New York Giants (baseball)

History

The Giants originated as the second baseball club founded by millionaire tobacconist John B. Day and amateur player Jim Mutrie. The Gothams entered the National League in 1883, seven years after the league's 1876 formation, while Day and Mutrie's other club, the Metropolitans, played in the rival American Association. Nearly half of the original Gothams players came from the disbanded Troy Trojans, whose place in the National League the Gothams inherited.

After the Metropolitans won the 1884 American Association championship, Day and Mutrie began moving star players to the Gothams, improving the National League club's fortunes. The team's nickname is traditionally traced to Mutrie's exclamation after a victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, though research suggests the New York World was already using the Giants nickname throughout the 1885 season before that game. The Giants won their first National League pennant in 1888 and defeated the St. Louis Browns in an early World Series, repeating as champions the next year with a pennant and world championship over Brooklyn.

The original Polo Grounds, built in 1876 for polo, was located north of Central Park in Harlem. After eviction from that site following the 1888 season, the team moved to other fields also called the Polo Grounds, eventually settling at the Washington Heights location at the foot of Coogan's Bluff, where they played through the 1957 season.

Rivalries

The rivalry between the Giants and the Dodgers dates back more than a century, beginning when the Giants and the Brooklyn Bridegrooms faced each other in the 1889 World Series. At that time New York and Brooklyn were separate cities; they became neighboring boroughs of New York City in 1898. When both franchises moved to California after the 1957 season, the rivalry was transplanted to San Francisco and Los Angeles, cities that have long been economic, political, and cultural rivals.

The Giants also had a historical rivalry with the New York Yankees, though the teams were in different leagues. They met six times in the World Series, including three consecutive meetings from 1921 to 1923. The Yankees won four of those six Series, with the Giants winning two back-to-back. After the Yankees moved to the Bronx, they won every subsequent World Series against the Giants until the last meeting in New York.

Since the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958, the teams have met in only one World Series, which the Yankees won 4–3. In his 1939 farewell speech, Yankee slugger Lou Gehrig said the Giants were a team he would give his right arm to beat, and vice versa.

Baseball Hall of Famers

Here is the rewritten encyclopedia entry.

A handful of Hall of Famers have unusual ties to the New York Giants. Cap Anson, enshrined as a player, managed the club in 1898. Hughie Jennings, also inducted as a player, managed from 1924 to 1925. Bill McKechnie, a Hall of Fame manager, played for the Giants in 1916. Frank Robinson, inducted as a player, managed the team from 1981 to 1984. Casey Stengel, a Hall of Fame manager, played for the Giants from 1921 to 1923.

The franchise has retired eleven numbers. Two were retired while the team was still in New York. After moving to San Francisco, the team retired three more numbers belonging to New York-era players and honored two others who played before numbers were standard. Every New York Giant with a retired number is in the Hall of Fame. Carl Hubbell, whose number 11 was retired in 1944, was the first National Leaguer to receive that honor from his team. Bill Terry, Mel Ott, and Hubbell spent their entire playing or managing careers with the New York Giants. Willie Mays, wearing number 24, started his career in New York and moved west with the club in 1958.

John McGraw and Christy Mathewson, who played before uniform numbers, are honored with the letters "NY" instead of a digit. Broadcaster Russ Hodges, who called games from 1949 to 1957, is represented by an old-style radio microphone.