlie Chaplin to Giants manager, John McGraw, went to Royal Tailors to make sure they were ready for a day, or night, on the town. On page 38 of the Salesman Sample Book from 1914,McGraw shows off style 369-C, a “two-button double-breasted sack”. The flip side of the page has mounted fabric samples, guaranteed all pure wool,from the company that originated “money back if you’re not satisfied” in the garment industry and “Even the very day your delivery is guaranteed in Royal tailoring. If your garment is not completed on schedule we forfeit $1 for each day’s delay.”

It was a brief conversation, but Babe Ruth would have been proud. After Cody Ross and Juan Uribe got on base in the top of the seventh inning of the fifth game of the 2010 World Series, Edgar Renteria predicted he would hit the ball out of the park, and a cutter from the Rangers’ Cliff Lee that stayed over the plate was all Renteria needed to make his prophecy come true. Renteria’s three-run home run was all the Giants needed to win their first World Series since 1954 and to bring the World Series Trophy to San Francisco for the first time. He made a bold prediction, but as Renteria said, “I was joking, but it went out.”

The Giants Community Fund uses baseball and softball to promote health, education, and character development to propel youth in underserved regions to be positive forces in their communities. The Fund, a 501(c)(3) public charity, is managed by a volunteer Board of Directors and sustained by contributions from individuals, businesses and foundations through a number of special partnerships and fundraisers. Since its inception in 1991, the Fund has donated over $34.5 million to community efforts.

-Donated by Danny Dann

For over 150 years the hidden-ball trick has been used to get a quick out. Defined by The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary as “a time-honored legal ruse in which an [infielder] conceals the ball and hopes that the baserunner believes it has been returned to the pitcher. When the runner steps off the base, he is summarily tagged out with the hidden ball.” On June 26, 1999 J.T. Snow got in on the fun when he successfully used the trick to get the Dodgers’ Carlos Perez out in the top of the 4th inning. After the game, Snow commented, “I was nervous. I felt like I was stealing something and running out of a store.”

Much has been said (good and bad) about Candlestick Park, but it was groundbreaking. It is considered the first modern ballpark because it was the first to be built entirely of reinforced concrete. Regular concrete does not hold up to wind, earthquakes and other vibrations, which would be a problem at Candlestick Point. When steel is embedded in the concrete, it strengthens the structure so it can withstand gale-force winds, a 6.9 earthquake and over 60,000 celebrating Giants fans.

-Donated by Danny Dann

Millions of children dream about hitting a home run in the World Series, and in the 2012 World Series Pablo Sandoval lived the dream three times in one game. Of the three home runs he hit that day, Giants batting coach, Bam Bam Meulens remarked, “My favorite was the first one because it was an 0-2 count and it was a 95—mph fastball up in the zone. It’s hard to hit those pitches out.” Joining Babe Ruth (1926 & 1928),Reggie Jackson (1977) and Albert Pujols (2011) in the World Series, Single Game Home Run Record Book is a dream come for any baseball fan.

On June 27, 1905 a lifelong partnership was formed when Giants owner, John T. Brush, hired a 12-year-old Eddie Brannick as an errand boy. Brannick did such a great job, the following year he started helping “Mr. McGraw” (as he always called the Giants manager)in the clubhouse, and he never left. After working for the club for over 30 years, the 43 year-old officially became the Giants[Traveling] Secretary on February 15, 1936 –it was a position he would hold for the next 35 years. When Brannick retired on February 23, 1971 he had spent 65 years with the team, working with everyone from Christy Mathewson to Tito Fuentes and coordinating team travel from the Jazz Age to the Jet Age.

For almost 100 years baseball and The Breakfast of Champions have gone together. Seven years after the Minneapolis company became a sponsor at Nicollet Park,they put the first athlete (Lou Gehrig) on their box. In 2001 Barry Bonds was added to the list of baseball greats after hitting 73 home runs and becoming the single season Home Run Champion.

-From the Nick Peters collection

Giants owner, Horace Stonham knew that baseball is at its best when it brings people together and in1953 he saw an opportunity to do just that. Starting in 1931, San Francisco Seals legend, Lefty O’Doul started arranging tours across Japan with other major leaguers, but when Shodi Yasuda, the president of Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper and baseball team, invited the Giants to Japan in 1953 it was the first time a single team traveled there. Less than 10 years after the end of World War II, Bobby Hofman and his Giants teammates received an enameled belt buckle from the Nagoya Dragons commemorating their game on October 25, 1953and helped to promote baseball around the world and bring the two countries together.

The top of the ball says everything about Willie Mays: LEGEND. In 2021 we celebrate Mays’ 90th birthday and it’s good to remember how much the world has changed since his birth on May 6, 1931. When Mays, along with William Shatner, James Dean and Desmond Tutu, was born the average wage was $1,850.00 a year and for an average of $18 a month you could rent a house(!) or purchase a new one for under $7,000. 1931 also was the last year you could buy a new Ford Model A paying 10 cents a gallon for gas, which you could use to cross the newly completed George Washington Bridge to see the brand-new Empire State Building.