Monster Park
Encyclopedia
Candlestick Park is an outdoor sports and entertainment stadium located in San Francisco, California
, in the Bayview Heights area. The stadium was originally built as the home of Major League Baseball
's San Francisco Giants
, who played there from 1960 until moving into Pacific Bell Park (since renamed AT&T Park
) in 2000. Currently it is the home field of the San Francisco 49ers
NFL
team, who moved in for the 1971 season.
The stadium is situated at Candlestick Point on the western shore of the San Francisco Bay
. Due to its location next to the bay, strong winds often swirl down into the stadium, creating unusual playing conditions. At the time of its construction in the late 1950s, the stadium site was one of the few pieces of land available in the city that was suitable for a sports stadium and had space for the 10,000 parking spaces promised to the Giants.
The surface of the field is natural bluegrass
, but for nine seasons the stadium had artificial turf
, from 1970 to 1978. A "sliding pit" configuration, with dirt cut-outs only around the bases, was installed in 1971, primarily to keep the dust down from the breezy conditions. Following the 1978 football season, the artificial turf was removed. Natural grass was re-installed before the 1979 baseball season.
at 16th and Bryant Streets. The City of San Francisco agreed to build a stadium if they moved from New York. Most of the land at Candlestick Point was purchased from Charles Harney, a local contractor. Harney purchased the land in 1952 for a quarry and industrial development. He made a profit of over $2 million when he sold the land for the stadium. Harney received a no-bid contract to build the stadium. The entire deal was the subject of a Grand Jury investigation in 1958. Ground was broken in for the new home of Major League Baseball
's San Francisco Giants
, who had moved west from New York following the end of the 1957 season. The Giants selected the name of Candlestick Park after a name-the-park contest on March 3, 1959. Prior to that, its construction site had been shown on maps as the generic Bay View Stadium. It was the first modern baseball stadium, as it was the first to be built entirely of reinforced concrete
. Then Vice-President Richard Nixon
threw out the first baseball
on the opening day of Candlestick Park on April 12, 1960, and the Oakland Raiders
played their 1961 American Football League
season at Candlestick.
The Beatles
played their last live commercial concert at Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966.
The stadium was enclosed during the winter of 1971–72 for the 49ers, with stands built around the outfield. The result was that the wind speed dropped marginally, but often swirled around throughout the stadium, and the view of the Bay
was lost.
The stadium hosted two MLB All-Star Games (1961 and 1984
), one National League Division Series
(1997), three National League Championship Series
(1971, 1987 and 1989), two World Series (1962
and 1989
), and six NFC Championship games
, the most notable being in January 1982 when Dwight Clark
caught a game-winning touchdown pass from Joe Montana
to lead the 49ers
to their first Super Bowl (see "The Catch
"). Candlestick Park was also home to dozens of commercial shoots as well as the location for the climatic scene in both the 1962 thriller Experiment in Terror
and the 1973 Richard Rush
comedy Freebie and the Bean
. In February, 2011 scenes for "Contagion" staring Matt Damon, Kate Winslet and Jude Law were filmed at the stadium.
On October 17, 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake (measuring 7.1 on the Richter Scale) struck San Francisco, minutes before Game 3 of the World Series
was to begin at Candlestick. Remarkably, no one within the stadium was injured, although minor structural damage was incurred to the stadium. Al Michaels
and Tim McCarver
, who called the game for ABC, later credited the stadium's design for saving thousands of lives. The World Series between the Giants and Oakland Athletics
was subsequently delayed for 10 days, in part to give engineers time to check the stadium's (and that of nearby Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum) overall structural soundness. During this time, the 49ers
moved their game against the New England Patriots
on October 22 to Stanford Stadium
, where they had won Super Bowl XIX
several years before.
In , the Giants moved to the new Pacific Bell Park
(now called AT&T Park
) in the South Beach neighborhood, leaving the 49ers as the sole professional sports team to use Candlestick. The final baseball game was played on Sept. 30, 1999, against the Los Angeles Dodgers
, who won 9–4.
Currently, Candlestick Park is the only NFL stadium that began as a baseball-only facility and underwent extensive reconstruction to accommodate football, as evidenced by the stadium's unusual oblong design that leaves many seats on what was the right-field side of the stadium behind the eastern grandstand of the stadium during football games.
On September 3, 2011, Candlestick Park hosted the first college football game in its history with a neutral site game between the California Golden Bears
and Fresno State Bulldogs
(Cal was designated the "home" team). This game was in San Francisco, because of the massive renovation and seismic retrofit at California's home stadium, California Memorial Stadium
. The rest of the Golden Bears' home games in 2011 will be played at AT&T Park
. Cal would go on to win the game 36-21.
As a baseball field
, the stadium was best known for the windy conditions, damp air and dew from fog, and chilly temperatures. The wind often made life difficult for outfielders trying to catch fly balls, as well as for fans, while the damp grass further complicated play for outfielders that had to play in cold, wet shoes. Architect John Bolles designed the park with a boomerang-shaped concrete baffle in the upper tier to protect the park from wind. Unfortunately, it never worked. For Candlestick's first 10 seasons, the wind blew in from left-center and out toward right-center. When the park was expanded to accommodate the 49ers in 1971, it was thought fully enclosing the park would cut down on the wind. Instead, the wind swirled from all directions, and was as strong and cold as before.
During the first All Star Game
of (one of two played in the park—the other was in ), Giants pitcher Stu Miller
was blown off balance by a gust of wind and was charged with a balk
. Two years later, wind picked up the entire batting cage and dropped it 60 feet (18 m) away on the pitcher’s mound while the New York Mets
were taking batting practice.
The stadium also had the reputation as the coldest park in the major leagues. It was initially built with a radiant heating
system of hot water pipes under the Lower Box seats in a space between the concrete and the ground. As the pipes were not embedded in the concrete it did not produce enough heat to offset the cold air. Both the city and the Giants balked at the cost of upgrading the system so it would work properly (e.g., to removing the seats and concrete, embedding larger pipes, and replacing the concrete and seats). As a result, the Giants played more day games than any Major League Baseball team except the Chicago Cubs
, whose ballpark, Wrigley Field
, did not have lights installed until 1988. Many locals, including Giants' broadcaster Lon Simmons
, were surprised at the decision to build the park right on the bay, in one of the coldest areas of the city.
The Giants eventually played on the reputation to bolster fan support with promotions such as awarding the Croix de Candlestick pin to fans who stayed for the duration of extra-inning night games. Among many less-than-flattering fan nicknames for the park were "North Pole," "Candlestink," "Candleshit," "Cave of the Winds," and "Windlestick." Older fans called it "The Dump" in honor of the former use of the land. Ironically, the Giants played their last game at Candlestick under blue skies with no fog and a game time temperature of a very non-Candlestick-like 82 degrees.
Giants owner Horace Stoneham
visited the site as early as 1957 and was involved in the stadium's design from the outset. While he was aware of the weather conditions, he usually visited the park during the day--not knowing about the particularly cold, windy and foggy conditions that overtook it at night. Originally, Bolles' concrete baffle would have extended all the way to left field, which would have further reduced the prevailing winds. However, the size of the structure was reduced for cost savings. In 1962, Stoneham commissioned a study of the wind conditions. The study revealed that conditions would have been significantly improved had the park been built one hundred yards farther to the north and east. However, this would have meant building it on fill
, which is unstable during earthquakes. The stadium's location on the bedrock of Bayview Hill provided more stability.
The winds are intense in the immediate area of the park. Studies showed they were no more frequent than other parts of San Francisco but are subject to higher gusts. This is because of a hill immediately adjacent to the park. This hill, in turn, is the first topographical obstacle met by the prevailing winds arriving from the Pacific Ocean seven miles to the west. Arriving at Candlestick from the Pacific, these winds travel through what is known as the Alemany Gap before reaching the hill. The combination of ocean winds free-flowing to Candlestick, then swirling over the adjacent hill created the cold and windy conditions that were the bane of the Giants' 40-year stay on Candlestick Point. These same winds, of course, attract wind-surfers in droves to the wind-whipped San Francisco Bay coves south of Candlestick. It is indeed the wind and not the ambient air temperature that provides Candlestick's famed chill. The Giants' subsequent home, AT&T Park
, is just one degree warmer, but is far less windy, creating a "warmer" (relatively speaking) effect. While the wind is a summer condition (hot inland, cool oceanside), winter weather is right in line with the rest of sea level Northern California (mild with occasional rain).
Attorney Melvin Belli
filed a claim against the Giants in 1960 because his six-seat box, which cost him almost $1,600, was unbearably cold. Belli won in court, claiming that the "radiant heating system" advertised was a failure.
), once common to the point. The book "California Geographic Names" lists Candlestick Point as being named for a pinnacle of rock first noted in 1781 by the De Anza Expedition. This pinnacle was also noted by the U.S Geodetic Survey in 1869. The pinnacle disappeared around 1920.
The rights to the stadium name
were licensed to 3Com Corporation from September 1995 until 2002, for $900,000 a year. During that time, the park became known as 3Com Park at Candlestick Point, or, simply, 3Com Park. In 2002, the naming rights deal expired, and the park then became officially known as San Francisco Stadium at Candlestick Point. On Sept. 28, 2004, a new naming rights deal was signed with Monster Cable, a maker of cables for electronic equipment, and the stadium was renamed Monster Park. However, just over a month later, a measure passed in the November 2 election stipulated that the stadium name revert to Candlestick permanently after the contract with Monster expired in 2008.
The City and County of San Francisco had trouble finding a new naming sponsor due in part to the downturn in the economy, but also because the stadium's tenure as 3Com Park was tenuous at best. Many local fans were annoyed with the change and continued referring to the park by its original name, regardless of the official name. The Giants reportedly continued to call the stadium "Candlestick Park" in media guides, because the naming rights were initiated by the 49ers. Some even mocked the 3Com sponsorship. Chris Berman, for instance, usually called it "Commercial-Stick Park." Local fans sometimes called it "Dot-com Park." Freeway signs in the vicinity were changed to read "Monster Park" as part of an overall signage upgrade to national standards on California highways, but as of 2008, those signs have been changed back to Candlestick Park.
The name change also ended up being confusing for the intended branding purposes, as without the "Cable" qualifier in the official name, many erroneously thought the stadium was named for the Monster.com
employment website
or Monster Energy Drink
, not the cable vendor.
On August 10, 2007, San Francisco mayor
Gavin Newsom
announced that the playing field would be renamed Bill Walsh Field in honor of the former Stanford
and 49ers coach, who died on July 30 that year, pending the approval of the city government. However the stadium will retain its current name as is contractually obligated. Commentators still use this name occasionally, most recently when Jerry Rice
's jersey was retired.
On September 18, 2009, Sports Illustrated
's Peter King
used the mock-combination name "Candle3Monsterstick" in reference to the many name changes the stadium has gone through.
Despite numerous official and unofficial name changes over the history of the stadium and surrounding park/facilities, the stadium has been lovingly referred to as "the Stick" by many locals and die-hard fans since its original titling of Candlestick Park in 1960.
. As a result, San Francisco withdrew its bid for the 2016 Olympics on November 13, 2006, as its centerpiece stadium was lost.
gave their final full concert at Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966. Songs performed at the show were "Rock and Roll Music
," "She's a Woman
," "If I Needed Someone
," "Day Tripper
," "Baby's in Black
," "I Feel Fine
," "Yesterday
," "I Wanna Be Your Man
," "Nowhere Man," "Paperback Writer
," and "Long Tall Sally
." A rough recording of most of the concert was left unreleased, although the audio has leaked on to the internet. The recording cuts off during the last minute of the concert, interrupting "Long Tall Sally." Film of the concert was captured by a 15-year-old fan and featured in a documentary called The Unseen Beatles, as well as by news teams from television stations from San Francisco and Sacramento.
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, in the Bayview Heights area. The stadium was originally built as the home of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
's San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
, who played there from 1960 until moving into Pacific Bell Park (since renamed AT&T Park
AT&T Park
AT&T Park is a ballpark located in the South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, at the corner of Third and King Streets, it has served as the home of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball since 2000....
) in 2000. Currently it is the home field of the San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
NFL
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
team, who moved in for the 1971 season.
The stadium is situated at Candlestick Point on the western shore of the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
. Due to its location next to the bay, strong winds often swirl down into the stadium, creating unusual playing conditions. At the time of its construction in the late 1950s, the stadium site was one of the few pieces of land available in the city that was suitable for a sports stadium and had space for the 10,000 parking spaces promised to the Giants.
The surface of the field is natural bluegrass
Poa
Poa is a genus of about 500 species of grasses, native to the temperate regions of both hemispheres. Common names include meadow-grass , bluegrass , tussock , and speargrass. "Poa" is Greek for fodder...
, but for nine seasons the stadium had artificial turf
Artificial turf
Artificial turf is a surface manufactured from synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commercial applications as well...
, from 1970 to 1978. A "sliding pit" configuration, with dirt cut-outs only around the bases, was installed in 1971, primarily to keep the dust down from the breezy conditions. Following the 1978 football season, the artificial turf was removed. Natural grass was re-installed before the 1979 baseball season.
Park history
When the New York Giants arrived in San Francisco in 1958, they played their home games at the old Seals StadiumSeals Stadium
Seals Stadium was a minor league baseball stadium that stood in San Francisco from 1931 through 1959.Built during the depression, Seals Stadium opened on April 7, 1931, It cost $600,000 to construct, and Seals President "Doc" Strub described how laborers would leap onto the running boards of his...
at 16th and Bryant Streets. The City of San Francisco agreed to build a stadium if they moved from New York. Most of the land at Candlestick Point was purchased from Charles Harney, a local contractor. Harney purchased the land in 1952 for a quarry and industrial development. He made a profit of over $2 million when he sold the land for the stadium. Harney received a no-bid contract to build the stadium. The entire deal was the subject of a Grand Jury investigation in 1958. Ground was broken in for the new home of Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
's San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
, who had moved west from New York following the end of the 1957 season. The Giants selected the name of Candlestick Park after a name-the-park contest on March 3, 1959. Prior to that, its construction site had been shown on maps as the generic Bay View Stadium. It was the first modern baseball stadium, as it was the first to be built entirely of reinforced concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
. Then Vice-President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
threw out the first baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
on the opening day of Candlestick Park on April 12, 1960, and the Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
played their 1961 American Football League
American Football League
The American Football League was a major American Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when the established National Football League merged with it. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
season at Candlestick.
The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
played their last live commercial concert at Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966.
The stadium was enclosed during the winter of 1971–72 for the 49ers, with stands built around the outfield. The result was that the wind speed dropped marginally, but often swirled around throughout the stadium, and the view of the Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
was lost.
The stadium hosted two MLB All-Star Games (1961 and 1984
1984 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 1984 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 55th midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League and the National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was played on July 10, 1984 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, California, home of the...
), one National League Division Series
National League Division Series
In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series determine which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series...
(1997), three National League Championship Series
National League Championship Series
In Major League Baseball, the National League Championship Series is a round in the postseason that determines who wins the National League pennant and advances to Major League Baseball's championship, the World Series, facing the winner of the American League Championship Series. The reigning...
(1971, 1987 and 1989), two World Series (1962
1962 World Series
The 1962 World Series matched the defending American League and World Series champions New York Yankees against the National League champion San Francisco Giants, who had won their first NL pennant since 1954 and first since moving from New York in 1958, defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers in a...
and 1989
1989 World Series
†: Game 3 was originally slated for October 17 at 5:35 pm; however, it was postponed when an earthquake occurred at 5:04 pm.-Game 1:Saturday, October 14, 1989 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California...
), and six NFC Championship games
NFC Championship Game
The National Football Conference Championship Game is one of the two semi-final playoff matches of the National Football League, the largest professional American football league in the United States. The game is played on the penultimate Sunday in January and determines the champion of the...
, the most notable being in January 1982 when Dwight Clark
Dwight Clark
Dwight Edward Clark is a former American Pro Bowl wide receiver for the San Francisco 49ers from 1979 to 1987...
caught a game-winning touchdown pass from Joe Montana
Joe Montana
Joseph Clifford "Joe" Montana, Jr. , nicknamed Joe Cool, Golden Joe, The Golden Great and Comeback Joe, is a retired American football player. Montana started his NFL career in 1979 with the San Francisco 49ers, where he played quarterback for the next 14 seasons...
to lead the 49ers
1981 San Francisco 49ers season
The San Francisco 49ers 1981 season was their 32nd season in the National Football League. The season was highlighted by their first Super Bowl victory. A big turning point for the franchise was the drafting of Ronnie Lott from the University of Southern California. Quarterback Joe Montana began...
to their first Super Bowl (see "The Catch
The Catch (American football)
The Catch refers to the winning touchdown reception by Dwight Clark off a Joe Montana pass in the January 10, 1982, NFC Championship Game between the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers...
"). Candlestick Park was also home to dozens of commercial shoots as well as the location for the climatic scene in both the 1962 thriller Experiment in Terror
Experiment in Terror
Experiment in Terror is a 1962 thriller film. It was directed by Blake Edwards and written by Mildred Gordon and Gordon Gordon based on their 1961 novel Operation Terror. The film stars Glenn Ford and Lee Remick.-Plot:...
and the 1973 Richard Rush
Richard Rush
Richard Rush was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the second son of Benjamin Rush, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and Julia Rush. He entered the College of New Jersey at the age of 14, and graduated in 1797 as the youngest member of his class...
comedy Freebie and the Bean
Freebie and The Bean
Freebie and The Bean is a 1974 action-comedy film about two San Francisco police detectives who have one goal in life, bringing down a local hijacking boss. The picture, a precursor to the buddy cop film genre popularized a decade later, stars James Caan, Alan Arkin, Loretta Swit and Valerie...
. In February, 2011 scenes for "Contagion" staring Matt Damon, Kate Winslet and Jude Law were filmed at the stadium.
On October 17, 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake (measuring 7.1 on the Richter Scale) struck San Francisco, minutes before Game 3 of the World Series
1989 World Series
†: Game 3 was originally slated for October 17 at 5:35 pm; however, it was postponed when an earthquake occurred at 5:04 pm.-Game 1:Saturday, October 14, 1989 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California...
was to begin at Candlestick. Remarkably, no one within the stadium was injured, although minor structural damage was incurred to the stadium. Al Michaels
Al Michaels
Alan Richard "Al" Michaels is an American television sportscaster. Now employed by NBC Sports after nearly three decades with ABC Sports, Michaels is one of the most prominent members of his profession...
and Tim McCarver
Tim McCarver
James Timothy "Tim" McCarver is an American former Major League Baseball catcher, and a current sportscaster in residence for Fox Sports.-Playing career:...
, who called the game for ABC, later credited the stadium's design for saving thousands of lives. The World Series between the Giants and Oakland Athletics
1989 Oakland Athletics season
The Oakland Athletics season saw the A's finish in first place in the American League West division, with a record of 99 wins and 63 losses, seven games in front of the Kansas City Royals. It was their second consecutive AL West title, as well as the second straight year in which they finished...
was subsequently delayed for 10 days, in part to give engineers time to check the stadium's (and that of nearby Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum) overall structural soundness. During this time, the 49ers
1989 San Francisco 49ers season
The San Francisco 49ers 1989 season was their 44th season in the National Football League. Joe Montana and the 49ers franchise cemented their reputation as the best team of the decade...
moved their game against the New England Patriots
1989 New England Patriots season
The New England Patriots finished the National Football League's 1989 season with a record of five wins and eleven losses, and finished fourth in the AFC East division.-Staff:-Schedule:-Roster:...
on October 22 to Stanford Stadium
Stanford Stadium
Stanford Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium on the Stanford University campus, the home of Stanford Cardinal college football team. It originally opened in 1921 as a football and track stadium, an earthen horseshoe with wooden bleacher seating and flooring upon a steel frame...
, where they had won Super Bowl XIX
Super Bowl XIX
Super Bowl XIX was an American football game played on January 20, 1985 at Stanford Stadium, on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California, to decide the National Football League champion following the 1984 regular season...
several years before.
In , the Giants moved to the new Pacific Bell Park
AT&T Park
AT&T Park is a ballpark located in the South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, at the corner of Third and King Streets, it has served as the home of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball since 2000....
(now called AT&T Park
AT&T Park
AT&T Park is a ballpark located in the South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, at the corner of Third and King Streets, it has served as the home of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball since 2000....
) in the South Beach neighborhood, leaving the 49ers as the sole professional sports team to use Candlestick. The final baseball game was played on Sept. 30, 1999, against the Los Angeles Dodgers
1999 Los Angeles Dodgers season
The 1999 season started with a new management team; Kevin Malone became the team's General Manager and Davey Johnson was selected to be the new Dodgers Manager. Looking to make a splash, Malone exclaimed "There is a new Sheriff in town" as he took over the reins and made a splash by signing...
, who won 9–4.
Currently, Candlestick Park is the only NFL stadium that began as a baseball-only facility and underwent extensive reconstruction to accommodate football, as evidenced by the stadium's unusual oblong design that leaves many seats on what was the right-field side of the stadium behind the eastern grandstand of the stadium during football games.
On September 3, 2011, Candlestick Park hosted the first college football game in its history with a neutral site game between the California Golden Bears
California Golden Bears
The California Golden Bears is the nickname used for 29 varsity athletic programs and various club teams of the University of California, Berkeley...
and Fresno State Bulldogs
Fresno State Bulldogs
The Fresno State Bulldogs represent California State University, Fresno in 19 NCAA Division I sports. The teams have been members of the Western Athletic Conference since 1992. Before that, it had been a member of the Big West Conference since 1969...
(Cal was designated the "home" team). This game was in San Francisco, because of the massive renovation and seismic retrofit at California's home stadium, California Memorial Stadium
California Memorial Stadium
California Memorial Stadium is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the University of California in Berkeley. Commonly known as Memorial Stadium, it is the home field for the University of California Golden Bears of the Pacific-12 Conference...
. The rest of the Golden Bears' home games in 2011 will be played at AT&T Park
AT&T Park
AT&T Park is a ballpark located in the South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, at the corner of Third and King Streets, it has served as the home of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball since 2000....
. Cal would go on to win the game 36-21.
Reputation
Baseball park
A baseball park, also known as a baseball stadium, ball park, or ballpark is a venue where baseball is played. It consists of the playing field and the surrounding spectator seating...
, the stadium was best known for the windy conditions, damp air and dew from fog, and chilly temperatures. The wind often made life difficult for outfielders trying to catch fly balls, as well as for fans, while the damp grass further complicated play for outfielders that had to play in cold, wet shoes. Architect John Bolles designed the park with a boomerang-shaped concrete baffle in the upper tier to protect the park from wind. Unfortunately, it never worked. For Candlestick's first 10 seasons, the wind blew in from left-center and out toward right-center. When the park was expanded to accommodate the 49ers in 1971, it was thought fully enclosing the park would cut down on the wind. Instead, the wind swirled from all directions, and was as strong and cold as before.
During the first All Star Game
Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also known as the "Midsummer Classic", is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by a combination of fans, players, coaches, and managers...
of (one of two played in the park—the other was in ), Giants pitcher Stu Miller
Stu Miller
Stuart Leonard Miller , is a former pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the St. Louis Cardinals , Philadelphia Phillies , New York & San Francisco Giants , Baltimore Orioles and Atlanta Braves...
was blown off balance by a gust of wind and was charged with a balk
Balk
In baseball, a pitcher can commit a number of illegal motions or actions that constitute a balk. In games played under the Official Baseball Rules, a balk results in a dead ball or delayed dead ball. In certain other circumstances, a balk may be wholly or partially disregarded...
. Two years later, wind picked up the entire batting cage and dropped it 60 feet (18 m) away on the pitcher’s mound while the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
were taking batting practice.
The stadium also had the reputation as the coldest park in the major leagues. It was initially built with a radiant heating
Radiant heating
Radiant heating is a technology for heating indoor and outdoor areas. Heating by radiant energy is observed everyday, the warmth of the sunshine being probably the most commonly observed example. Radiant heating as a technology is typically more narrowly defined...
system of hot water pipes under the Lower Box seats in a space between the concrete and the ground. As the pipes were not embedded in the concrete it did not produce enough heat to offset the cold air. Both the city and the Giants balked at the cost of upgrading the system so it would work properly (e.g., to removing the seats and concrete, embedding larger pipes, and replacing the concrete and seats). As a result, the Giants played more day games than any Major League Baseball team except the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
, whose ballpark, Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field
Wrigley Field is a baseball stadium in Chicago, Illinois, United States that has served as the home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. It was built in 1914 as Weeghman Park for the Chicago Federal League baseball team, the Chicago Whales...
, did not have lights installed until 1988. Many locals, including Giants' broadcaster Lon Simmons
Lon Simmons
Lon Simmons born on July 19, 1923, in Elko, Nevada, is an American baseball and football broadcaster, and is currently broadcasting part-time for the San Francisco Giants.-Career:...
, were surprised at the decision to build the park right on the bay, in one of the coldest areas of the city.
The Giants eventually played on the reputation to bolster fan support with promotions such as awarding the Croix de Candlestick pin to fans who stayed for the duration of extra-inning night games. Among many less-than-flattering fan nicknames for the park were "North Pole," "Candlestink," "Candleshit," "Cave of the Winds," and "Windlestick." Older fans called it "The Dump" in honor of the former use of the land. Ironically, the Giants played their last game at Candlestick under blue skies with no fog and a game time temperature of a very non-Candlestick-like 82 degrees.
Giants owner Horace Stoneham
Horace Stoneham
Horace C. Stoneham was the principal owner of Major League Baseball's New York/San Francisco Giants from the death of his father, Charles Stoneham, in 1936 until 1976. During his ownership, the team won National League pennants in 1936, 1937, 1951, 1954 and 1962, a division title in 1971, and a...
visited the site as early as 1957 and was involved in the stadium's design from the outset. While he was aware of the weather conditions, he usually visited the park during the day--not knowing about the particularly cold, windy and foggy conditions that overtook it at night. Originally, Bolles' concrete baffle would have extended all the way to left field, which would have further reduced the prevailing winds. However, the size of the structure was reduced for cost savings. In 1962, Stoneham commissioned a study of the wind conditions. The study revealed that conditions would have been significantly improved had the park been built one hundred yards farther to the north and east. However, this would have meant building it on fill
Fill dirt
Fill dirt is earthy material which is used to fill in a depression or hole in the ground or create mounds or otherwise artificially change the grade or elevation of real property....
, which is unstable during earthquakes. The stadium's location on the bedrock of Bayview Hill provided more stability.
The winds are intense in the immediate area of the park. Studies showed they were no more frequent than other parts of San Francisco but are subject to higher gusts. This is because of a hill immediately adjacent to the park. This hill, in turn, is the first topographical obstacle met by the prevailing winds arriving from the Pacific Ocean seven miles to the west. Arriving at Candlestick from the Pacific, these winds travel through what is known as the Alemany Gap before reaching the hill. The combination of ocean winds free-flowing to Candlestick, then swirling over the adjacent hill created the cold and windy conditions that were the bane of the Giants' 40-year stay on Candlestick Point. These same winds, of course, attract wind-surfers in droves to the wind-whipped San Francisco Bay coves south of Candlestick. It is indeed the wind and not the ambient air temperature that provides Candlestick's famed chill. The Giants' subsequent home, AT&T Park
AT&T Park
AT&T Park is a ballpark located in the South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, at the corner of Third and King Streets, it has served as the home of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball since 2000....
, is just one degree warmer, but is far less windy, creating a "warmer" (relatively speaking) effect. While the wind is a summer condition (hot inland, cool oceanside), winter weather is right in line with the rest of sea level Northern California (mild with occasional rain).
Attorney Melvin Belli
Melvin Belli
Melvin Mouron Belli was a prominent American lawyer known as "The King of Torts" and by detractors as 'Melvin Bellicose'. He had many celebrity clients, including Zsa Zsa Gabor, Errol Flynn, Chuck Berry, Muhammad Ali, Sirhan Sirhan, the Rolling Stones, Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker, Martha...
filed a claim against the Giants in 1960 because his six-seat box, which cost him almost $1,600, was unbearably cold. Belli won in court, claiming that the "radiant heating system" advertised was a failure.
Baseball
- 43,765 (1960)
- 42,553 (1961-1964)
- 42,500 (1965-1970)
- 59,315 (1971-1988)
- 62,000 (1989-1992)
- 58,000 (1993-1999)
Football
- 61,185 (1971-1982)
- 61,413 (1983-1986)
- 64,252 (1987-1988)
- 65,701 (1989-1991)
- 66,513 (1992-1994)
- 70,207 (1995-1999)
- 69,732 (2000-present)
Other design flaws and irregularities
Candlestick was an object of scorn from baseball purists for reasons other than weather.- Although originally built for baseball, foul territory was quite roomy. According to Simmons, nearly every seat was too far from the field even before the 1971 expansion.
- While the Giants dugout and clubhouse were connected by a tunnel under the stands, the visitors dugout and clubhouse were not. The entrance to the visitors clubhouse was located close to the right field foul pole. Whenever visiting players, managers and/or coaches were ejected from a game, they had to walk down the right field foul line to the clubhouse—usually accompanied by a torrent of jeers, boos and catcalls from Giants fans. This feature was a carryover from the fourth and final incarnation of the Polo GroundsPolo GroundsThe Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...
, the New York Giants home stadium in HarlemHarlemHarlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
. At the Polo Grounds, the clubhouses for both teams were located beyond center field. Like the visitors dugout at Candlestick, both Polo Grounds dugouts had no attached facilities other than restrooms and drinking fountains.
- As with the radiant heating system in the grandstands, the heating systems in the dugouts were wholly inadequate. Players who had played for the Giants and for other National LeagueNational LeagueThe National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
teams complained that the visitors dugout was colder than the Giants dugout. This was due to two reasons: First, because the Giants dugout included a tunnel to the clubhouse, heat from the clubhouse flowed into the dugout. The second reason was due to the placement of the dugouts. The Giants dugout was located on the first base side which was on the south side of the stadium. The visitors dugout was located on the third base (west) side of the field.
Name changes
Candlestick Park was named for Candlestick Point, a point of land jutting into San Francisco Bay. Some think that Candlestick Point was named for the indigenous "candlestick bird" (Long-billed CurlewLong-billed Curlew
The Long-billed Curlew, Numenius americanus, is a large North American shorebird of the family Scolopacidae. This species was also called "sicklebird" and the "candlestick bird". The species is native to central and western North America...
), once common to the point. The book "California Geographic Names" lists Candlestick Point as being named for a pinnacle of rock first noted in 1781 by the De Anza Expedition. This pinnacle was also noted by the U.S Geodetic Survey in 1869. The pinnacle disappeared around 1920.
The rights to the stadium name
Naming rights
In the private sector, naming rights are a financial transaction whereby a corporation or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, typically for a defined period of time. For properties like a multi-purpose arena, performing arts venue or an athletic field, the term ranges from three...
were licensed to 3Com Corporation from September 1995 until 2002, for $900,000 a year. During that time, the park became known as 3Com Park at Candlestick Point, or, simply, 3Com Park. In 2002, the naming rights deal expired, and the park then became officially known as San Francisco Stadium at Candlestick Point. On Sept. 28, 2004, a new naming rights deal was signed with Monster Cable, a maker of cables for electronic equipment, and the stadium was renamed Monster Park. However, just over a month later, a measure passed in the November 2 election stipulated that the stadium name revert to Candlestick permanently after the contract with Monster expired in 2008.
The City and County of San Francisco had trouble finding a new naming sponsor due in part to the downturn in the economy, but also because the stadium's tenure as 3Com Park was tenuous at best. Many local fans were annoyed with the change and continued referring to the park by its original name, regardless of the official name. The Giants reportedly continued to call the stadium "Candlestick Park" in media guides, because the naming rights were initiated by the 49ers. Some even mocked the 3Com sponsorship. Chris Berman, for instance, usually called it "Commercial-Stick Park." Local fans sometimes called it "Dot-com Park." Freeway signs in the vicinity were changed to read "Monster Park" as part of an overall signage upgrade to national standards on California highways, but as of 2008, those signs have been changed back to Candlestick Park.
The name change also ended up being confusing for the intended branding purposes, as without the "Cable" qualifier in the official name, many erroneously thought the stadium was named for the Monster.com
Monster.com
Monster.com is one of the largest employment websites in the world, owned and operated by Monster Worldwide, Inc. Monster is one of the 20 most visited websites out of 100 million worldwide, according to comScore Media Metrics...
employment website
Employment website
An employment website is a web site dealing specifically with employment or careers. Many employment websites are designed to allow employers to post job requirements for a position to be filled and are commonly known as job boards. Other employment sites offer employer reviews, career and...
or Monster Energy Drink
Monster Energy
-Distribution :Though it is not widely advertised in the media, Monster receives a large amount of recognition from its sponsorship of various sporting events, including motocross and car racing. Hansen Natural Corporation announced a distribution agreement with Anheuser-Busch in the U.S. and Grupo...
, not the cable vendor.
On August 10, 2007, San Francisco mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Newsom
Gavin Christopher Newsom is an American politician who is the 49th and current Lieutenant Governor of California. Previously, he was the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco, and was elected in 2003 to succeed Willie Brown, becoming San Francisco's youngest mayor in 100 years. Newsom was re-elected in 2007...
announced that the playing field would be renamed Bill Walsh Field in honor of the former Stanford
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and 49ers coach, who died on July 30 that year, pending the approval of the city government. However the stadium will retain its current name as is contractually obligated. Commentators still use this name occasionally, most recently when Jerry Rice
Jerry Rice
Jerry Lee Rice is a retired American football wide receiver. He is generally regarded as the greatest wide receiver of all time and one of the greatest players in National Football League history...
's jersey was retired.
On September 18, 2009, Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
's Peter King
Peter King (sportswriter)
Peter King is an American sportswriter. He currently writes for Sports Illustrated and its Web site, including the weekly multiple-page column Monday Morning Quarterback. He is the author of five books, most notably Inside the Helmet, as well as a TV analyst and reporter...
used the mock-combination name "Candle3Monsterstick" in reference to the many name changes the stadium has gone through.
Despite numerous official and unofficial name changes over the history of the stadium and surrounding park/facilities, the stadium has been lovingly referred to as "the Stick" by many locals and die-hard fans since its original titling of Candlestick Park in 1960.
Future
Plans were underway to construct a new 68,000-seat stadium at Candlestick Point. However, on November 8, 2006, the 49ers announced that they would abandon their search for a location in San Francisco and begin to actively pursue the idea of building a stadium in Santa Clara, CaliforniaSanta Clara, California
Santa Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...
. As a result, San Francisco withdrew its bid for the 2016 Olympics on November 13, 2006, as its centerpiece stadium was lost.
The Beatles' final concert
The BeatlesThe Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
gave their final full concert at Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966. Songs performed at the show were "Rock and Roll Music
Rock and Roll Music
"Rock and Roll Music" is a song written and recorded by rock and roll icon Chuck Berry which became a hit single in 1957 and has been covered by many artists....
," "She's a Woman
She's a Woman
"She's a Woman" is a song by The Beatles. It was released as the B-side to "I Feel Fine" in 1964, their last single release that year. It reached number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 from frequent airplay.-Composition:...
," "If I Needed Someone
If I Needed Someone
"If I Needed Someone" is a song written by George Harrison. Versions by The Beatles and by The Hollies appeared simultaneously, both being released in the United Kingdom on 3 December 1965. The Hollies version appeared on a single. Most of the Hollies previous singles had been big top ten hits...
," "Day Tripper
Day Tripper
"Day Tripper" is a song by The Beatles, released as a double A-side single with "We Can Work It Out". Both songs were recorded during the sessions for the Rubber Soul album...
," "Baby's in Black
Baby's in Black
"Baby's in Black" is a song by The Beatles, co-written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and released in the United Kingdom on Beatles for Sale and in North America on Beatles '65.-Composition:...
," "I Feel Fine
I Feel Fine
"I Feel Fine" is a riff-driven rock song written by John Lennon and released in 1964 by The Beatles as the A-side of their eighth British single. The song is notable for the use of feedback on a recording for the first time by any musician...
," "Yesterday
Yesterday (song)
"Yesterday" is a song originally recorded by The Beatles for their 1965 album Help!. The song first hit the United Kingdom top 10 three months after the release of Help!. The song remains popular today with more than 1,600 cover versions, one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded...
," "I Wanna Be Your Man
I Wanna Be Your Man
"I Wanna Be Your Man" is a Lennon–McCartney-penned song that was recorded separately by The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. The Rolling Stones' version was released a few weeks earlier...
," "Nowhere Man," "Paperback Writer
Paperback Writer
"Paperback Writer" is a 1966 song recorded and released by The Beatles. Written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney, the song was released as the A-side of their eleventh single...
," and "Long Tall Sally
Long Tall Sally
"Long Tall Sally" is a rock and roll 12-bar blues song written by Robert "Bumps" Blackwell, Enotris Johnson and Richard Penniman , recorded by Little Richard and released March 1956 on the Specialty Records label....
." A rough recording of most of the concert was left unreleased, although the audio has leaked on to the internet. The recording cuts off during the last minute of the concert, interrupting "Long Tall Sally." Film of the concert was captured by a 15-year-old fan and featured in a documentary called The Unseen Beatles, as well as by news teams from television stations from San Francisco and Sacramento.
External links
- Candlestick Park Official Site
- www.ballparks.phanfare.com photos and info about Candlestick park
- Monster Park -- Former Official Site
- 2004 aerial photograph showing football layout from USGS via Microsoft Research Maps (formerly TerraServer-USA)