How Peter O'Malley Saved San Francisco

Thirty years ago, the San Francisco Giants were in the midst of making their biggest free agent signing in franchise history.  Barry Bonds, then 28 years old and coming off his second MVP season, would be signed to a then-massive $44 million, six-year contract that brought him to his hometown San Francisco Giants.  It was a somewhat similar situation that they are going through now as they court Yankee superstar Aaron Judge, a free agent and Northern California native that also was a Giant fan growing up.

In 1992, the San Francisco Giants were a much different entity. Essentially, they were a franchise that was left for dead, within an eyelash of moving to St. Petersburg, Florida, with Vince Piazza, (Mike’s dad), being the principal player of a group of potential buyers.

The Giants were owned then by real estate magnate Bob Lurie and he agreed in principal to sell the team to the Florida group of investors that had their eyes on the Tampa/St. Petersburgh area, (the Tampa Bay Rays were not in existence yet). Lurie claimed that he could not continue sustaining the Giants, who were bleeding losses of $7 million annually.

Few seem to remember the dynamics of the Dodgers biggest rival and the events of 1992, but when they played their final home game on September 27^th of that season, it was believed to be their final game in San Francisco.

Roger Craig was in his final season as the Giants manager.  He spoke solemnly of the final out that day, a line out to centerfield by Darren Lewis off of Rob Dibble in a 3-2 loss to the Reds, saying that one day “his grandkids will talk about it, that he made the last out at Candlestick.” A packed house of 45,630 was there for Fan Appreciation Day.  That large crowd was an anomaly on the season as the Giants finished next to last in the NL West standings and also next to last in NL attendance with 1.5 million fans going through the turnstyles.  By comparison, the Dodgers drew a million more that same year.

The Giants finished a lackluster 72-90 in 1992. Three years earlier, Craig led them to win the NL Pennant, but they began to flounder and regress in the next few seasons. Will Clark led the team in hitting but they had little offensive pop.  Matt Williams led the team with only 20 homers.  Just two players drove in over 65 runs, (Clark with 73 and Williams with 66).  The front office was in disarray. It was a rudderless ship and by season’s end, the move to Florida was a foregone conclusion.

But then an unlikely person of influence came to the Bay Area’s rescue…Dodger owner, Peter O’Malley.

Yes, as much as San Francisco Giant fans despise the Dodgers, they can thank the former Dodger owner for the fact that their franchise never left the Bay Area.

Baseball’s bylaws required buy in from 75% of the National League teams to approve a transfer to a new ownership group (and in this case, an eventual move of a franchise from one city to another).   O’Malley spearheaded the votes against it.  He needed to get three other teams to oppose.  That was not a lot of votes to get, but still, it wasn’t an easy feat.  Lurie received an offer of $115 million for the Giants purchase from the Florida buyers.  The counteroffer from a San Francisco group headed by Safeway Groceries Chairman Peter Magowen was a full $15 million less, and this was in a day when $15 million was considered a lot. Money played a big role in the approval process, but the Dodger President was convincing to his fellow owners.

Magowen’s group not only offered $100 million for the franchise. They were savvy enough to sell their position to the other owners with plans for a new waterfront ballpark that preserved team history, rebuilt a dilapidated section of city with a ton of potential and provided development in the region. This was shortly after Baltimore had opened their new venue at Camden Yards that everyone raved about. The timing of their entrance into the fray was perfect and it swayed the other owners. Perhaps Magowen’s pitch was so good, he didn’t need O’Malley’s support, but that point is pure speculation. The Dodger owner carried a lot of clout and his seniority and knowledge served as an influence over the remaining 13 voters. He took the lead in voicing his opinion to them when it came time to vote.

O’Malley understood that it was in the Dodgers best interests that the West Coast rivalry remain intact.  His father Walter made that perfectly clear when he brought the team out west after the 1957 season. He needed the Giants to accompany him or it simply wouldn’t work. Now, 34 years later, the Dodger ownership still felt the same. Their archrivals were indeed their brothers when it came to influence in the league and a West Coast punch that countered the Eastern team powerhouses.

Earlier in the year, O’Malley reluctantly had publicly voiced his approval of the sale to the Florida group, but that was because there was no choice. When the Magowen team entered with their proposal in the fall of ’92, he enthusiastically got behind the Bay Area group’s offer and he pushed other owners to follow. 

By mid-November the N.L. owners voted and the Florida group and potential move was not approved.  Lurie then accepted Magowen’s offer, which the NL owners accepted with a unanimous vote and the Giants remained in place. 

Within twenty days, not only were the Giants saved from leaving San Francisco, but now they had signed the best player in the National League, (and at a cost that was nearly half of what they paid for the franchise). Additionally, they also hired Dusty Baker as manager. The franchise turned from being cellar dwellers to one of the prized organizations in the game within a few years.

A new era was in place and the Giants stayed put. Magowen brought in Brian Sabean from the Yankees as his General Manager and he started building a team as a large market team would. The rest you can say is history. A beautiful, picturesque bay side ballpark, record setting numbers of consecutive sell outs, competitive teams, post season appearances and eventually three World Series titles; something that had eluded the San Francisco Giants for their entire existence. All this would have never happened in 1992 without O’Malley stepping in.

Can you imagine how baseball would have been different had the Giants moved to Florida? The next time you hear the “Beat LA” chant out of San Francisco, you should remind that Giant fan next to you that it was LA that saved that franchise from moving to Central Florida. As true as that fact is, I’m pretty sure it’ll fall on deaf ears.