Early years Seals Stadium opened on April 7, 1931, after a construction cost of $1.25million. It was of concrete and steel construction and was named after its key tenant, the
Pacific Coast League's
San Francisco Seals. It was uniquely designed to host another San Francisco Pacific Coast League team, the
Mission Reds. The ballpark land had been part of pioneer land plots of the "Home Plate Mine", which became an early nickname of the ballpark. Built during the
Great Depression, Seals President
"Doc" Strub described how laborers would leap onto the running boards of his automobile and beg for the opportunity to work on the project for $3 a day. With two tenants, Seals Stadium was uniquely constructed with three dressing rooms. One dressing room was for the visiting team, and one for each of the minor league home teams. The stadium had six tower banks for lighting, which were described as the best in minor league baseball at the time. Opening with a capacity of 18,600, Seals Stadium had no roof over the grandstands, because of San Francisco's little rainfall during the summertime and the fans' preference to sit in the sun. The original uncovered grandstand stretched from foul pole to foul pole. In some years during its minor league days, a live seal was kept in a water tank underneath the grandstand. The field was oriented southeast (home plate to second base), with the right field bleachers bounded by 16th Street. The initial dimensions of the outfield were planned to be along the left field foul line, to center field, and to the right field foul line. The eventual posted distance to left field was . For the 1946 season, bleachers were built across the right field area, with the plan to reduce the foul line distance by "about 25 feet". The final distance turned out to be posted as . An inner fence was also constructed across center field, reducing the distance to about . For the 1951 season, bleachers were built in front of the left field wall, reducing the foul line distance to . This was done at the behest of the Seals' president, Paul Fagan, and the area was dubbed "Paul's Porch". That experiment lasted just the one season, and it was removed in the spring of 1952.
San Francisco Seals (1931–1957) / Mission Reds (1931–1937) The San Francisco Seals began play in 1903 as charter team in the
Pacific Coast League. They played at the wooden
Recreation Park, located at Valencia and 14th Street, before Seals Stadium was built for them. In 1926, the Pacific Coast League Mission Reds (named after the
Mission District) relocated from
Los Angeles where they had been called the
Vernon Tigers. They joined the Seals at Recreation Park. On March 13, 1931, Seals Stadium officially opened with a spring training game between the Seals and the
Detroit Tigers. At the regular season home opener on April 7, 1931,
Ty Cobb threw out the first pitch, with 25,000 fans in attendance. It had been described as a "shrine to baseball." The Seals drew well at Seals Park. In 1948 they set a minor league attendance record, drawing 670,000 fans. This showcased the feasibility that San Francisco could someday sustain and support a Major League franchise and Fagan was posturing to position the Seals to become a major league franchise. But the PCL continued, in other cities. In 1958, after the
New York Giants confirmed their intention to move to San Francisco, the Seals relocated to
Phoenix, Arizona, becoming the
Phoenix Giants.
San Francisco Giants (1958–1959) On May 28, 1957, the
New York Giants and owner
Horace Stoneham announced they intended to leave the
Polo Grounds in
New York City and relocate to San Francisco. The major league owners approved the move under the condition that the
Brooklyn Dodgers would also complete their intended move to Los Angeles. Dodgers' owner
Walter O'Malley and San Francisco Mayor
George Christopher had worked to partner with Stoneham on the move to San Francisco. Both teams moving to California together made sense for scheduling balance and travel. On August 19, 1957, official announcement of the moves was made. By agreement, both teams would play in temporary locations while each city build a new ballpark. The Giants agreed to play at Seals Stadium while
Candlestick Park was under construction and the Dodgers played at
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, (bypassing smaller
Los Angeles Wrigley Field), while
Dodger Stadium was under construction. The original plan was to play just the first year at Seals Stadium, but that proved to not be the case. Cepeda would hit his first career home run at Seals Stadium on April 15, 1958. Prevailing winds to left field aided right-handed hitters; of the 45 home runs hit in its first 19 major league games in 1958, 36 were to left field. All-Star Giants pitcher
Johnny Antonelli was not a fan of the ballpark, telling reporters after a loss, "A pitcher should be paid double for working here. Worst ballpark in America. Every time you stand up there, you’ve got to beat the hitter and a 30-mile-per-hour wind." A brewery was just north of the venue. At the time, its weather was thought to be considerably less favorable than the site of the park under construction at
Candlestick Point.
1959 demolition and site usage With Candlestick Park nearing completion, Seals Stadium was demolished in November 1959. Many of the seats and the light towers were eventually repurposed at
Cheney Stadium in
Tacoma, Washington. After demolition, the site (bounded by Bryant Street, 16th Street, Potrero Avenue and Alameda Street) initially housed a
White Front department store. For many years after, there were several automobile dealerships after the 1982 demise of Van Ness Avenue's famed
auto row. In the late 1990s, the area was converted to a shopping center. ==2008: 50th anniversary tribute==