Counting the ACTUAL Candlestick Moments
I’ve been watching all the Niner-Love this week, it’s dominating the good bye to Candlestick week. And maybe it’s because the Niners are still playing there and there’s been *The Catch* and *The Catch 2* and *3* and whatever. There’s no question the ‘Stick has hosted some fantastic football moments.
But come on, if you are talking *moments* at Candlestick you have to admit that the lion’s share of the memories go to baseball. The Giants can’t match the Niners in terms of EPIC moments at the ‘Stick but they played 10 times more games there than the Niners did each year. And they got there first so they had all those games in the bank before the Niners took their first snap. Moments.
If you’re talking about moments that shot fans out of their seats it’s a no-brainer– Candlestick shot more Giants fans out of their seats than Niners fans over the years. And yes, I can do math, I understand the difference between a packed stadium for a Niner game and 8000 Giants fans wandering drunk, aimlessly around the stadium. But ten times the games each year is non-negotiable, the Stick gave Giants fans more *moments*.
And then there’s this: I’m not old enough to remember much before Steve DeBerg, in fact he’s the first Niner QB I can recall watching. But in all this nostalgia bullshit going on this week, it’s like not a single thing ever happened inside of Candlestick until the moment The Catch happened. Now, we all know that isn’t true. But if the entire focus of the *Candlestick goodbye* this week is pinned to the genesis of *The Catch* then it’s pretty obvious how many *moments* are getting missed this week….
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Surprisingly, here in New York they didn’t seem to overdo the nostalgia stuff when Yankee & Shea Stadiums were simultaneously demolished a few years ago. Hollywood Park is next. Probably Aqueduct, too.
Well, the Giants did leave 14 years ago. . . . They got their goodbyes out of the way
Shea was kinda of a dump itself, wasn’t it? I saw a game there in 1973 (Mays was on the team), and it looked a lot like the stick. A big concrete bowl.
Who can forget that Vice President Richard Nixon threw out the first, first pitch? I wouldn’t say I forgot, I didn’t know that until I looked it up. I went to the 84 AS game and remember Doc Gooden and Fernando strike out the sides back to back (pretty cool) but I don’t remember much else from the game. The Brenly game, little Joe’s HR, Brian Johnson’s HR, the baseballs thrown on the field game, I remember those moments but I probably couldn’t say much about the games at this point. There was a game that Billy Swift was pitching, sunny day, I was in the Upper reserve that day. Sipping my first beer, looking up and realizing that it was the seventh inning, ran to get my second beer before they shut it down. A two hour game, remember those? I was there for my first WS game in 89, what a shock that was (or should I say after shock?). That old reinforced concrete held after that shaking. The earthquake was before the game so the stadium wasn’t full yet but still, so many would have died if she hadn’t kept standing. So I will always remember that.
So many things to remember, but come on, Flav has everyone beat. He gets to remember banging a chick in one of the stalls. Humm Baby!
Nice column by Jenkins: http://blog.sfgate.com/threedotblog/2013/12/22/the-giants-last-days-at-candlestick-a-personal-memoir/
I never banged my chick in the stalls but i sure fell in love at the stick a couple of times.
Thanks for posting that link–good stuff.
For memorable moments, nothing compares to noise level and enthusiasm of Dodger-Giants games.
First one I went to, with Dad, sitting underneath overhang with a bunch of other beer drinkers, so must have been early ’70s. full house, there was an altercation on the field over beaning, many more in the stands.
Yeah, it is kind of an odd situation with the Giants being the original tenants and the Niners being the current tenants and now dividing up the nostalgic memories between the 2 teams. The Catch is a getting a ton of run for sure, but most bits I’ve seen have had a fair amount of Giants flashbacks as well.
One thing SF got right was turning down more naming-rights money and going back to officially calling the place Candlestick Park. I always thought that was a cool name and I love that the place can go out with the name it came in with. Can’t wait for the opening to Monday Night Football.
Before going to the recent Seahawk game, my last Niner game was 9 years ago on my 40th birthday. The Niners were awful and took on the equally awful Dolphins. Erickson was the coach and Rattay I think was the 49er QB. And the name “Monster Park” was in force. The Niners lost to AJ Fehley and the Dolphins and it was a pretty sad scene. The Seahawk game was nice way to tie a bow on all my visits to The Stick over the years.
Yeah, thx Wisc I just read Jenkins’ reprint on the gate, good stuff. And he’s right about all the other guys who came to the Stick, my baseball heroes from ’60s on–Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson, Brock and Gibson, Billy Williams ernie Banks, Pops and Clemente, Seaver, Nolan ryan, Mike Schmidt, Lee Smith, Aaron and Mathews, red machine, et al.
even the crummier teams had superstars and cool players, no telling what you might see…Bob Skinner dropping a fly ball in LF, IF pop ups causing havoc, Garrelts blowing a game with a WP that bounced off plate into the stands, Jack Clark getting caught in a rundown after over running 2b on a rbi double, Gary Sheffield launching rockets down LF line, Brett Butler’s drag bunt for a hit, ellis burks beautiful high finish swing.
Just a place where me and buddies had a lot of fun.
Craig (or any Flapper), did you see the article about the “7 Best Managers in Baseball” that appeared on the main page of Yahoo? It seems to have come from the Wall Street Cheat Sheet… whatever that is. Here’s how they ranked the 7 best active managers in MLB: 7) Matheny. 6) Showalter. 5) Gonzales. 4) Francona. 3) Girardi. 2) Hurdle. 1) Maddon. Huh? Gonzales? Showalter? Hurdle??? Here’s my email to their editor: “How could your article about the 7 Best Managers in Baseball exclude even a mention of the guy who leads all active managers in career wins and won 2 of the last 4 World Series? If I have to tell you who that is, then you really need to change professions. Pathetic.” I’m not even sure if Bochy leads all active managers in wins, but I think so… 🙂 I’m no *homer* but that seriously pissed me off…
Link to the above mentioned article… http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/the-7-best-major-league-baseball-managers.html/
Paul, that is an absolutely moronic “article”. Bochy and Melvin not even on the list. Internet is full of garbage sports stuff…
paulinasia, taking names and kicking ass.
Damn straight, Bozo. “You fucked with the wrong Marine!” 🙂
I have many great memories of the 9ers at the Stick and have no problems with them leading the Turn out the lights party. The 81 9ers were huge for the City, I mean, gigantic John Holmes huge. I’ll never forget how everyone just poured out into the streets after that first SB win. It was crazy nuts and the catch set that up.
Williedav is right, Candlestick was “Just a place where me and buddies had a lot of fun”. And for me that was both teams.
It’s funny, during baseball season I regularly have dreams about attending Giants games…It usually involves my dad and I taking BART into the city and making the walk down Embarcadero. We drop in at MoMo’s for a few cold ones before making our way across the street…Once we make our way inside, the stadium in my dream becomes the ‘Stick..Every time…Probably has to do with the fact that I have only been to a handful of games in the new yard…Or maybe it means something more?
I knew this, but it’s a good reminder, why some players actually avoid the Yankees, Mets, and California teams. ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick correctly points out an advantage the Texas Rangers have over most teams, For example, Texas has no State income tax, and the Rangers play a lot of road games in Seattle and Houston, where visiting players aren’t subject to a tax on their earnings. Consequently, the number crunchers at the Scott Boras Corp. concluded that Choo would have had to sign a deal for roughly $148 million with the Yankees to compare to the $130 million he’ll receive from the Rangers. He doesn’t mention Cano’s deal, but it follows that his share of pie versus the tax man would also exponentially increase as well. I’m not certain, but I believe Florida doesn’t have a State income tax either.
No state income tax: Alaska, Florida, S. Dakota, Texas, Nevada, Washington, Wyoming. Arizona has one, but rate is fairly low at about 4.5% on everything over $150K. No question why you’ll find most pro golfers and a lot of pro athletes living in FL, TX and AZ…
Willie’s Revenge and S-Dawg’s Revenge…..Fresno St. got blown out in its bowl game, and San Diego St. won their bowl game in a blowout. 🙂
Still, a fun season for Fresno St., and a few of their players will have interest from the NFL.
Valley High school football teams did pretty well in playoffs, maybe Dogs pick up a few of the better players.
2 Bakersfield teams I watched played Friday night, along with Modesto and Del Oro of Loomis I think.
Chuck, Shea was state of the art stunning in 1964. A decaying mess just 10 years later…
Loo, I’m curious about what you just said. I know that the place was loud due to airplanes flying over it (same thing for the U.S. Open if I recall correctly), but why else was the place a “decaying mess?”
Well Blade, NYC was bankrupt in the ’70’s and they just did no maintenance on it. The roof leaked, the bathrooms were always flooded, the paint was peeling off the seats and the outfield walls, which were made of wood were visibly splitting and warped. It was especially noticeable in CF by the 410 sign. I think there are shots of it in the movie “Bang The Drum Slowly”. Probably in the ’73 WS film, too I suppose. You got used to the planes, although it used to drive Keith Hernandez nuts when he was hitting. Occasionally he would step out of the box – make like his bat was a rifle – and take aim at a jet above.
Ahh . . . Almost forgot about NY being near bankruptcy (although, I still didn’t know they were responsible for the upkeep of Shea. Thanks Loo.
The Seahawks laid a giant egg today. And humble pie was served to them and their fans.
Maybe they lost just to F with the Niners. Now, the Cards have a real reason to play the Niners tough in the last game as they’ll still be in the hunt for the POs. Shawks probably not real interested in the game today. With Panthers beating Saints, that keeps open the possibility of Carolina going to Seattle and beating Shawks, and Niners hosting the NFC champ game at the Stick. They better not tear up the field tomorrow night after the “last game” at the Stick…
I had some fun times at the ‘Stick but I don’t miss it for baseball and football is moving towards the day where it’s totally a TV game. I moved from the city in the early 80’s so even though I retained my season tickets, I didn’t get to go that much. Gave the tickets away when I could find takers. One of the lasting memories of Candlestick was on a dark day for the 49ers- the Preston Riley game. I was in the CBS booth and even though we hadn’t moved out here yet, I was becoming a Niner fan and I hated the Cowboys.When Riley failed to hold on to the onsides kick, I let out a very loud “Shit!” The announcers always had a “cough button” both for actual coughs and also to speak off the air. But no one expected anything from the “spotter” so if my epithet wasn’t heard on the air- the mikes just didn’t pick it up.And the cough buttons were of no use.. Dad was none too pleased..and the director even less so.
As it turned it, it was not heard. I probably would have been done at CBS if it had gone on the air…
We heard it on the East coast…
Thanks for that. For years I’ve thought that my honest expression of dismay would go unnoticed forever. CBS might have canned me, but the late night circuit was lucrative even then. A career could be made with one well placed epithet. The Heidi game, the Catch, the “Ah, shit” game..
BTW- hi Mr. Loo..
Hello, Mr. Scott..
“Shit!” I can hear it right now! Twin has pipes.
I’m probably going to the Nuggets/Warriors game tomorrow night and am still pissed about the Warriors “gimme” to the Spurs last Thursday. How in the fuck do you lose a game at home where the Spurs are without Tony Parker (shin), Tim Duncan (rest) and Manu Ginobili (rest)? The Spurs escaped with a dramatic 104-102 victory on a tip-in from Tiago Splitter. However, the biggest standout was Marco Belinelli, who scored a career-high 28 points with four 3-pointers. Marco who?
The Warriors’ pathetic, inexcusable loss set them back in the playoff picture. How does this happen, when you get brilliant individual performances, such as Curry with 30 points and 15 dimes, David Lee piling up another monster double-double with 32 points and 13 rebounds, and Andrew Bogut grabbing 18 boards to go along with eight points, two assists, two steals and three blocks? Of course, the cause wasn’t helped by Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala, whom both struggled to get going and the Warriors’ bench didn’t provide much help – Marreese Speights led all reserves with six points, and Harrison Barnes was scoreless with three turnovers in 19 forgettable minutes. Ugh.
Despite being on the road, If they lose to Denver, a team that truly sucks (despite their 15-13 record), then you can officially sound the alarm in my opinion.
The Dubs traded Who? a couple years ago.
Exactly. 😉
I don’t get when people say football is better on TV. I think the game is MUCH more intense live. The pisser is the commercial breaks. They really are interminable. There are so many things you don’t see on TC. Mainly defensive coverages.
Niners move up to the 5 and clinch a playoff spot with a win tomorrow. Seattle is puckering just a bit now. A Niner win wil give them just a little more to think about.
I control the thermostat instead of God.
I know a lot of you guys dig the players from the 60s, so here’s a little something about Mudcat Grant: http://tinyurl.com/keq7enc