Great spot for ballpark... not!

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - The transplanted New York Giants played their first official game in San Francisco on this date in 1960. The Giants new home, Candlestick Park, was beautiful, but the location was simply not a suitable place to build a ballpark. Unfortunately New York Giants owner Horace Stoneham didn't know that when he toured the site on a beautiful day in 1957.

San Francisco Mayor George Christopher promised that the city would build a ballpark at Candlestick Point if Stoneham would make his New York Giants the first tenants. What Stoneham didn't know, and presumably Mayor Christopher didn't volunteer, was that the sun isn't the only thing that goes down at sunset. The temperature plummets too, and the fog rolls in. This made for some interesting events at Candlestick. For example, during the 1961 All Star game, Giants pitcher Stu Miller was blown off the mound. In 1963, New York Mets Manager Casey Stengel took his squad out for batting practice, only to watch a gust of wind pick up the entire batting cage and drop it on the pitcher's mound, 60 feet away. The most memorable phenomenon was an earthquake during the 1989 World Series, but the stadium actually weathered that event quite well.

The Giants moved to a much better location in 2000, Pac Bell Park, which is now called AT&T Park. And attendance has been phenomenal. The San Francisco 49ers still call Candlestick Park home, though the weather seems to be more tolerable in the fall and winter.

Contributing Sources:
Candlestick Park
April 12, 1960 box score/play-by-play

This story is brought to you by TODAYinBASEBALL.com.