Your 2010 National League Champion San Francisco Giants: A Reading List

As we all await the opening pitch for the 2010 World Series at China Basin it’s hard for all of us die hard fans not to remember all the Giants teams of years past. The team has a rich lore to be read about and savored.

The franchise’s 128 year history, both in New York and San Francisco, is documented in The Giants Encyclopedia, a history and compendium of players, managers and broadcasters. In Giants: Collector’s Edition provides a history and statistical overview of the team through 1993 (its 110th anniversary). Fifty Years By the Bay is a 50 year (1958-2007) history of the Giants in San Francisco. Giants Past & Present by free-lance journalist Dan Fost, is a well-illustrated history of the team from its origins to the present.

The Original San Francisco Giants, written by local broadcaster Steve Bitker, is an in-depth look at the Giant’s first season in the City that profiles every player on that team. Game of My Life and Giants: Where Have You Gone? are both books that interview Giants of the past. The former allows players a chance to recall their most memorable games in a Giants uniform; the latter looks at the post-baseball lives of many fan favorites.

Tales From the San Francisco Giants Dugout is a collection of memories of the San Francisco franchise, including the teams successes and failures, but giving perspective on what it means to be a Giants fan. Giants of the Golden Gate is a personal take on the great moments of Giants history.

Magic By the Bay retells the 1989 dual pennant runs of the Giants and the Oakland Athletics that resulted in the Bay Bridge World Series. Splash Hit! tells of the building of Pacific Bell (now AT&T) Park and the sold-out inaugural 2000 season.

For the most devoted of fans, the library’s Magazines and Newspapers Center also has a 16 year run of the Giants Magazine. As part of the Art, Music and Recreation Center reference collection we have more than a decade of the pre-season publication, the Giants Official Yearbook.

We look forward to bringing you next years books celebrating this season’s championship team. Until then...

Go Giants!


Reading List:

Fifty Years by the Bay: The San Francisco Giants 1958-2007 by Chuck Nan (AuthorHouse, 2006).

Game of My Life: San Francisco Giants by Matt Johanson (Sports Pub. L.L.C., 2007).

Giants: Collector's Edition by Joseph Hession (Foghorn Press, 1993).

The Giants Encyclopedia by Tom Schott and Nick Peters (Sports Publishing Inc., 2003).

Giants Magazine (Woodford Pub. and San Francisco Giants).

Giants of the Golden Gate: 50 Gigantic Memories from Five Decades of San Francisco Giants Baseball by A.J. Hayes (A.J. Hayes, 2008).

Giants Official Yearbook (University Sports Publications Co., Inc., 2001-).

Giants Past & Present by Dan Fost (MVP Pub., 2010).

Giants: Where Have You Gone? by Matt Johanson and Wylie Wong; foreword by Jon Miller (Sports Pub., c2005).

Magic by the Bay: How the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants Captured the Baseball World by John Shea and John Hickey (North Atlantic Books, 1990).

The Original San Francisco Giants: The Giants of '58 by Steve Bitker (Sports Pub., 2001).

Splash Hit!: Pacific Bell Park and the San Francisco Giants by Joan Walsh and C.W. Nevius (Chronicle, 2001).

Tales from the San Francisco Giants Dugout by Nick Peters (Sports Pub., 2003).