The Giants' Plans Changed
In 1954, Owner Horace Stoneman Assured Fans the Team Would Not Move
The Giants' owner asked fans why the Giants should be interested in moving to the west coast. He assured them that the team would remain the New York Giants.
Honesty is such a lonely word.
Everyone is so untrue.
Honesty is hardly ever heard.
“Honesty.” Billy Joel
The Giants Had the Second Best Attendance in the League
The New York Giants swept the Cleveland Indians in the 1954 World Series to win their first World Championship since 1933. The Giants, who were New York’s “third team” behind the Yankees and Dodgers during the early 1950s, went 97-57 and drew 1,155,067 fans, which was second in the league behind the Milwaukee Braves’ 2,131,388. The Braves had moved from Boston to Milwaukee following the 1952 season because Boston belonged to the Red Sox. Drawing over 2 million fans was an extraordinary feat in those days, a fact that was duly noted by baseball’s owners.
Leo Durocher Preferred San Francisco if the Team Were to Move
A few weeks after the 1954 World Series, Giants’ manager Leo Durocher expressed the view that if the New York Giants’ franchise were ever shifted, he would like it to be to San Francisco. Durocher’s statement was prompted by the belief that the Giants’ lease at the Polo Grounds was due to expire at the end of 1956. Speaking at a press conference before a luncheon in San Francisco, Durocher said that “The Giants are in New York now, but things change. I’d sure like to see my team come out here, but my shirt just reads ‘Manager.” Talk to the owner.”
Horace Stoneman Assured All That the Giants Were Not Moving
The Giants' owner, Horace Stoneham responded in November when he returned to New York from an eight day tour in Puerto Rico, where he had seen some of his star players, including Willie Mays and Ruben Gomez, playing winter ball. “There is nothing, absolutely nothing, to it. Our lease runs through 1964. That gives us at least ten years more at the Polo Grounds. Furthermore, we’d like to buy the Polo Grounds from the Coogans.” Either Durocher or Stoneman was mistaken about the lease.
Nothing Could Approach the Brooklyn-New York Rivalry
Stoneham continued, talking about major league baseball on the west coast. “I’m not too well informed about prospects of major league baseball in California, but why should the Giants be interested in moving there? How could we possibly build up so strong a rivalry there as we enjoy here with the Dodgers? Why, one third of our season’s crowds is attracted by the New York-Brooklyn series. Then too, what makes anyone think the games will draw well in California? No, the Giants are not planning to vacate the Polo Grounds.”
The New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers Ceased to Exist
Of course, at the end of the 1957, the Giants moved to San Francisco and the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. The Brooklyn and New York National League franchises no longer existed, just as the league’s Boston franchise ceased to exist when the team moved to Milwaukee, facts that are obfuscated for reasons of convenience. A franchise is the right or license granted by a company to an individual or group to market its products or services in a specific territory. A franchise is the territory over which such a license extends. San Francisco in not New York, and Los Angeles is not Brooklyn.
Horace Stoneman should not be singled out for what he told the public in 1954 and for what he did in 1957. Brooklyn Dodgers’ owner Walter O’Malley and New York city "construction coordinator" Robert Moses acted similarly, which makes them no different from most individuals.
References:
"Durocher Favors Coast; If Giants Shift, Pilot Would Like Them There, He Says." New York Times. 28 October 1954, p. 50.
Effrat, Louis. "Talk of Giants Moving to Coast Idle Gossip, Stoneham Asserts; Club Has Polo Grounds Lease Through 1954, President Reveals -- Hopes to Buy Property Before It Expires." New York Times. 16 November 1954, p. 37.
