Magowan forever an icon for saving the Giants

Sometimes you receive news that hits you hard but also makes you reflect on a
much earlier point in your life as a sports fan.

On Sunday evening as I was preparing a meal of duck legs, scalloped potatoes
and string beans, I looked at my Facebook news feed and saw a link that former
San Francisco Giants owner Peter Magowan had passed away at age 76 after a
battle with cancer.

The news itself of Magowan did not hit me hard because, after all, every life on
planet Earth begins and ends. However, it made me reflect of an altering time for
me as a sports fan. To understand Magowan’s impact, context is needed.

As one who has lived in Napa, CA, which is about 50 or so miles (give or take)
from San Francisco, for 40 years, it was easy to become a Giants fan since I
grew up in a family of them. Then 1982 happened. My father, the great Joe
D’Adamo took me and a few cousins to our first Giants game at Candlestick
Park.

Later that season, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants were
tied for second place, one game behind the Atlanta Braves, as they faced each
other in the final three games of the year. The Dodgers won the first two games,
4–0 on Friday and 15–4 on Saturday, to eliminate the Giants, then the Giants
knocked the Dodgers out of the pennant race on the season's last day on a
7th-inning, three-run homer by Joe Morgan, winning the game, 5–3. The
Braves finished first by one game.

From 1983-1985, the Giants got progressively worse, combining for a record
of 207-279. From 1986-1990 under manager Roger Craig, the team combined
for a record of 433-377 with two National West titles and a National League
pennant. The 1991-1992 seasons were circle the drain years as the team had
a record of 147-177 but the adversity for the franchise was off the field.

The franchise had one foot out the door and was headed for Tampa, FL. Bob
Lurie, who preceded Magowan as the franchise owner, tried for a long time to
get a new ballpark but to no avail. I remember going to many games at
Candlestick, the infamous relic that 49ers and Giants fans said, “It was a dump
but it’s our dump.” The aforementioned 1991-1992 Giants were terrible but I
remember on a moments’ notice reaching out to my lifelong friends, Andy
Ward and Ken Bettinelli. We would hop in my truck, get some food and beers
(note the plural) and tailgate for about two hours before the game. We were
usually in a very altered state entering the game but I digress.

Magowan helped form the ownership group that bought the franchise for $100
million from Lurie in December 1992 to prevent the team from moving to Tampa
Bay. The next thing you know, the Giants signed Barry Bonds to a six-year,
$43.5 million free agent deal even before he formally completed the purchase
of the team.

The rest, as they say, is history.

With the game's greatest slugger in place, the Giants went on to have great
success and Magowan put together a plan to build a privately funded ballpark
on the water in downtown San Francisco. That park, the first in years built
without direct public funding, opened in 2000 and became one of the jewels
of the game.

Magowan stepped down following the 2008 season but did some heavy lifting to
put in place the management team that helped bring San Francisco its first World
Series title in 2010, followed by championships in 2012 and 2014. It’s pretty
simple, without Magowan saving the franchise from moving, those glorious
years do not happen.

As I look back on Magowan purchasing the team, I think about what Oakland
Raiders fans are enduring in lieu of their move to Las Vegas beginning in 2020.
Some fans are remaining Raider loyalists while others are just football fans
without a team.

I often think, if Magowan and his calvary hadn’t arrived to save the day, would
I have remained a Giants fan? I strongly doubt it because rooting for the Tampa
Bay Giants would have been a hard sell. I do not know what direction of fandom I
would have gone. Thankfully, I never had to make that choice.

Young generations of Giants fans truly will never understand how close the Giants
were to leaving for Tampa Bay. Magowan will forever be an icon not only in Giants
lore but the city of San Francisco.

I know corporate names indulge professional sports stadiums. What started as
PacBell Park later became SBC Park, AT&T Park and now Oracle Park. How
about Macgowan Field at Oracle Park?

Thank you, Mr. Magowan for keeping the Giants where they belong. With the
2019 Major League Baseball season on the horizon, Magowan will be smiling
from heaven.