Few stadiums have been both despised and loved as much as Candlestick Park. Nestled on the edge of San Francisco and resting against the strong winds that come with living so close to the shore, Candlestick Park brought nights that chilled too many toes and moments that warmed many more hearts. Still, it was the memories made there that warmed fan's hearts as they braved the unique chill. Events such as the Beatles last concert in 1966 and Pope John Paul II holding Mass in September 1987 put "the Stick" on the map just as much as any Giants or 49ers game that was played there. This is its story.
Candlestick Point
The Bayview-Hunters Point community was in a funk. The community used to make most of its money through slaughterhouses before moving into the shipbuilding industry as America dove into World War II. But by the time the war had ended, the shipbuilding industry was no longer as necessary. With the slaughterhouse industry having long moved out and into other communities, the Bayview-Hunters Point community suddenly found itself without an identity. Just south of downtown San Francisco, it was a sleepy community that was trying to find its niche in society.
By 1954, developer Charles Harney saw an opportunity. Aware that both the Giants and Dodgers were looking to relocate, he suggested to mayor George Christopher that Candlestick Point would be a good option. At the time, it was ludicrous to even consider the location. After all, there was nothing but water where Harney envisioned the ballpark. But he convinced Christopher that they could easily fix that awkward situation with mounds and mounds of dirt, filling in an entire area where tens of thousands would flock to ballgames for 53 years with landfill.
Needless to say, his ploy worked and by April 1958 dump trucks were rumbling right next to the once-sleepy community to dump mounds and mounds of dirt into the San Francisco Bay. Soon, a dream became reality and from the dirt rose local architect John Savage Bolles' greatest work.
When Candlestick Park opened in April 1960, it ushered in the final chapter in a golden era while ushering the beginning of a new one. It was the last ballpark to have columns supporting the upper deck and was among the first to feature a roofette all along the second level. Although it was placed too deep within the concrete and couldn't radiate effectively, engineers had constructed a heating system throughout the ballpark to warm the backsides of fans during the typically frigid summer nights.
The new ballpark opened on April 12, 1960 before an audience of 42,696. With the sun shining just right on a cloudless day, tickets going for just $2.50 in the lower stands and Vice President Richard Nixon throwing out the first pitch, the setting was perfect for the Giants as they opened their glistening new ballpark against the powerful St. Louis Cardinals.
With the game still scoreless in the bottom of the first inning, Orlando Cepeda got the Giants on the board first with a triple off of Larry Jackson, driving in Willie Mays and Don Blasingame to put the Giants up by two. Cepeda struck paydirt against Jackson again in the third by blooping a single to drive in Mays and give his teammates a commanding 3-0 lead.
Sam Jones pitched well all day and if it wasn't for Leon Wagner's homer in the fifth inning, he could have pitched a shutout. Still, the Giants won the first game ever played at Candlestick Park 3-1.
The World Series
The spotlight on the game's biggest stage came quickly for Candlestick Park. Just two years after it first opened its gates, the former pile of dirt hosted the mighty New York Yankees in the World Series. It was a typical seven game series, one which saw neither team win twice in a row. Back and forth the contestants went as the giants of the game came to play. Day after day, spectators were treated to the likes of Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey.
Finally, it all came down to Game 7 in San Francisco. Having allowed Bill Mazeroski's walk-off homer two years earlier, the Yankee's Ralph Terry sought redemption in the City by the Bay. Down 1-0 going into the ninth, Matty Alou bunted a single off of Terry and Willie Mays soon doubled to bring Alou within striking distance. He could have scored, but Roger Maris somehow managed to get the ball to third base all the way from right field, keeping Alou at bay.
Throughout his career, Willie McCovey would make a name for himself by hitting towering home runs. But on this day, the aura of Candlestick Park had other ideas. As McCovey made contact, everyone in the crowd figured that this just might be another walk-off, but the wind held the ball up just enough for Bobby Richardson to catch it.
It was the last championship the New York Yankees would win until 1977 and it would be much, much longer until San Francisco lifted the World Series trophy high above their heads. Already, Candlestick was developing an unsettling reputation. Had the Giants made a mistake?
The Cookie-Cutter Era
Although the Giants remained competitive throughout their first decade in Candlestick Park and never once had a losing season, fans soon started to realize just how horrible the weather really was at Candlestick Point. By the end of the decade, the Giants had slipped from the middle of the pack to the bottom six in the major leagues for attendance. Of course, it didn't help when the A's moved to Oakland from Kansas City in 1968 and effectively split the Giants' fanbase in half. It was becoming increasingly obvious that Candlestick's location was keeping fans away.
Still, having outgrown Kezar Stadium, the 49ers remained undaunted and moved to Candlestick Park in 1971. This was the golden age of the "cookie cutter" stadium. While Candlestick Park wasn't technically deemed a cookie cutter as it was designed by a different firm, the life it lived was worthy of an honorable mention among the likes of Philadelphia's Veteran's Stadium, Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium, Pittsburgh's Three Rivers Stadium and St. Luis's Busch Stadium.
To prepare for the NFL season, the ballpark went through extensive renovations to turn into a stadium. It became completely enclosed, with the roofette stretching along with the rest of the upper level all the way around the stadium. In addition to a new press box being added to the top of the second deck left of home plate, the designers got creative with seating as they added a massive retractable section to roll back for baseball and roll forward and closer to the action for football.
Candlestick was the first stadium to have this feature and in time, several other stadiums such as Minnesota's Metrodome and Miami's Joe Robbie Stadium would also have this unique feature. This made for a massive bleacher section that became Candlestick's signature look. As a result, seating capacity rose from 43,000 to just over 58,000.
The 49ers first game at Candlestick Park was on October 10, 1972. Though the results were disappointing with a tough 20-13 loss to the arch-rival Los Angeles Rams and they drew just 44,000, it felt like a new beginning.
Still, there was a certain allure in the air that was missing. All great stadiums are great because they offer a tremendous home-field advantage. For much of the 1970's, both the Giants and 49ers went through some major changes. While both began the decade as contenders, towards the end, they had both been sold to different owners and began major organizational changes. All the while, the crowds became smaller and smaller. Candlestick Park needed a rabid fanbase to enliven the dead environment.
The Catch
After years spent in the league's cellar, the 49ers saw a light at the end of the tunnel. They spent the 1981 offseason busy free agents from the scrap heap and picking just the right rookies to spark an instant revival. Having discarded the destructive Astroturf two years earlier, the 49ers embraced Candlestick's unique elements as the grass turned into a quagmire late in the season, rendering opposing offenses useless in the slop.
This was a far cry from the Giants, who suffered right along with their fans and opponents in San Francisco's unique chill. As a result, the Giants had a much harder time developing as loyal of a fanbase as the 49ers began to forge in the early 1980s.
Although the season started slow, it picked up in a hurry as the 49ers went on a long winning streak and thoroughly demolished the powerful Dallas Cowboys at home. When the regular season ended, the team that had been just 2-14 two years earlier was the top seed in the playoffs.
January 10, 1982 couldn't come soon enough. The 49ers and Cowboys had met twice before in the NFC Championship Game and three times overall in the playoffs with the Cowboys pulling away each time. Even though half the 49ers had suffered through the flu that week, they were determined to win the game no matter what.
Back and forth the two teams went. Normally coughing up six turnovers would be a too tall of hurdle to overcome, but not for these 49ers. Every time Joe Montana threw an interception (three), coughed up a fumble or allowed the well-balanced Cowboys attack into the end zone, the 49ers responded like champions should: with their heads held high and their hopes anything but dashed.
Finally, with just over five minutes left on the clock, the 49ers lined up 89 yards from the end zone against one of the best defenses of the era, the Doomsday Defense. Bill Walsh called a masterful final drive, filled with short runs that became long and short passes that kept the chains moving like clockwork.
Finally, with 58 seconds left in their season, Joe Montana got behind center at the Dallas six-yard line, rolled to the right and somehow lofted a pass just past Ed "Too Tall" Jones' outstretched arms. On the other side waiting for the pigskin was his favorite receiver, Dwight Clark.
With the effects of the flu bug still swimming around in his system, Clark leaped high into the air and caught Montana's pass, landing in the end zone for the game clinching touchdown. At that very moment, Candlestick Park let out a scream it had never heard before. From that point on, as the 49ers collected five Super Bowl trophies over the next 14 years, Candlestick Park didn't just become the focal point of one of the NFL's great dynasties, it became a gathering place for some of the most rabidly loyal fans in all of sports.
Croix de Candlestick
As previously mentioned, Candlestick Park never had true baseball weather. The wind was always too strong and the chill always bit a little too hard. As a result, attendance waned. It was especially bad when games went into extra innings as late afternoon turned into night.
By 1983, Giants executives had had enough and put together a couple of unique campaigns to boost attendance. Director of Marketing Pat Gallagher and John Crawford, an advertising guru, decided to embrace the elements like the 49ers had and make staying a challenge worthwhile.
Before the season began, the Giants promoted a pin that would be given to those that stayed all extra innings, a daunting task even for the most ardent fans. While the bottom of the pin was inscribed Veni Vidi Vixi (Latin for I came, I saw, I survived) the top was scrawled with the most endearing phrase of the campaign "Croix de Candlestick".
Their fans only had to wait until the 11th game of their home schedule before they could get their pin. Despite the cold, the remaining crowd roared their approval when the Giants struck out against the hated Dodgers to send the game into extra innings on night of April 20, 1983. Of course, their souls were warmed when the Giants won 3-2 in ten hard fought innings and the scene was practically a riot as fans frantically gathered to scoop up their pins.
It was so chaotic that the Giants decided to give fans vouchers that could be redeemed at select Giants team stores throughout the Bay Area. This did cheapen the intrinsic value of the pin as all anyone needed was a voucher, not proof of actually being at the game.
While the Croix de Candlestick campaign played out well enough, the Giants marketing team had one more gimmick up their sleeves in the summer of 1984: an anti-mascot. While most mascots are designed to inspire enthusiasm for the game, the Giants' Crazy Crab anti-mascot was designed to inspire scorn from the home crowd. While it accomplished all that the Giants front office hoped for, it ultimately proved to be too dangerous for the bearer of the suit and was discontinued after the season.
1989
San Francisco has always been known for its earthquakes. Back in 1906, an earthquake nearly broke the city, instead leaving behind rubble and lessons to be learned. Knowing the possibilities, Candlestick's architects framed the ballpark into several sections, each designed to rub against one another during an earthquake in order to minimize the damage. By the middle of the 1980s, the stadium was starting to deteriorate and Interactive Resources Incorporated was summoned to take the lead on the necessary repairs between 1983 and 1988. Little did they know just how timely those repairs would prove to be.
On October 17, 1989, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake ripped through the heart of a bustling San Francisco. With buildings and the Bay Bridge collapsed and fires burning throughout, it was like 1906 all over again.
To make matters worse, this was during Game 3 of the World Series between the Giants and the A's. With all the drama, fans initially thought that they had started the earthquake and cheered with glee. Just minutes later, it was announced that it had been indeed been an act of God, not humankind, that had caused the cement stadium to quake.
Luckily, the repairs done saved tens of thousands at Candlestick Point as not one person died. While the newly installed reinforced concrete saved many, the stadium itself was still too damaged to host. In addition to scattered chunks of concrete falling from the upper deck (and right next to the crowd), the was damage to the bleacher stairs and cracked concrete around three of the eight expansion joints that were vital to the integrity of the structure.
So the World Series was suspended for the next ten days, an unprecedented move that rocked the sporting world. Meanwhile, the defending Super Bowl champion 49ers were forced to host a game at Stanford University, beating the New England Patriots badly. When play resumed at Candlestick, several employees of Interactive Resources Incorporated were teated to the Giants' Game 3 loss with complimentary tickets right behind home plate. The public saw for itself just how durable the aging ballpark had become.
A Lovefest
By the 1990's, Candlestick Park had found its identity, its voice and its muscle, but it still lacked the ability to truly give baseball fans a meaningful experience. All through the decade, Giants management searched for ways to either modernize the old ballpark or another location to build a new one. Meanwhile, the arrival of Barry Bonds sparked a revival in ticket sales as fans flocked to games to watch the great slugger crush home runs at a record pace while still featuring that lethal speed that made him one of game's best defensive players.
Finally, by the winter of 1997, the Giants found a site that was just perfect for baseball. While it would still bring a nasty chill for night games, the Mission Bay location would prove to be sufficient. Even closer to the bay than Candlestick Park, the soon-to-be-named PacBell Park (now Oracle Park) offered boat riders the unique opportunity to scrounge for wayward balls that had been crushed out of the ballpark and into the water.
The Giants bid adieu to Candlestick Park on September 29, 1999, losing 9-4. With their move just north, the 49ers became Candlestick's only occupants. But having won their last Super Bowl in 1994, their dynasty was just a gleam in their rearview mirror, nothing more and soon Candlestick began to lose its voice.
The 49ers missed the playoffs eight years in a row between 2003 and 2010 and each year that passed only highlighted what the team needed most: a new stadium. Concepts were drawn and sites were suggested, but nothing was done until Jim Harbaugh was hired in 2011. That year, he led the team on a remarkable run. After eight long years in the desert, the 49ers shocked the league by going 13-3 and claiming the second spot in the playoffs.
Thirty years and four days after Dwight Clark made the Catch, the 49ers and New Orleans Saints waged one of the most memorable playoff games in Candlestick's storied history. The 49ers jumped to a quick 17-0 lead only to watch as the league's best offense cut the deficit to three before the half. By late in the fourth quarter, the Saints took the lead. Long deemed a bust, 49ers quarterback had the game of his life in those final four minutes, rumbling on a naked bootleg into the end zone to retake the lead as Candlestick Park's voice began to rise.
Not even a minute later, the Saints retook the lead on a massive catch and run between quarterback Drew Brees and tight end Jimmy Graham, squelching the roar of Candlestick to barely a whimper. Once again, Alex Smith had the ball in his hands with an opportunity to restore Candlestick's voice. All looked bleak until he hit tight end Vernon Davis for a massive gain that put San Francisco in New Orleans' territory. Facing 3rd-and-4 at the Saints 14-yard line, Smith zipped the perfect pass into Vernon Davis's outstretched gloves for the game winner.
Candlestick Park roared in a way that it hadn't done in years and in that moment, the Stick had found its voice. Later that week, a plan was approved for a new stadium next to the 49ers headquarters in Santa Clara. Just as quickly as Candlestick Park rose from the ashes, the clock began to tick down on its existence.
The End of an Era
As the foundation was laid, the cranes gathered and walls were erected at their new home, the 49ers made the most of their final two years at Candlestick Park, making the NFC Championship in both. In their 2012 Divisional Round win over the Green Bay Packers, the 49ers showed the world what the new-fangled read-option play could do in the NFL. In that game, quarterback Colin Kaepernick put on a clinic, rushing for a league record 181 yards. The 49ers 45-31 victory was their last playoff game at Candlestick Park.
While the 49ers didn't host any playoff games in 2013, their final year at Candlestick, they produced one last memory that will echo for all eternity. It was a peerless two nights before Christmas 2013 and the spotlight lit brightly on Candlestick Park as the nation watched the 49ers battle the Atlanta Falcons on Monday Night Football. Though they started off slow, the 49ers stepped it up when it mattered most. Late in the fourth quarter, the 49ers were up by three as Atlanta drove for a last gasp attempt at victory.
Facing 2nd-and-1 at the San Francisco ten-yard line and an all-out blitz, Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan threw to Roddy White, only to watch the ball carom off of his receiver's hands and into linebacker NaVorro Bowman's. From there, Bowman ran 90 yards untouched for the game sealing touchdown. As he dove into the end zone and was mobbed by his teammates, Candlestick Park roared its approval, knowing full well what had happened. Although Paul McCartney would close out the old ballpark months later, it was NaVorro Bowman who had blown out the candle at the Stick.
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