San Francisco Giants Encyclopedia

From the first pitch at the original Polo Grounds on May 1, 1883, to the night of August 9, 2002, at Pacific Bell Park, where Barry Bonds crushed his 600th career home run -- and beyond -- the New York and San Francisco Giants have been one of the most successful -- and popular -- franchises in Major League Baseball. They have won five World Series championships (plus three 19th-century titles) and 20 National League pennants. Some 50 Giants are enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York (more than any other franchise). Now, all the highlights and the individuals who provided them are captured in this comprehensive history of the club. The Giants Encyclopedia is more than just a running narrative of the franchise's history. It chronicles all 120 seasons in minute detail (the world championships, pennant winners, near-misses and disappointments). The book features biographies of more than 100 players (from Hall of Famers like Willie Mays and Christy Mathewson to present-day stars like Barry Bonds and Robb Nen), plus prominent owners (such as John Day, Horace and Charles Stoneham, Bob Lurie and Peter Magowan); front office executives (like Chub Feeney, Al Rosen and Brian Sabean); managers (such as John McGraw, Leo Durocher, Roger Craig and Dusty Baker); and broadcasters (Russ Hodges, Lon Simmons and Hank Greenwald).

Tom Schott has been following the Giants, researching their history and collecting their autographs and memorabilia for nearly 20 years. A native of St. Louis, Schott graduated cum laude with a B.A. degree in journalism from Ohio Wesleyan University in 1990. He has worked for the Purdue University athletic public relations and communications department since July of 1990 and has earned a number of publication and writing awards from the College Sports Information Directors of America. Schott got his start in sports journalism at the age of 12 when he co-founded his own magazine covering the St. Louis Cardinals and Major League Baseball, The Redbird Chirps. He lives in West Lafayette, Indiana, with his wife, Jane, and son, August Nick Peters is nearing his sixth decade of following Giants baseball. As a college student, the native San Franciscan watched the historic West Coast opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 15, 1958, from the left field bleachers at Seals Stadium. He began covering the club as a Berkeley Gazette sportswriter in 1961 and has been a traveling beat writer since 1979, first with the Oakland Tribune and for the past 16 years with the Sacramento Bee. Peters, a 39-year veteran of the Baseball Writers Association of America, has authored four other books on the team. He resides in Elk Grove, California, with wife Lise