History of the San Francisco Giants

The history of the San Francisco Giants begins in 1883 with the New York Gothams and has involved some of baseball's greatest players, including Willie Mays, Juan Marichal, Barry Bonds and Gaylord Perry. The team has won three World Series titles and six National League (NL) pennants since moving to San Francisco.

From 1883 to 1957, the Giants franchise played games for New York City. During that time, the Giants won five of the franchise's seven World Series wins and 17 of its 21 National League pennants while playing most of its home games in the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan.

The Giants franchise was added by the National League in response to the 1882 formation of the American Association. Originally named the Gothams, they won consecutive National League pennants in 1888 and 1889 behind future Hall of Famers Tim Keefe, Mickey Welch, Roger Connor and Buck Ewing. From 1902 to 1931 the team was managed by John McGraw, who led them to 10 National League pennants and three World Series championships with many great players including Christy Mathewson, Iron Man Joe McGinnity, Bill Terry, Jim Thorpe, Mel Ott, Casey Stengel, and Red Ames.

The post-McGraw Giants were punctuated by two famous moments, the Shot Heard 'Round the World (1951) and The Catch by young superstar Willie Mays (1954). In the mid-1950s, the Polo Grounds was in disrepair and the Giants began to contemplate a move from New York. The Brooklyn Dodgers were considering a move to Los Angeles but were told it would not be allowed unless a second team moved to California as well. As a result, the Giants agreed to move to San Francisco and New York was left without a National League team until the New York Mets in 1962.

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