World Series Championships are rare. Naturally, the big fan on your holiday gift list will want to keep that glow of this season’s accomplishment burning until pitchers and catcher report for the 2011 season in February.
The easy solution is to purchase one of the quickly produced publications that recount the team’s miraculous run to the Western Division title from seven games back in August, and through the playoffs and World Series against teams most experts considered superior. Another more thoughtful approach would be to purchase one of three books selected by Off the Bench that capture the heritage behind Orange Fridays, The Freak and Aubrey Huff’s thong. These books give readers an understanding of how the Giants franchise came to be what it is today and made the Bay Area proud this fall.
Giants Past & Present by Dan Fost: Loaded with illustrations, most in full color, dating back to the team’s days in New York, Giants Past & Present is a lively primer on the history of the team that has won more major league games than any other. The Giants also have had more players enshrined as Hall of Famers than any other franchise, even the Yankees. In less than 150 pages, Fost covers the best players and teams in Giants history; some of the heartbreak; the best and worst trades; the ballparks the team has called home; and event features a chapter on its fans.
The real fun is the pictures. Readers can see all the Giants heroes from Hall of Fame manager John McGraw to Willie Mays to Will Clark to Barry Bonds to Tim Lincecum. Did you know that the team colors have not always been orange and black? In the early 20th Century the Giants wore purple, and in the 1940s the team wore red, white and blue as a salute to the war effort. Today’s uniform design is very similar to the style sported in 1958, the first season in San Francisco, but during the last 52 years it went through four overhauls. All are captured by Fost. Giants Past & Present is perfect for the fan on your list that is curious about how the Giants came to be what they are today, and wants to learn through historic photos and a simple, direct writing style. Fost’s book retails for $25 and is available on amazon.com and through MVP Books of Minneapolis. It is part of a series that captures most big league franchises.
The Giants of the Polo Grounds by Noel Hynd: This tome is for the serious baseball historian who is interested in exploring the team’s roots in New York up through the move to San Francisco. The 382 page paperback edition has just a few pictures and the text can be dense. It is also an exhaustive history of the franchise during its days playing in the most unique ballpark in the majors during what many consider to be baseball’s golden age. If the baseball fan in your house wants to learn more about Christy Mathewson and the 1908 pennant race, the dropped fly ball by Fred Snodgrass that cost the Giants the 1911 World Series, the feud between McGraw and Babe Ruth, the Giants role in the cancellation of the 1904 World Series, all the machinations behind Bobby Thomson’s pennant winning homer in 1951, and the glory of the 1905, 1921, 1922, 1933 and 1954 World Championship teams, then you can pick up this book new or used on amazon.com.
The Giants and the Dodgers by Andrew Goldblatt: Every good story needs a villain, and the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers play that role for the Giants and their fans. Goldblatt lives in Berkeley and describes himself as a Giants fan. He even expressed some sorrow during a presentation attended by this reviewer at the cooperation provided him by the Dodgers as he researched his lively and informative book. The Giants and the Dodgers is meticulously researched yet maintains its sense of fun. Readers will understand how the rivalry grew and festered in New York and was purposefully maintained by ownership of both clubs when the teams moved west. Giant fans will enjoy reliving how the orange and black broke Dodger hearts in 1951, 1962, 1971, 1982 and 1997. The playoff wins in 1951 and 1962 featuring improbable ninth inning rallies in the deciding games are given special attention. The book is loaded with colorful personalities and gives detailed coverage to the very real dislike players on both teams felt for each other throughout the history of the rivalry. And while Goldblatt hints that that enmity has cooled somewhat in recent years, it still runs high amongst Bay Area fans, and those on your list who revel in hating the Dodgers while loving the Giants will enjoy this book. You can find The Giants and the Dodgers on amazon.com and through McFarland & Co. publishers at prices up to $29.95.
As you read this there are about 100 days until the 2011 Giants season opens April 1 at Dodger Stadium. By giving the fan on your list all three books this holiday season, you may even keep him or her occupied until that first pitch is thrown.
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