3Com Park

San Francisco, CA

Team: San Francisco Giants	Opening Day: April 12, 1960
Architect: John Bolles; Chin and Hensolt	Last Giants Game: September 30, 1999
Construction: Charles Harney	Capacity: 16,000 (1931), 22,900 (1958)
Dimensions: LF 330 CF 420 RF 330 (1960), LF 335 CF 400 RF 335 (1982)	Cost: $15 million
Owner: City of San Francisco	AKA: Candlestick Park (1960 - 1994)

Memorable Moments

1962, 1989 World Series Runner Up.
1961, 1984 All Star Games.
July 14, 1967: Eddie Mathews hits homerun number 500.
August 29, 1966: The Beatles play their last concert here until the rooftop concert.
July 18, 1970: Willie Mays gets his 3,000th hit.
May 4, 1975: Bob Watson scores the 1,000,000th run in Major League history.
August 5, 1986: Steve Carlton notches his 4,000th K.
October 17, 1989: World Series earthquake.

One lovely morning in 1957, San Francisco's Mayor Christopher showed Giant's Owner Horace Stoneham around Candlestick Point, a sight he thought would be great for a new ballpark. What he didn't tell the Giant's Owner was that Candlestick Point was great in the morning, but at night became cold, raw, foggy, and windy. Heating units were installed in the seats and near the top rows of bleachers, but didn't work. During the 1961 All Star game, Giant's pitcher Stu Miller was blown off the mound. In 1963, Casey Stengel watched as the batting cage was blown over to the pitcher's mound. The wind greatly hinders right handed power hitters. As a result, many people think Willie Mays may have hit 800 home runs if he didn't have to play half his games at the 'Stick.

The stadium was enclosed during the winter of 1971 to 1972 to make room for the NFL 49ers and more suffering fans. Candlestick Point (and Park) were named after the Candlestick Bird, which was almost hunted to extinction because of their delicate meat.

Giants retired numbers:

Christy Mathewson (1988)
John McGraw (1975)
3 Bill Terry (1985)
4 Mel Ott (1949)
11 Carl Hubbell (1944)
24 Willie Mays (1972)
27 Juan Marichal (1975)
30 Orlando Cepeda (1999)
44 Willie McCovey (1975)