The Queen of Concrete[1] | |
 | |
 Interactive map of Seals Stadium | |
| Location | Bryant & 16th Streets (right field corner) Mission District San Francisco, California, U.S. |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°46′0″N122°24′33″W / 37.76667°N 122.40917°W /37.76667; -122.40917 |
| Owner | San Francisco Seals Paul I. Fagan[2] |
| Capacity | 16,000 (1931) 18,500 (1946) 22,900 (1958) |
| Field size | Left Field – 365 ft (1931), 361 ft (1958) Left-Center – 375 ft (1931), 364 ft (1958) Center Field – 400 ft (1931), 410 ft (1958), 400 ft (1959) Right-Center – 397 ft (1958) Right Field – 385 ft (1931), 365 ft (1940), 348 ft (1958) |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Opened | April 7, 1931 |
| Closed | September 20, 1959 |
| Demolished | November 1959 |
| Construction cost | $1.25 million[3] |
| Tenants | |
| San Francisco Seals (PCL) (1931–1957) Mission Reds (PCL) (1931–1937) San Francisco Giants (MLB) (1958–1959) | |
Seals Stadium was aMinor League Baseball stadium inSan Francisco, California, United States; it later became the first home of themajor-leagueSan Francisco Giants. Opened in theMission District in 1931, Seals Stadium was the longtime home of theSan Francisco Seals (1931–1957) of thePacific Coast League. The PCL'sMission Reds (1931–1937) shared the ballpark with the Seals for the first seven years, then moved toLos Angeles and became theHollywood Stars.
In 1958, Seals Stadium became a temporary home for the Giants for their first two seasons in San Francisco whileCandlestick Park was under construction. Less than three decades old, Seals Stadium was demolished in late 1959 after construction onCandlestick Park was finished.[4]
Seals Stadium opened on April 7, 1931, after a construction cost of $1.25 million. It was of concrete and steel construction and was named after its key tenant, thePacific Coast League'sSan Francisco Seals. It was uniquely designed to host another San Francisco Pacific Coast League team, theMission Reds. The ballpark land had been part of pioneer land plots of the "Home Plate Mine", which became an early nickname of the ballpark. Built during theGreat Depression, Seals President"Doc" Strub described how laborers would leap onto the running boards of his automobile and beg for the opportunity to work on the project for $3 a day.[5][6]
With two tenants, Seals Stadium was uniquely constructed with three dressing rooms. One dressing room was for the visiting team, and one for each of the minor league home teams. The stadium had six tower banks for lighting, which were described as the best in minor league baseball at the time.
Opening with a capacity of 18,600, Seals Stadium had no roof over the grandstands, because of San Francisco's little rainfall during the summertime and the fans' preference to sit in the sun.[7] The original uncovered grandstand stretched from foul pole to foul pole. In some years during its minor league days, a live seal was kept in a water tank underneath the grandstand. The field was oriented southeast (home plate to second base), with the right field bleachers bounded by 16th Street.[8]
The initial dimensions of the outfield were planned to be 364 ft (111 m) along the left field foul line, 450 ft (140 m) to center field, and 385 ft (117 m) to the right field foul line.[9] The eventual posted distance to left field was 365 ft (111 m).
For the 1946 season, bleachers were built across the right field area, with the plan to reduce the foul line distance by "about 25 feet".[10] The final distance turned out to be posted as 348 ft (106 m). An inner fence was also constructed across center field, reducing the distance to about 400 ft (120 m).
For the 1951 season, bleachers were built in front of the left field wall, reducing the foul line distance to 347 ft (106 m). This was done at the behest of the Seals' president, Paul Fagan, and the area was dubbed "Paul's Porch". That experiment lasted just the one season, and it was removed in the spring of 1952.[11]
The San Francisco Seals began play in 1903 as charter team in thePacific Coast League. They played at the woodenRecreation Park, located at Valencia and 14th Street, before Seals Stadium was built for them. In 1926, the Pacific Coast League Mission Reds (named after theMission District) relocated fromLos Angeles where they had been called theVernon Tigers. They joined the Seals at Recreation Park.[12]
On March 13, 1931, Seals Stadium officially opened with a spring training game between the Seals and theDetroit Tigers.[13] At the regular season home opener on April 7, 1931,Ty Cobb threw out the first pitch, with 25,000 fans in attendance.[3] The Missions opened their home season at Seals Stadium a week later, April 14 - hosting the Seals.
Notably,Hall of FamerJoe DiMaggio grew up in San Francisco and played for the Seals from October 1932 through 1935. In 1933, DiMaggio hit safely in a record 61 straight games for the Seals, with 169 RBI and a batting average of .340.[13] Another future major league playerGus Suhr had an incredible season for the Seals in 1929, hitting .381 with 51 home runs and 177 RBI. Other notable Seals players included Hall of FamersEarl Averill,Paul Waner,Lloyd Waner,Joe Cronin andLefty Gomez, as well asDominic DiMaggio,Vince DiMaggio,Albie Pearson andFerris Fain.[citation needed]
Seals Stadium hosted other events. On February 22, 1933, boxerYoung Corbett III defeatedJackie Fields at the stadium, earning the title ofWorld Welterweight Champion. Corbett later won theMiddleweight Championship at Seals, beatingFred Apostoli on February 22, 1938.
While the Seals remained, theMission Reds left Seals Stadium and moved toLos Angeles in 1938, where they became theHollywood Stars, playing atGilmore Field.[citation needed] The Missions wrapped up their time at Seals Stadium with a doubleheader win over San Diego on September 19, 1937.
After World War II concluded, Seals owner Paul Fagan invested in a stadium makeover. Fagan had all billboards removed and had the entire stadium painted green. Nearby the stadium was the Rainier (later Hamm's) Brewery. The roof of the brewery contained a sign depicting an enormous foaming glass of beer that was lit up at night and was visible from inside the park. Also nearby was the Langendorf Bakery, which sent the smell of baking bread into the ballpark. At the corner of 16th Street and Bryant was the Double Play bar and grill, which was open from 1909 until a fire destroyed it in 2022.[14] It had been described as a "shrine to baseball."[12][15]
The Seals drew well at Seals Park. In 1948 they set a minor league attendance record, drawing 670,000 fans. This showcased the feasibility that San Francisco could someday sustain and support a Major League franchise and Fagan was posturing to position the Seals to become a major league franchise.[16][12]In 1950, Fagan briefly halted peanut sales at the stadium, possibly due to cleanup costs. The move was ill-advised, as disgruntled fans brought their own peanuts and hurled the shells onto the field. After the “Peanut Revolt,” Fagan gave away 18,000 free bags of peanuts.[12]
The Seals closed out their time in San Francisco on a high note, winning the PCL championship. The actual final PCL games at Seals Stadium were a meaningless doubleheader loss to theSacramento Solons on September 15, 1957. The second game was played for laughs, with managers and even the umpire taking brief turns at playing for the teams. The finale was well-attended, with 15,484 spectators. With the Los Angeles and San Francisco markets due to be taken over by major league baseball in 1958, it was feared that the PCL would disband.[17] But the PCL continued, in other cities.
In 1958, after theNew York Giants confirmed their intention to move to San Francisco, the Seals relocated toPhoenix, Arizona, becoming thePhoenix Giants.
On May 28, 1957, theNew York Giants and ownerHorace Stoneham announced they intended to leave thePolo Grounds inNew York City and relocate to San Francisco. The major league owners approved the move under the condition that theBrooklyn Dodgers would also complete their intended move to Los Angeles. Dodgers' ownerWalter O'Malley and San Francisco MayorGeorge Christopher had worked to partner with Stoneham on the move to San Francisco. Both teams moving to California together made sense for scheduling balance and travel. On August 19, 1957, official announcement of the moves was made.[18][19] By agreement, both teams would play in temporary locations while each city build a new ballpark. The Giants agreed to play at Seals Stadium whileCandlestick Park was under construction and the Dodgers played atLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum, (bypassing smallerLos Angeles Wrigley Field), whileDodger Stadium was under construction.[18][19]
To accommodateMajor League Baseball, more seating was needed at Seals Stadium. A separate uncovered bleacher section was added in left field. This reduced the left field line to 361 ft (110 m), with left-center posted as 364 ft (111 m). The other posted distances were 401 ft (122 m) and 397 ft (121 m) to the center field corners; 350 ft (110 m) to right center field; and 348 ft (106 m) along the right field line. The ballfield remained without a warning track. Given the temporary usage by the Giants, Seals Stadium was not renamed.[20] The original plan was to play just the first year at Seals Stadium, but that proved to not be the case.[2]
On April 15, 1958, the firstWest Coast Major League game was played at Seals Park. With Hall of FamersWillie Mays andOrlando Cepeda, the Giants opened with an 8–0 victory overDon Drysdale and the newLos Angeles Dodgers. Mays would go on to hit .347 with 29 home runs in 1958 and Cepeda would win theNational League Rookie of the Year Award.Willie McCovey, another future Hall of Famer, then won the award in 1959.[18][21] Cepeda would hit his first career home run at Seals Stadium on April 15, 1958.[6]
The Giants drew well at Seals Stadium. Finishing 80–74 in 1958, they drew 1,272,625 fans. That increased to 1,422,130 in 1959, when the Giants finished 83–71.[22][23]
Prevailing winds to left field aided right-handed hitters; of the 45 home runs hit in its first 19 major league games in 1958, 36 were to left field.[24] All-Star Giants pitcherJohnny Antonelli was not a fan of the ballpark, telling reporters after a loss, "A pitcher should be paid double for working here. Worst ballpark in America. Every time you stand up there, you’ve got to beat the hitter and a 30-mile-per-hour wind."[25] A brewery was just north of the venue.[4][26]
At the time, its weather was thought to be considerably less favorable than the site of the park under construction atCandlestick Point.[2]
The final game at Seals Stadium took place on September 20, 1959. The Giants lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers 8–2 in front of 22,923 spectators.[27]
With Candlestick Park nearing completion, Seals Stadium was demolished in November 1959. Many of the seats and the light towers were eventually repurposed atCheney Stadium inTacoma, Washington.[4][28]
After demolition, the site (bounded by Bryant Street, 16th Street, Potrero Avenue and Alameda Street) initially housed aWhite Front department store. For many years after, there were several automobile dealerships after the 1982 demise of Van Ness Avenue's famedauto row. In the late 1990s, the area was converted to a shopping center.[4][29]
On April 15, 2008, the San Francisco Giants paid tribute to the 50th anniversary of their move to Seals Stadium. There was a ceremony at the Seals Stadium site and another atAT&T Park to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1958 Opening Day. The Giants' home game that day – against theArizona Diamondbacks – was started at 1:35 p.m., the starting time commemorated the same time of day Giants' pitcherRuben Gomez threw the first pitch at Seals Stadium on Opening Day, April 15, 1958. The first 20,000 fans attending the Diamondbacks-Giants game received a commemorative poster print of the Gomez' first pitch from 1958.Orlando Cepeda andGino Cimoli, the first men to bat on that historic day, threw out the ceremonial first pitch.[30][31]
There were pre-game events at the site of Seals Stadium. Ceremonies included the unveiling of a new bronze historical plaque at the site, a recreation of the radio call of the first pitch byJon Miller, an honoring of Mike Murphy, the Giants 50-year legendary clubhouse manager, as well as speeches/recollections byWillie Mays and others. Among those recognized were Giants Hall of Famers Mays andOrlando Cepeda and 1958 Giants playersJim Davenport andEddie Bressoud. Descendants of former Giants' ownerHorace Stoneham and MayorGeorge Christopher (both instrumental in moving the Giants from New York to San Francisco) were in attendance.[30][31]
