Located at Candlestick Point on San Francisco Bay, Candlestick Park opened in 1960 as a structurally up-to-date 43,000 seat stadium, only to quickly fall under criticism for its poor location. At first it was open in the outfield, allowing icy winds to whip in from the bay through the stadium's open end, which often dropped the already cool temperatures an additional 15 to 20 degrees during the course of a night game. The most infamous incident occurred during the 1961 All-Star Game, when Giants pitcher Stu Miller was literally blown off the pitching rubber by a strong gust, forcing a costly balk.

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Originally natural grass, the stadium was converted to artificial turf and the open end enclosed for the NFL's 49ers in 1972, but was converted back to grass in 1979. The expansion to 58,000 seats made Candlestick the National League's largest park at the time and reduced the wind problem somewhat, but it remained an uncomfortable place during most night games. At one point, Giants management distributed "Croix de Candlestick" lapel pins to fans who were hardy enough to stay till the end of extra-inning night games.

The Stick once had a wire outfield fence well inside the permanent left-field seats, and on home runs and deep fly balls dozens of fans leaped from their seats to the field in hopes of catching a souvenir. Later remodeling placed the left field bleachers directly behind the fence, and during its last decade as a baseball stadium, the right foul line distance marker was corrected to 328 from a long-erroneous 335.

The field itself had immense foul territory, which helped make it a pitcher's park. Contrary to popular myth, it did not reduce Willie Mays' impressive lifetime home run total -- during his Candlestick years, he actually had more round-trippers at home than on the road. Mays, along with Hall-of-Fame pitcher Juan Marichal and fellow sluggers Orlando Cepeda and Willie McCovey, starred on the early Giants teams at Candlestick.

The two most dramatic events at the park were not happy ones. A major earthquake occurred there during the second game of the 1989 World Series between the Giants and A’s. Although no one was badly hurt, it caused some structural damage and forced a 10-day postponement of the remaining games, all of which were played on the road at the Oakland Coliseum. Earlier in that year, during an apparently successful comeback from bone cancer, Giant starter Dave Dravecky snapped his arm bone while delivering a pitch, shocking fans and ending his career.

Candlestick (renamed 3Com Park at Candlestick Point after a new sponsorship deal in 1996) closed for baseball after the 1999 season as the Giants moved into Pac Bell Park, a classically-styled baseball-only stadium located in San Francisco's China Basin, closer to downtown. (SCL/JP)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » June 23, 1959: The perceived excessive payments of $650,000 to $1,000,000 for Candlestick Park become an issue in Mayor Christopher's bid for reelection in San Francisco. » September 20, 1959: The Giants play their last game in Seals Stadium before moving to Candlestick Park, losing to Los Angeles 8-2. The Dodgers sweep the series and drop the Giants from first to 3rd. The Braves are in 2nd, a half game back. » February 4, 1960: The Giants move their offices to Candlestick Park. They will work out of a locker room until the San Francisco facility is completed. » April 12, 1960: With 42,269 fans in attendance, the Giants edge the Cardinals 3–1 in the first game at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. Sam Jones pitches a 3-hitter, and Cardinals OF Leon Wagner hits the first home run in the $15 million stadium. In the 3rd inning, the umpires protest that the foul poles are several inches in fair territory, rather than on the foul lines: the Giants will make the correction after the season. » May 7, 1960: Eddie Bressoud's 3-run home run -- a 397-foot, inside-the-park shot off Harvey Haddix -- highlights a 6-run rally as the Giants edge Pittsburgh 6–5 at Candlestick Park. San Francisco ties a major-league record and sets a National League record by having left just two men on base in two consecutive games (16 innings), while winning both. » July 21, 1960: Robin Roberts pitches his 3rd career one-hitter, and the 3rd one-hitter of the season in new Candlestick Park. Felipe Alou spoils Roberts' no-hit bid in the 5th inning of a 3–0 Philadelphia win. 3B Joe Morgan fields the hit, but falls down and cannot make a throw. » July 11, 1961: Strong winds dominate the first All-Star Game of 1961. A capacity crowd sees P Stu Miller blown off the mound in the 9th inning at Candlestick Park. A balk is called, and it enables the American League to forge a 3–3 tie before losing 5–4 in 10 innings. » January 23, 1962: Lawyer Melvin Belli wins a breach-of-warranty suit against the San Francisco Giants on the grounds that his box seat at Candlestick Park is too cold. Belli's suit contends that the seat he bought in 1960, at the cost of $1,597, was supposed to have radiant heating. » February 27, 1962: An architect offers a proposal to encase Candlestick Park in a plastic screen—"saran cloth"—to shield it from the wind. » October 1, 1962: San Francisco wins the first of the best-of-3 National League playoff games as Billy Pierce takes his 12th straight at Candlestick Park, a three-hit, 8–0 victory. Willie Mays hits two home runs, giving him 49 in 1962, one more than American League leader Harmon Killebrew. Sandy Koufax, making just his 3rd start since returning from his hand injury, is the loser. » October 4, 1962: At Candlestick Park, in Game One of the World Series, Roger Maris stakes Whitey Ford to a 2-run lead with a first-inning, 2-run double. Only RF Felipe Alou's leaping effort keeps Maris' drive in the park. Ford's record consecutive-shutout-inning streak ends at 33 2/3 innings when a surprise bunt by Jose Pagan brings Willie Mays home. Clete Boyer's 7th-inning home run gives the Yankees a 6–2 win, the last of a record 10 World Series victories for Ford. » August 15, 1965: The Japanese community of San Francisco holds Masanori Murakami Day at Candlestick Park to honor the first Japanese player to have reached the American major leagues. Ordinarily a reliever, Murakami makes his first ML start as the Giants outslug the Phillies, 15–9. » July 3, 1966: Pitcher Tony Cloninger hits two grand slams and drives in nine runs, as the Braves rout the Giants at Candlestick Park 17–3. Cloninger is the first National League player to slam two in a game, and the first pitcher ever, and his nine RBIs are a major-league record for pitchers, breaking Vic Raschi's mark of 7. The National League record for pitchers was 5, held by several: the last hurler to collect five RBIs in a game is Cloninger, who had five on June 16th against the Mets (as noted by Tom Zocco). » September 16, 1966: The Mets (5) and Giants (3) tie a major-league record by using eight pinch hitters in the 9th inning as the Mets win 5–4. Willie McCovey hits a 500-ft home run, judged the longest ever at Candlestick Park. » May 25, 1979: At Candlestick Park, the Braves take a 4–1 lead in the 4th with two home runs, and the Giants answer back with three home run in same inning. Jack Clark adds one in 8th for a 6–4 win. » June 27, 1980: The Dodgers Jerry Reuss pitches an 8–0 no-hitter against the Giants at Candlestick Park. Reuss, who strikes out only two but doesn't walk a batter, is deprived of a perfect game when SS Bill Russell throws wildly to 1B on Jack Clark's easy grounder in the first inning. » June 6, 1984: A fan, Anthony Perry, is killed when he falls from the upper deck of Candlestick Park following a Giants-Braves game. Witnesses say Perry was leaning over the railing and shouting at the Giants, who had lost 5–4 in 11 innings. » September 23, 1988: At Candlestick Park, the Dodgers win 3-0, behind Orel Hershiser (23-8) who pitches a complete game shutout to extend his record-tying streak to 49 consecutive shutout innings. Mickey Hatcher's 2-out, 3-run homer in the 8th off starter Atlee Hammaker is all the scoring. » October 17, 1989: Game Three of the World Series is postponed when an earthquake strikes the San Francisco Bay area a half hour before game time, causing minor damage to Candlestick Park but major damage to the surrounding area. The quake registers 7.1 magnitude, killing 67 people and does $7 billion in damage. » September 16, 1991: The Braves blow a 3-run lead and lose to the Giants, 8–5, at Candlestick Park. Darren Lewis scores half the Giants runs. » March 10, 1993: The Giants hire Sherry Davis as public address announcer at Candlestick Park, making her the first female to hold the position in a major league ballpark. » April 18, 1993: The game between the Giants and Braves at Candlestick Park is delayed for five minutes when fans shower the field with souvenir baseballs. When order is restored, the Giants go on to defeat the Braves, 13-12 in 11 innings. » April 28, 1995: The Giants play Opening Day at 3Com Stadium, the new name for Candlestick Park. The day is a success for the Jints, as they shut out Florida, 4-0. » March 26, 1996: Voters in San Francisco vote 2-to-1 in favor of a privately-funded stadium to replace Candlestick Park, the windy 36-year-old home of the Giants. The passage of the measure, the first step towards building the 42,000 seat bayside park, exempts the Giants from the waterside height restrictions. Plans call for the park to be ready for Opening Day, 2000. » May 21, 1996: In San Francisco, the fans and players ignore a light earthquake at 3Com Park—4.8 on the Richter scale—in the 3rd inning, and the Giants break a 6th-inning tie to win 8–5 over the Expos. Matt Williams hits his 11th home run and drives in three runs for SF, while Henry Rodriguez hits his 17th homer for the Expos. His three ribbies give him 51 to lead the NL. » September 30, 1999: The Dodgers defeat the Giants, 9-4, in the final game ever played at Candlestick Park.