Horace Stoneham

Horace Charles Stoneham (April 27, 1903 – January 7, 1990) was the owner of the New York / San Francisco Giants from 1936 to 1976.

Horace Stoneham was born in Newark, New Jersey on 27 April 1903 to Charles Stoneham and Johanna McGoldrick.

His father bought the New York Giants in October 1918.

He studied at the Hun School of Princeton and graduated from Trinity-Pawling School in 1921.

He briefly attended Fordham University but dropped after four days and was sent by his father to work in a copper mine in California during the winter of 1923-24.

He returned at his father's insistence to the Giants' spring training camp in Sarasota, Florida ahead of the 1924 season to begin his apprenticeship as a baseball executive and future owner.

He worked on the Giants' grounds crew and in their ticket office and then moved into their front office, working as an assistant in the ticketing department.

He managed the leasing of the team's Polo Grounds stadium for other sporting events, including football and boxing and managed the team's travel and accommodation with club secretary Eddie Branick.

Horace would be admitted into team manager John McGraw's inner circle in the early 1930s, and would work closely with McGraw, Bill Terry and his father.

In 1936, at age 32, he inherited ownership of the Giants on his father's death due to a heart attack on January 6.

He became the youngest club owner in National League history.

The Giants were one of the most prominent franchises of the National League.

Horace oversaw four pennant wins and one World Series championship in his first two decades as owner.

He moved the Giants from New York City to San Francisco, one of two National League owners to bring Major League Baseball to the west coast territory.

Stoneham's ownership witnessed three separate pennant-contending and -winning eras: the team that he inherited, the 1936–1938 Giants with Bill Terry, Carl Hubbell and Mel Ott; the 1949–1955 teams of manager Leo Durocher, with Monte Irvin, Sal Maglie, Bobby Thomson and Willie Mays; and the star-studded Giants of 1959–1971.

During Stoneham's 41 years as owner, the Giants won National League pennants in 1936, 1937, 1951, 1954 and 1962, a National League West division title in 1962, and the World Series title in 1954.

Stoneham was known as a hands-on owner that was concerned with the day-to-day business of the Giants and personally involved in player trades and transactions.

In 1936, player-manager Bill Terry's last season as a player, the Giants defeated the St. Louis Cardinals by five games to win the National League pennant.

However, in the World Series, the Giants were defeated by the New York Yankees four games to two.

The Giants would again win the National League pennant in 1937 but fall four games to one to the Yankees featuring Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Bill Dickey and Lefty Gomez in the World Series.

The Giants finished third in 1938 but not finish in the first division again, finishing fifth in 1939, sixth in 1940 and fifth in 1941.

Terry would retire as a player at the end of the season and be appointed as the full-time manager until 1941.

Terry resigned as the manager after the 1941 season and was succeeded by former teammate Mel Ott as player-manager.

Terry also served as the general manager until the 1942.

In the 1942 season, Ott led the league in home runs, runs scored and walks but the Giants finished third in the National League.

The team struggled in the National League, falling into the league's second division after the end of World War II.

Stoneham fired the popular but easy-going Ott mid-way through the 1948 season and hired Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher as a replacement.

Stoneham negotiated a deal with Dodgers' general manager Branch Rickey to release Durocher from his contract and join their cross-town rivals.

Giant fans initially reviled Durocher as the pilot of the arch-rival Brooklyn Dodgers, but he quickly produced an exciting team that just two years later was in the World Series.

In 1949, the Giants recruited former Negro League players Monte Irvin and Hank Thompson to become the second National League team to be fully integrated.

The Giants won the 1951 National League in a thrilling play-off against the Dodgers, on the back off Bobby Thomson's home run in the deciding game in what was to be known as the 'Shot Heard 'Round the World'.

However, the Giants would fall four games to two to the Yankees in the 1951 World Series.

During his ownership, the Giants won the 1954 World Series and four National League pennants in 1936, 1937, 1951, 1962 and moved from Manhattan to San Francisco.

In 1954, Durocher and Willie Mays would lead the Giants to the National League pennant and their only World Series title.

The Giants swept the heavily favoured Cleveland Indians.

In Game One, center fielder Mays caught a long drive by Vic Wertz near the outfield wall with his back to the infield in a play remembered as "the catch".

Stoneham was hailed as The Sporting News' Executive of the Year in baseball.

The 1954 World Series title was the last hurrah for Stoneham and the Giants in New York.

Although the Giants won only one pennant (1962) and one division title (1971) in their first 15 years after moving to the Bay Area, they were a consistent contender that featured some of the era's biggest stars.

But during the mid-1970s, lacklustre on-field performance and dwindling attendance forced Stoneham to sell the team in 1976.