Seals Stadium was the temporary home of the
San Francisco Giants in 1958 and 1959 while they waited for
Candlestick Park to be built. Originally built in 1931 for the
San Francisco Seals and
Missions of the
Pacific Coast League; after the 1938 season, the Missions left for
Hollywood, leaving the Seals as the largest team in
San Francisco until the
Giants arrived from New York.
Seals Stadium was built at an unfortunate time; because of the Great Depression and World War II, virtually no repairs were made to the ballpark for 15 years after it was built. But in 1945 Paul Fagan bought the Seals and the ballpark, and made several renovations. He installed baseball's first glass backstop and repainted the whole stadium (which had faded to gray) green. During the Seals tenure in Seals Stadium, all three Dimaggio brothers played in the ballpark.
When the Giants moved into Seals Stadium, the Seals moved out. The Giants were unable to stay in Seals Stadium in part because of its small capacity; the park could not hold more than 23000 people, and a street behind the ballpark meant it couldn't be expanded. The stadium was demolished almost immediately after the Giants moved out in 1959, but many of the seats were saved and are now used in Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, WA.
Dimensions until 1958:
Left: 340 ft.
Center: 400
Right: 365
Dimensions in 1958-9:
Left: 365 ft.
Center: 410
Right: 355