View source for Horace Stoneham

{{Short description|Baseball executive}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Horace Stoneham
| image         = Horace Stoneham from Tri-Cornered Baseball Game program.jpg
| alt           = 
| caption       = Stoneham at the first game of the World Series, 6 October 1937.
| birth_name    = 
| birth_date    = {{Birth date|1903|4|27}}
| birth_place   = [[Newark, New Jersey]], U.S.
| death_date    = {{Death date and age|1990|1|7|1903|4|27}}
| death_place   = [[Scottsdale, Arizona]], U.S.
| occupation    = Baseball executive
| spouse        = {{marriage|Valleda Pyke|1931}}
| partner       = 
| children      = 2
| relatives     = [[Chub Feeney]] (nephew)
| parents       = [[Charles Stoneham]] (father)<br/>Johanna McGoldrick (mother)
| known_for     = Relocating the [[History of the San Francisco Giants|Giants]] from [[Manhattan]] to [[San Francisco]]
| notable_works = 
| module= {{Infobox baseball biography
  | highlights=
'''As president'''
* [[World Series]] champion ({{wsy|1954}})
  | embed=yes
}}
}}

'''Horace Charles Stoneham''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|t|oʊ|n|ə|m}} {{respell|STOW|nəm}}; April 27, 1903 – January 7, 1990) was the owner of the [[San Francisco Giants|New York / San Francisco Giants]] from 1936 to 1976. During his ownership, the Giants won the [[1954 World Series]] and four [[List of National League pennant winners|National League pennants]] in [[1936 New York Giants (MLB) season|1936]], [[1937 New York Giants (MLB) season|1937]], [[1951 New York Giants (MLB) season|1951]], and [[1962 San Francisco Giants season|1962]], and [[History of the San Francisco Giants|moved]] from [[Manhattan]] to [[San Francisco]]. 

== Early life ==
Horace Stoneham was born in [[Newark, New Jersey]] on 27 April 1903 to [[Charles Stoneham]] and Johanna McGoldrick. He studied at the [[Hun School of Princeton]] and graduated from [[Trinity-Pawling School]] in 1921.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Garratt |first=Rob |last2=Treder |first2=Steve |date= |title=Horace Stoneham |url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/horace-stoneham/ |access-date=18 January 2024 |website=Society for American Baseball Research |language=en-US}}</ref> 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.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Graham |first=Frank |date=May 1956 |title=The Shy Boss of the Giants |journal=Sport |pages=49}}</ref> His father bought the New York Giants in October 1918.<ref name=":0" /> He returned at his father's insistence to the Giants' spring training camp in [[Sarasota, Florida]] ahead of the [[1924 New York Giants season|1924]] season to begin his apprenticeship as a baseball executive and future owner.<ref name="loma">[https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/09/obituaries/horace-c-stoneham-86-owner-who-moved-giants-to-west-coast.html Obituary], ''The New York Times'', 1990-01-09</ref> He worked on the Giants' [[Groundskeeping|grounds crew]] and in their ticket office and then moved into their front office, working as an assistant in the ticketing department.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Angell |first=Roger |title=Five Seasons: A Baseball Companion |publisher=Simon and Schuster |year=1977 |isbn=9780803259508 |location=New York |pages=269}}</ref>

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|John McGraw's]] inner circle in the early 1930s, and would work closely with McGraw, [[Bill Terry]] and his father.<ref name=":0" />

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 (baseball)|National League]] history.<ref name="loma" />

== New York Giants ==
The Giants were one of the most prominent franchises of the National League. Horace oversaw four [[List of National League pennant winners|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. Although the Giants won only one pennant ({{baseball year|1962}}) and one division title ({{baseball year|1971}}) in their first 15 years after moving to the [[San Francisco Bay Area|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 {{baseball year|1976}}.

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 (baseball)|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 New York Giants (MLB) season|1936]], [[1937 New York Giants (MLB) season|1937]], [[1951 New York Giants (MLB) season|1951]], [[1954 New York Giants (MLB) season|1954]] and [[1962 San Francisco Giants season|1962]], a [[National League West]] division title in [[1971 San Francisco Giants season|1971]], and the [[World Series]] title in [[1954 World Series|1954]].

=== Early success ===
[[File:Ford Frick and Horace Stoneham 1945 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|180px|Stoneham, circa 1945]]
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.<ref name="loma" /><ref name="leo">[[Leo Durocher|Durocher, Leo]], with Linn, Ed, ''Nice Guys Finish Last.'' New York: [[Simon & Schuster]], 1975, pp. 235–239</ref> In [[1936 New York Giants (MLB) season|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 [[1936 World Series|World Series]], the Giants were defeated by the [[New York Yankees]] four games to two. Terry would retire as a player at the end of the season and be appointed as the full-time [[Manager (baseball)|manager]] until [[1941 New York Giants (MLB) season|1941]]. Terry also served as the [[General manager (baseball)|general manager]] through [[1942 New York Giants (MLB) season|1942]]. The Giants would again win the National League pennant in [[1937 New York Giants (MLB) season|1937]] but fall [[1937 World Series|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 New York Giants (MLB) season|1938]] but not finish in the [[First division (baseball)|first division]] again, finishing fifth in [[1939 New York Giants (MLB) season|1939]], sixth in [[1940 New York Giants (MLB) season|1940]] and fifth in [[1941 New York Giants (MLB) season|1941]]. Terry resigned as the manager after the 1941 season and was succeeded by former teammate [[Mel Ott]] as player-manager.

=== Struggles during and after World War II ===
In the [[1942 New York Giants (MLB) season|1942]] season, Ott led the league in home runs, runs scored and walks but the Giants finished [[1942 Major League Baseball season|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 New York Giants (MLB) season|1948]] season and hired [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] manager [[Leo Durocher]] as a replacement.  

=== World Series success and Shot Heard 'Round the World ===
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]],<ref name="leo" /> but he quickly produced an exciting team that just two years later was in the World Series. The Giants won the [[1951 National League tie-breaker series|1951 National League]] in a thrilling play-off against the Dodgers, on the back off [[Bobby Thomson|Bobby Thomson's]] home run in the deciding game in what was to be known as the [[Shot Heard 'Round the World (baseball)|'Shot Heard 'Round the World']]. However, the Giants would fall four games to two to the Yankees in the [[1951 World Series]]. 

In [[1954 New York Giants (MLB) season|1954]], Durocher and [[Willie Mays]] would lead the Giants to the [[1954 Major League Baseball season|National League]] pennant and their only [[1954 World Series|World Series]] title. The Giants swept the heavily favoured [[Cleveland Guardians|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 (baseball)|the catch]]". Stoneham was hailed as [[The Sporting News Executive of the Year Award|''The Sporting News''' Executive of the Year]] in baseball.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Sporting News MLB Executive of the Year |url=http://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/aw_sney.shtml |website=[[Baseball Almanac]]}}</ref>

In 1949, the Giants recruited former [[Negro league baseball|Negro League]] players [[Monte Irvin]] and [[Hank Thompson (baseball)|Hank Thompson]] to become the second National League team to be fully integrated.<ref name=":0" /> 

=== Controversial move to San Francisco ===
The 1954 World Series title was the last hurrah for Stoneham and the Giants in New York.  Stoneham was alarmed by a dramatic drop-off in attendance during the 1950s. The [[1947 New York Giants (MLB) season|1947 Giants]] had drawn 1.6 million paying fans despite finishing fourth. But the 1951 pennant winners and 1954 world champions struggled to hit seven figures in home attendance, and mediocre 1956–57 Giants' teams had drawn fewer than 700,000 customers each season.  It did not help matters that the Giants' park, the [[Polo Grounds]], was not aging gracefully. The park had been built in its present form in 1911 and had not been well maintained from the 1940s onward.  Meanwhile, the park's surrounding neighbourhoods (in [[Washington Heights, Manhattan|Washington Heights]] in [[Upper Manhattan]]) had entered a steep economic and social decline, with rising rates of crime.<ref name=SABR>[http://sabr.org/bioproj/park/58d80eca Thornley, Stew, "The Polo Grounds (New York)"], [[Society for American Baseball Research]]</ref> All of these factors contributed to a sharp drop in attendance.

The Giants' dwindling gates hit Stoneham particularly hard. Unlike most of his fellow owners, the Giants and the Polo Grounds were his sole source of income.  Stoneham's balance sheet took a further hit after the 1955 season when the [[New York Giants|football Giants]], who had spent their entire history as tenants of the baseball Giants, moved across the [[Harlem River]] to [[Yankee Stadium (1923)|Yankee Stadium]]. With the loss of their football tenant, the baseball Giants' shrinking bottom line made it difficult for Stoneham to find the money needed for renovations even after laying off his maintenance staff. Even without that to consider, while the Giants owned the Polo Grounds, the land on which it stood was still owned by the heirs of [[James J. Coogan]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Murphy |first=Robert E. |date=2007-06-24 |title=The Real Villain of New York Baseball |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/nyregion/thecity/24gian.html |access-date=2024-01-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In hopes of finding a way out, Stoneham briefly considered moving to the [[Bronx, New York|Bronx]] as tenants of the [[New York Yankees|Yankees]]—possibly before his lease at the Polo Grounds ran out in 1962. Ironically, the Yanks had been tenants of the Giants at the Polo Grounds from 1913 to 1922.<ref name=SABR/>  However, impressed by the success of the [[Atlanta Braves|Braves]] after their [[1953 in baseball|1953]] shift from [[Boston]] to [[Milwaukee]], Stoneham decided to move his Giants to the [[Minneapolis-St. Paul|Twin Cities]] of [[Minnesota]].  He intended to set up shop in [[Metropolitan Stadium]], which had just been constructed in [[Bloomington, Minnesota|Bloomington]], halfway between Minneapolis and St. Paul, for his [[Triple-A (baseball)|Triple-A]] [[farm team]], the [[Minneapolis Millers]].  The stadium had been built to major league specifications with the help of public funds, and Stoneham had declared there were at most two big-league parks that were better.  Under baseball rules of the time, the Giants shared the MLB rights to the [[Minneapolis-St. Paul|Twin Cities]] with the Dodgers, who operated the Millers' main rival, the [[St. Paul Saints (1901–1960)|St. Paul Saints]], as one of their three Triple-A affiliates.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Landers |first=Chris |date=2019-01-25 |title=Just why did the Dodgers and Giants move from New York to California? |url=https://www.mlb.com/cut4/why-did-the-dodgers-and-giants-move-to-california-c303090362 |access-date=2024-01-18 |website=MLB.com |language=en}}</ref>

Stoneham confided his plan to Dodgers owner [[Walter O'Malley]], who then revealed that he was negotiating to transfer the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. He suggested that Stoneham contact [[Mayor of San Francisco|San Francisco Mayor]] [[George Christopher (mayor)|George Christopher]] and explore moving his team there to preserve the teams' [[Dodgers–Giants rivalry|bitter rivalry]]. Stoneham soon abandoned his Minnesota plan and shifted his attention, permanently, to San Francisco. In 1961, the Twin Cities succeeded in getting their own big-league team when the 1901–60 incarnation of the Washington Senators moved there and became the [[Minnesota Twins]].

Stoneham and O'Malley were vilified by New York baseball fans when their teams' boards approved the moves to the West Coast. Stoneham was confronted by fans both angry—they chanted, after their last home game on September 29: "We want Stoneham! With a rope around his neck!"<ref>Richman, Milt, [[Associated Press]], in ''The Second Fireside Book of Baseball''. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1958, page 292</ref>—and grief-stricken. During the August 19, 1957 press conference officially announcing the franchise's move to San Francisco, he explained, "Kids are still interested, but you don't see many of their parents at games."<ref>[https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/giants-announces-move-san-francisco-1957-article-1.2324632 Mozley, Dana. "Giants Gone; It's Frisco in '58," ''Daily News'' (New York City), Tuesday, August 20, 1957.] Retrieved February February 4, 2020</ref> (In his book ''Five Seasons'', [[Roger Angell]] quotes Stoneham as saying, "The last day we played [at the Polo Grounds], I couldn't go to the game. I just didn't want to see it all end.")

Writer [[Roger Kahn (baseball)|Roger Kahn]] said years later, during promotional tours for his book ''The Era 1947–57'', that the deteriorating condition of the Polo Grounds, as well as the Giants' shrinking fan base, made it necessary for Stoneham to abandon New York. He noted, however, that the Dodgers—a year removed from the [[1956 in baseball|1956]] pennant and two from Brooklyn's first [[1955 World Series|world championship]]—were still profitable and O'Malley's move West was motivated by a desire for even greater riches.

The Giants' transfer to San Francisco was initially a rousing success.  The team began to play winning baseball and drew 1.27 and 1.42 million fans playing in a tiny (22,900 capacity) [[Minor League Baseball|minor league]] ballpark, [[Seals Stadium]], in 1958–59.  Then the Giants moved to brand-new [[Candlestick Park]] in 1960 and attendance rose above 1.75 million fans. (Meanwhile, the National League returned to New York in [[1962 in baseball|1962]], with an expansion team, the [[New York Mets|Mets]].)

=== 1962 National League pennant ===
While Stoneham's San Francisco club produced only one pennant (in {{baseball year|1962}}), one [[National League West Division]] title ({{baseball year|1971}}), and no World Series triumphs, the Giants of the late 1950s and 1960s were one of the most talented assemblages in the National League. They included five [[Baseball Hall of Famers|Hall of Famers]]—[[Willie Mays]], [[Willie McCovey]], [[Juan Marichal]], [[Orlando Cepeda]] and [[Gaylord Perry]]—and many other stars. The Giants were the first big league team to heavily scout and sign players from the [[Dominican Republic]] and brought the first Japanese player, [[pitcher]] [[Masanori Murakami]], to the Majors in 1964.

But the National League was so powerful and competitive—it had far outpaced the [[American League]] in signing [[African-American]] and [[Latin American]] players—the Giants had only one pennant to show for a decade-plus of contention. In {{baseball year|1962}}, the team won 101 games and forced another [[1962 National League tie-breaker series|best-of-three playoff]] with the Dodgers, then prevailed in the final [[inning (baseball)|inning]] of the decisive third game.  In another echo of 1951, they were defeated by the Yankees in the [[1962 World Series|World Series]].

Stoneham was partially to blame for the Giants' lack of sustained dominance, as he squandered the resources of his productive [[farm system]] through a series of poorly advised trades, usually for [[starting pitcher]]s who could complement Marichal and Perry.  He also hired as his manager from 1961–64 [[Alvin Dark]], who had a brilliant baseball mind but a poor relationship with at least some of his minority players. Dark was fired after the [[1964 San Francisco Giants season|1964 Giants]] fell just short in a wild, end-of-season pennant race; almost as notably, his dismissal came after he had made well-publicized and derogatory remarks to the press about Latin ballplayers during the season. (Dark later said he was misquoted.)<ref>[http://seamheads.com/2014/11/20/alvin-dark-and-the-persistence-of-racial-stereotypes/ Seamheads.com]</ref>  Long-time Durocher aide [[Herman Franks]], Dark's successor, then produced four consecutive second-place finishes through 1968.

In {{baseball year|1971}}, Mays' final full season with San Francisco, the Giants roared to an early lead in the NL West, winning 37 of their first 51 games to build a {{frac|10|1|2}}-game margin over the Dodgers through May 31. Then they fell to earth, going only 53–58 for the rest of the season. Still, they prevailed by a single game over Los Angeles to become division champions.  In the [[1971 National League Championship Series]], however, the eventual world champion [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] handled Stoneham's club in four games.

In 1959, Stoneham began developing a spring training facility for the San Francisco Giants at [[Francisco Grande]], in [[Casa Grande, Arizona]]. Francisco Grande hosted its first exhibition game in 1961, where Willie Mays hit a 375-foot home run in the fourth inning.  Francisco Grande, now a hotel and golf resort, still houses various memorabilia of the San Francisco Giants of the 1960s.

==Struggles during the 1970s==
After their initial success, Stoneham's Giants fell on hard times after 1971. The arrival of the cross-bay [[Oakland Athletics]] in 1968 split the market.  The Athletics themselves struggled at the turnstiles, leading to doubts about whether the Bay Area was big enough for two MLB teams. Attendance at cold and windy [[Candlestick Park]] plummeted after 1971 to levels even below those at the Polo Grounds in the mid-1950s; during Stoneham's final five years as owner, only in {{baseball year|1973}} did the Giants draw more than 648,000 fans, causing Stoneham financial hardship.  This was the same situation that forced him to move to San Francisco almost 20 years earlier.

Finally, in [[1976 in baseball|1976]], he put the team up for sale. The Giants very nearly moved back east, to [[Toronto]], when a deal with Canadian investors seemed imminent. In addition, it was briefly rumoured that they might return to the metropolitan New York area, perhaps to a new baseball stadium in the [[Meadowlands Sports Complex|New Jersey Meadowlands]]. Instead, Stoneham sold it to San Francisco real estate magnate [[Bob Lurie]] and [[Phoenix, Arizona]]-based [[Meat-packing industry|meat-packer]] Bud Herseth for $8 million, with the transaction unanimously approved by the other National League club owners on March 2, 1976.<ref>[https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DS19760303.2.121&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1 "Herseth Replaces Short As Co-Owner; Rigney Named Giants Manager," ''United Press International'', Wednesday, March 3, 1976.] Retrieved February 29, 2020</ref> The deal represented a handsome return on his father's purchase of the team for $1 million 57 years earlier.<ref name=":0" />

== Personal life ==
Stoneham married his wife Valleda (née Pyke) on 14 April 1924. They had two children, son Charles Stoneman and a daughter also named Valleda. Stoneham died at age 86 in a nursing home in [[Scottsdale, Arizona]]. He was survived by his wife, son, daughter, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rogers |first=Thomas |date=1990-01-09 |title=Horace C. Stoneham, 86, Owner Who Moved Giants to West Coast |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/09/obituaries/horace-c-stoneham-86-owner-who-moved-giants-to-west-coast.html |access-date=2024-01-18 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{sabrbio|horace-stoneham}}

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[[Category:1903 births]]
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[[Category:San Francisco Giants owners]]