Calling all
Genea-Musings Fans:
It's Saturday
Night again -
time for some more Genealogy Fun!!
Our mission from Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings,
is to:
1) What is your favorite National
Football League team? [For those that are not American football
fans, but a fan of another sports team, substitute your favorite team].
Why are you a fan of this team? How long have you been a fan of your
favorite team?
2) What is the genealogy of your
favorite team? When did it start playing, what leagues has it played in?
3) Have you worked for the team in
any capacity, or attended games? What is your best memory of your
favorite team's history?
4) Predict the score of the
Rams-Bengals game on Sunday.
Here's mine:
I am not a fan of football, though in the early 70s I attended Oakland Raider football games with my father. I later got my mother a women’s guide to football and she then enjoyed going with him.
My favorite team is the San Francisco Giants. I have followed them since the early 60s. My grandmother (Nana) loved the team and so did my dad. She would watch the games on T.V. with a small can of Olympia beer. My dad liked beer and beer nuts. During this time my favorite players were Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Juan Marichal. I watched games on T.V. or listened to them on KSFO radio.
I started going to the games at Candlestick Park in the early 70s. Julia, a friend, had a car and would drive Beth and me to games. Back then, ladies’ day was 50 cents if we sat in the bleachers and half price in other seats. Now my favorite player was Chris Spier, who played shortstop. By now, Beth was a big fan of the Cincinnati Reds and we tried to go see the Giants play them. I really liked Johnny Bench on the Reds and he autographed the book he wrote, Behind the Bench, for me.
In 1972, I discovered there was another baseball team in the Bay Area, the Oakland Athletics. They made it to the World Series and played the Oakland A’s. Beth, her brother, and I attended one game courtesy of tickets my dad got for us from a produce company where he bought produce for the Ralphs stores in the area. We tried really hard to behave, as everyone around us were A’s fans. The A’s were ahead, but at one point, the Reds started scoring and we couldn’t help us—we started cheering. Everyone around us started giving us dirty looks and I was so afraid Archie would be very angry at my dad. But it turned out he was cool about it.
My husband isn’t much of a sports fan but he liked to take me on dates to the games. We spent many a cold night at Candlestick before we were married. Beth and I had season tickets the year the Giant’s hosted the All-Star game. We were able to pick out 15 games to attend and then get tickets for the All-Star game. That was a wonderful experience. I have great memories of teams during the Frank Robinson with Joe Morgan, Duane Kuiper, and Mike Krukow, Humm-baby days of Roger Craig, Will Clark, Jeff Kent, the 1989 World Series earthquake series.
The last year the Giants were at Candlestick Park, our family had a 15-game season ticket package again. We had four seats and since Norman often had to work on Saturdays, we were able to bring guests with us. I have fond memories of games in that old stadium.
The new stadium in downtown San Francisco has had several names: PacBell Park, SBC Park, AT&T Park, and now is called Oracle Park. The tickets are more expensive so I don’t go as often. Monday and Tuesday night games sitting on the outer third level is often the cheapest.
The Giants, a National League team in the Western division began in New York in 1883. They started out as the New York Gothams and then changed their name to the Giants three years later. They played in the Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan until their move to San Francisco in 1957. The first two years were played at Seals Stadium until their move into Candlestick Park.[1]
My favorite memories of the team
are getting up close to the players in the old Candlestick Park as a teenager
and getting autographs. Other great memories are the three World Series
championship seasons in 2010, 2012, and 2014. I always enjoyed attending games
with my daughters and friend, Beth.
 |
| Last season at Candlestick Park 1999 |
[1] “History
of the New York Giants (baseball),” Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_New_York_Giants_(baseball)).
You have a lot of fun memories about football games, especially since your first sentence is that you're not a fan. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, but I'm still not watching the game.
DeleteI had no idea the Giants originated from New York. Learned something new today.
ReplyDelete