At the time of the Giants decision to move to San Francisco, there was mention that either the St. Louis Cardinals or the Chicago Cubs would open up in San Francisco.
It turned out to be the Los Angeles Dodgers. The way the National League schedule makers did it, the two teams in the first week of the season would play a home-and-home three game series in each city.
On Tuesday, April 15, 1958, the Giants opened the season with the Dodgers as the first Major League Baseball game on the West Coast. The Giants defeated the Dodgers, 8-0 behind a shutout by Ruben Gomez in front of 23,448 fans. It would be the highest paid crowd, minor or major league, in Seals Stadium history.
Firsts would include the following. Gino Cimoli (Dodgers) was the first hitter and would strike out. Charlie Neal (Dodgers) would get the first hit in the top of the second inning. Danny O'Connell (Giants) would score the first run in the bottom of the third. Daryl Spencer (Giants) hit the first home run in the bottom of the fourth.
On Friday, April 18th, the Dodgers would return the favor by winning their home opener against the Giants, 6-5. A crowd of 78,672 at the Los Angeles Coliseum watched. Dick Gray (Dodgers) hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning for what was proved to be the winning run.
Russ Hodges, a New York Giants broadcaster for a few years, made the transfer west to broadcast games on KSFO and KTVU TV. He would be joined by Lon Simmons. Bill King would be added on the radio side. All three broadcasters are in Baseball's Hall Of Fame.
San Francisco was led by superstar Willie Mays (.347 average, 29 HRs and 96 RBIs) and 1958 NL Rookie Of The Year, Orlando Cepeda (.312 average, 25 HRs and 96 RBIs). Catcher, Bob Schmidt, shortstop, Daryl Spencer and right fielder, Willie Kirkland were valuable in the team's first year on the West Coast.
Johnny Antonelli and Mike McCormick were the winningest starting pitchers on the team. Marv Grissom with seven wins and 11 saves led the relief corps.
The Giants finished their first season with an 80-74 record, good enough for third place, a huge improvement from the 1957 season in New York. They were 44-33 at Seals Stadium. Attendance at Seals Stadium was 1,272,625. The previous year at the Polo Grounds, the team drew 653,923 fans.
The team was right in the thick of the pennant race up until August 1st. A doubleheader loss in Milwaukee to the pennant winning Braves was something the team could not recover from.
There would be better days ahead for the franchise. Their Triple A team, the Phoenix Giants, would win the Pacific Coast League title by 4 1/2 games over the San Diego Padres, then a Cleveland Indians farm club. Future players such as catcher, Tom Haller, right fielder, Felipe Alou, first baseman/outfielder, Willie McCovey and pitcher, Ernie Broglio, were not that far away.
| Rk | Tm | W | L | GB | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Milwaukee Braves | 92 | 62 | .597 | -- | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Pittsburgh Pirates | 84 | 70 | .545 | 8.0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | San Francisco Giants | 80 | 74 | .519 | 12.0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Cincinnati Redlegs | 76 | 78 | .494 | 16.0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Chicago Cubs | 72 | 82 | .468 | 20.0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 6 | St. Louis Cardinals | 72 | 82 | .468 | 20.0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 7 | Los Angeles Dodgers | 71 | 83 | .461 | 21.0 | ||||||||||||||||
| 8 | Philadelphia Phillies | 69 | 85 | .448 | 23.0 |
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