Longtime San Francisco Giant fans may want to pick up a copy of a new book tracing the team from its roots in New York in the 1880’s to the 21st century franchise now residing at AT&T Park. There’s even a chapter on the club’s farm system and the success of its affiliation with the San Jose Giants.
“Giants Past & Present” is the work of San Rafael freelance writer Dan Fost, a former business writer for the San Francisco Chronicle. It’s part of a series of books about Major League Baseball from MVP Books.
“The book is a celebration of the Giants,” says Fost. “They have had a lot of great years, thrilling moments and outstanding players that fans will enjoy reading about.”
Fost looks at not just the long list of Hall of Fame Giants like Mays, McCovey, Mathewson and Ott, but he talks about little-known characters such as Charles “Victory” Faust, who talked himself into a job on the 1911 team by telling Manager John McGraw that a fortune-teller back home told him he could help the Giants win the pennant. They did win the pennant that year, but McGraw thought Faust was a clown and he was not invited back in 1912.
If you think Pablo Sandoval weighs too much, read the section on George “Jumbo” Brown. He was a Giants pitcher who tipped the scales at 250-pounds and reportedly got as heavy as 295 pounds during his career.
But Fost says one of the great attractions of the book is its use of photos.
“You see the evolution of uniforms and the equipment that they used. You can even get a feel for how they go about their business from the early owners up to an image of Brian Sabean doing a deal on his cell phone.”
Fost interviewed many former San Francisco-era Giants, including Willie McCovey, Tito Fuentes, J.T. Snow, Jim Davenport, Omar Vizquel and Darryl Spencer. He says Willie McCovey was very poignant about the great teams he played on that didn’t win a championship, and there’s a story about a sign-stealing scandal that ripped apart the Giants’ clubhouse and cost them a chance at the pennant in 1959. “It’s a glimpse of another era and we see that baseball was never as pure as we think it may have been,” says Fost.
The chapter on the team’s farm system mentions the success of the San Jose franchise and in particular the 2009 season featuring several former first-round picks. “San Jose has been a huge integral part of the team in recent years,” says Fost. “The Giants’ farm system is becoming a real envy of major league baseball in the post-Barry Bonds era when they realized they needed to develop young talent.”
Giants Past & Present is available through Amazon.com.
Comments
Fabulous & Beautiful book. I can't wait to get it & give it as gifts to those baseball fans! It's great for Father's Day. Well done.
Dan Fost always produces interesting, insightful work whenever he puts pen to paper. I am looking forward to his new book on baseball, a topic he already knows well. He is a journalist in the best sense of the word and I expect his book to show us the Giants few have ever known.
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