Seals Stadium
| The Queen of Concrete | |
 |
|
| Location | Bryant & 16th Streets (right field corner) Mission District, San Francisco |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°46′0″N 122°24′33″W / 37.76667°N 122.40917°WCoordinates: 37°46′0″N 122°24′33″W / 37.76667°N 122.40917°W |
| Owner |
San Francisco Seals Paul I. Fagan |
| Capacity | 16,000 (1931) 18,500 (1946) 22,900 (1958) |
| Field size |
Left Field – 340 ft (1931), 365 ft (1958), 361 ft (1959) Left-Center – 375 ft (1958), 364 ft (1959) Center Field – 400 ft (1931), 410 ft (1958), 400 ft (1959) Right-Center – 397 ft (1958) Right Field – 385 ft (1931), 365 ft (1940), 355 ft (1958), 350 ft (1959) |
| Surface | Grass |
| Construction | |
| Opened | April 7, 1931 |
| Closed | September 20, 1959 |
| Demolished | November 1959 |
| Construction cost | $1,250,000 |
| Tenants | |
|
San Francisco Seals (PCL) (1931–1957) Mission Reds (PCL) (1931–1937) San Francisco Giants (MLB) (1958–1959) |
|
Seals Stadium was a minor league baseball stadium in San Francisco. Opened in the Mission District in 1931, it was the longtime home of the San Francisco Seals (1931–57) and the Mission Reds (1931–37), both of the Pacific Coast League. It was later home for the Major League San Francisco Giants for their first two seasons in the city, 1958 and 1959. Less than three decades old, the stadium was demolished in late 1959 after the completion of the baseball season.
Built during the Depression, Seals Stadium opened on April 7, 1931. It cost $1,250,000 to construct, and 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. The stadium was unusual in that it was built with three dressing rooms – one for the visiting team, and one for each of the minor league home teams, the San Francisco Seals and the Mission Reds, a.k.a. the San Francisco Missions. It was built for night games, with six tower banks which were described as the best in minor league baseball at the time. With a capacity of 18,600, the stadium had no roof over the grandstands because of San Francisco's lack of rainfall during the summertime and the fans' preference to sit in the sun. The stadium initially consisted of an uncovered grandstand stretching from foul pole to foul pole and an uncovered bleacher section in right field. 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, with the right field bleachers bounded by 16th Street.
After their inception in 1903 as an original Pacific Coast League member, the San Francisco Seals previously played at Recreation Park (1903–1913, 1915–1930) and Ewing Field (1914) before Seals Stadium was built to house the team. While the Seals played exclusively at Seals Stadium, the other original tenant, the Mission Reds moved to the Los Angeles area in 1938 and become the Hollywood Stars.
...
Wikipedia