The San Francisco Giants ancient and mighty franchise began in 1882 when they were known as the New York Gothams. In their first full season, 1883, their fellow expansion team, the Mets, fared better than they did. The Metropolitans or the Mets as they were called, won enough games to finish in fourth while the Gothams finished in sixth place. After that shaky first season, the Gothams, renamed the Giants, found themselves in the thick of a pennant race as the struggling Mets ended up in seventh. Thanks to pitchers Tim Keefe and Mickey Welch, who together won 76 of the clubs 85 victories, and first baseman Roger Connor, who led the league in batting, the Giants finished with a .759 winning percentage, the highest in MLB history.

As the 1800s came to an end, the Giants had already stocked up on pennants and World Series titles. They won three World Series championships. In the early 1900s, the Giants were hot. They stored quite a few pennants and they won a World Series. During the next decade, the Giants slid downward a little bit. They did, however win a World Series.

In the twenties, they were on fire. Many times they captured the National League pennant. But in World Series play, they had to defeat the now powerful New York Yankees. Twice they prevailed, but New York was, for the most part, too good for them. In the thirties, they met a temporary downfall. The Brooklyn Dodgers had taken center stage, and the Giants were left patrolling third place for much of the decade.

In the forties, the Giants slowly crawled up to second place. But again the Dodgers were the National League team to beat. After many losses, the Giants gained back all the power they once had and went on a rampage. With rookies Willie Mays and Bobby Bonds plus spectacular pitching, the Giants were definitely the top team in the N.L.

By the sixties, the Giants were better than ever. They were sizzling their opponents by huge numbers of runs, and their pitching was red hot. However, the Giants lost several players after 1970 came, and soon enough they were left with nothing. Now, after thirty years of sweeping the cellar, the Giants put together a winning team. With Barry Bonds and MVP second baseman Jeff Kent, the Giants became a playoff team only to lose in round one. Expect many more seasons like the 2000 one. Very soon the Giants will be the best in the majors.