With the Hall of Fame induction ceremony to be held tomorrow, July 26 in Cooperstown, here are the players, managers, etc. who have either starred for the Giants Franchise (Inducted as a Giant) or who experienced playing for the team in either NY or SF and was inducted into the Hall. List is from
http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/…/his…/hall_of_famers.jsp
There were some omissions and some spelling errors which I tried to correct. Feel free to comment if you see other errors.
Position Players (19) Inducted Position
Roger Bresnahan 1945 C
Orlando Cepeda 1999 1B .
Roger Connor 1976 1B .
George S. Davis 1998 SS
William Ewing 1939 C .
Frankie Frisch 1947 2B
Monte Irvin 1973 OF .
Travis Jackson 1982 SS .
George Kelly 1973 1B .
Fred Lindstrom 1976 3B
Ernie Lombardi 1986 C .
Willie Mays 1979 OF .
Willie McCovey 1986 1B .
Johnny Mize 1981 1B
James O’Rourke 1945 OF
Mel Ott 1951 OF .
Bill Terry 1954 1B .
Monte Ward 1964 SS
Ross Youngs 1972 OF

Pitchers (19) Inducted
Carl Hubbell 1947
Tim Keefe 1964
Juan Marichal 1983
Rube Marquard 1971
Christy Mathewson 1936
Joe McGinnity 1946
Amos Rusie 1977
Mickey Welch 1973
Hoyt Wilhelm 1985
Gaylord Perry 1991

Managers (1) Inducted
John McGraw 1937

Others who spent part of their career with Giants (25)
Dave Bancroft SS
Jake Beckley 1B
Dan Brouthers 1B
Jesse Burkett OF
Steve Carlton P
Gary Carter C
Leo Durocher MGR
Rich Gossage P
Burleigh Grimes P
Charles “Gabby” Hartnett C
Rogers Hornsby 2B
Waite Hoyt P
Randy Johnson P
Willie Keeler OF
Mike “King” Kelly OF/C/MGR
Bill McKechnie MGR
Joseph “Ducky” Medwick OF
Joe Morgan 2B
Edd Roush OF
Ray Schalk C
Albert “Red” Schoendienst 2B
Duke Snider OF
Warren Spahn P
Casey Stengel OF
Hack Wilson OF

Broadcasters Who Spent Part of Their Career Covering The Giants (5)
Ernie Harwell
Russ Hodges
Lindsay Nelson
Jon Miller
Lon Simmons

By Doug Miller
Baseball’s all-time greats have rightfully earned almost every conceivable honor and piece of hardware the game has to offer. On Tuesday night, a quintessential quartet of hardball heroes was feted with even more recognition.
On the grand stage of the 86th All-Star Game presented by T-Mobile at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, four former players — all Hall of Famers — were revealed as the winners of Major League Baseball’s Greatest Living Players, the result of a fan vote from April 8 to May 8.
Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, Sandy Koufax and Cincinnati’s own Johnny Bench were given the honor as part of pre-Midsummer Classic ceremony that also featured the unveiling of results for Greatest Negro Leagues Players, the game’s Greatest Pioneers and the all-time Franchise Four winners from each of the 30 big league organizations.
The highlight of Franchise Four unveiling was the final club to be revealed: the hometown Cincinnati Reds. Bench, Barry Larkin, Joe Morgan and Pete Rose were all in attendance and introduced by Thom Brennaman, the son of legendary Reds broadcaster Marty Brennaman.
Rose, who has been lobbying Commissioner Rob Manfred to be reinstated after being banned from baseball in 1989 for betting on baseball, was the last to come out of the tunnel, and the all-time hits leader received a standing ovation from the Cincinnati faithful.
The Reds are one of many teams whose Franchise Four will be hotly debated, but no perhaps no team’s quartet will receive more scrutiny than the Yankees’. It was fitting for the club with the most World Series championships, and retired numbers, that its Franchise Four consisted of absolute baseball royalty: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle.
Continue reading →

BARRY BONDS, WILLIE MAYS, WILLIE MCCOVEY AND BUSTER POSEY.

Another story about the stairs. Here we get a plug!
NEW YORK — On Thursday afternoon, the 102nd anniversary of the building of the John T. Brush Stairway, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation cut the ribbon on the newly renovated set of 80 steps running through Highbridge Park in Harlem, connecting Edgecombe Avenue to Harlem River Drive. For 50 years, from the opening of the stairway in 1913 to the demolition of the Polo Grounds in 1964, the stairs carried millions of sports fans from the top of the famous Coogan’s Bluff to the ticket booths behind home plate.
NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver officiated a ceremony that included remarks from San Francisco Giants executive vice president Staci Slaughter, New York Yankees chief operating officer Lonn Trost, former Mets and Yankees player Lee Mazzilli, New York City Assemblyman Herman D. Farrell Jr. and New York City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez.
“I’m so thrilled this has finally come to fruition,” said Slaughter. “We are still so deeply connected to New York and deeply honored to be a part of this. This is a perfect example of good things happening if you wait a little while. I thank you all for your patience and your perseverance. This is an incredible addition to the community and a fitting tribute to the rich history of the Giants and the entire baseball family and what this area meant to baseball in its early beginnings.”
For nearly half a century following the demolition of the Polo Grounds, the stairway ran to and from the high-rise housing project that sits on the former site of the stadium. But by the early 2000s, the stairwell had fallen into such a state of disrepair that it was closed, adorned by the Parks Department with signs that read, “Danger: No Trespassing.” Continue reading →

Michael W. Mitchell still remembers the days fondly.
From his childhood home on 162nd Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, he and his family would walk two blocks to the John T. Brush Stairway, down the steps and onto a grassy knoll, then across the street to what was then the upper level of the Polo Grounds. There were no busy highways, no guardrails — just the welcoming sights and sounds of baseball.
Decades later, Mitchell stood in the same spot he had many times as a kid, with the Brush stairwell looming at his back, gazing at what used to be his haven. Now all that stands on that hallowed ground are stained reddish-brown public housing buildings, the stadium that once housed five major New York sports teams left to linger in the memories of aging fans.
But on Thursday, the city took a step toward remembering.
At a rededication ceremony at the bottom of the Brush Stairway, the New York Department of Parks and Recreation officially unveiled renovations — which were completed last year — on 102nd anniversary of the stairwell’s opening. It signified a commitment to the rich history of New York baseball, and more specifically the Giants organization that departed for San Francisco in 1958.
“There’s one thing that New Yorkers do not have, and that’s a lack of pride. We care about our place,” said former Met and Yankee Lee Mazzilli, who grew up in Brooklyn. “We talk about Yankee Stadium being the cathedral of baseball. We know how iconic the Stadium is. But before Yankee Stadium, that’s what the Polo Grounds was. It was a part of baseball history, but more importantly, people forget that right here where we stand was a part of American history.”
The New York baseball Giants presented the Brush Stairway to the City of New York on July 9, 1913, naming it honor of former owner John T. Brush, who died in 1912. The stairwell served as an important passageway for fans to travel from the top of Coogan’s Bluff’s rocky cliffs down to Polo Grounds, the home of the baseball and football Giants, the Yankees, the Jets and later, the Mets.
Mitchell was one of the residents who frequented the Brush Stairway as a kid. So was New York Assemblyman Denny Farrell.
Farrell grew up two blocks away from the Polo Grounds on 159th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue, and he remembers one day when the Cardinals were playing at the stadium. The team took the wrong train and ended up on 157th Street and Broadway instead of 157th and 8th Avenue. Continue reading →

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS: MICHAEL ARONSON

It was exactly 102 years ago today, July 9, 1913, that the Giants baseball team gave New York City a stairway that fans used to descend from the heights of Coogan’s Bluff to the Polo Grounds ballpark and to climb home again after games.
A newspaper of the time (the Daily News first appeared six years later) wrote that the “stairway had been under consideration by the Park Department for some time, but, owing to the lack of funds, the city could not build it.”
Today, the stadium is, of course, a faded memory — with the stairs the only remaining relic of the Polo Grounds.
For decades, the 80-step steel structure rotted and was fenced off. Then, seven years ago this editorial column called for rehabbing the stairs as a way to connect two tiers of Highbridge Park.
Recalling generosity of yesteryear, the Daily News called on the Giants (now of San Francisco) and the four other clubs that once called the Polo Grounds home (the Yankees and the Mets and the NFL’s Giants and Jets) to chip in to a reconstruction fund.
The quintet came through in high style, donating a total of $500,000, with then-Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer adding $400,000. Major League Baseball gave $50,000.
Using that $950,000, the Parks Department has rebuilt the stairs and put them to public use. Today, marking the anniversary, the baseball and football Giants, Yanks, Mets, Jets and Major League Baseball will be recognized at a rededication ceremony.
A hearty salute to them all.

The meeting place for the ceremony is at the bottom of the steps at the Harlem River Driveway, the ramp to the Harlem River Drive, (not Edgecombe Avenue) where there are picnic benches. I will post the official information and invitation from the NYC Parks Department when I receive it. Members of the sports teams that contributed to the rebuilding of the stairs will be making speeches. There will be a ribbon cutting ceremony as well! All invited.

A wonderful meeting took place last night as the Bergino Baseball Clubhouse welcomed the NYGPS and guest speaker Andrew Baggarly. Andrew is one of the best beat writers in the biz and spoke Giants baseball to an enthusiastic and grateful crowd. Andrew spoke about his new book Giants Splash which “Celebrates the golden age of San Francisco Giants baseball.Since the team moved to the shores of McCovey Cove in 2000, Giants fans have been thrilled by iconic players, historic moments, and heroic performances—not to mention three World Series championships. Giant Splash takes readers onto the field and inside the clubhouse for every unforgettable moment: Barry Bonds’ record-setting home runs, Tim Lincecum’s no-hitter, Matt Cain’s perfect game, Travis Ishikawa’s walk-off pennant winner, and many more. Order your copy here:

I began reading the book last night and as an avid Giants fan, it is tough to put down. As Andy stated, “We have been spoiled since moving into AT&T Park(Pac Bell) It is fabulous reliving all the great events that have occurred there.
We would like to thank Andy for taking the time out of his busy schedule to chat with us. The MLB Amateur Draft was last night and he didn’t let that deter him from speaking to us.
Also thanks to Jay Goldberg for making his home ours. No better place to get a Father’s Day gift or a graduation gift than at
http://www.bergino.com/

HOUSTON – Hall of Famer Monte Irvin played for the 1954 New York Giants who swept the Cleveland Indians in the World Series. His championship ring was stolen from his home in the ‘60s. No problem. He has three more in his possession, thanks to the Giants’ three titles in five years. The third was hand-delivered today by team president Larry Baer and general manager Bobby Evans at Irvin’s daughter’s home in West Houston, about 20 minutes from Minute Maid Park, where the Giants are playing a two-game series.
“I’m overwhelmed,” Irvin, 96, said after receiving the ring. “Baseball has been my life since I was 8 years old.”
Irvin, one of the first two African Americans to play for the Giants, along with Hank Thompson (in 1949), is protective of the three rings and plans to keep his new jewelry in a safe deposit box with his 2010 and 2012 models.“It’s so expensive compared to the ones that were given out years ago. This will really be well-kept,” Irvin said. “I’ll wear it only for special occasions . . . like going to the White House.”

During a two-hour visit with Irvin and his family, as the former outfielder spun tales of the Negro Leagues, his days with the Giants and teammate Willie Mays, Baer asked him if he ever had the chance to meet President Obama. Irvin said no but would love to. Right away, Baer invited Irvin and his family to join the Giants in their White House visit next month. It’s already on the Irvins’ family calendar. His daughter, Patricia Gordon, and grand daughter, Stacie Gordon Ashley, saw to it. “Monte is a treasure, a baseball treasure and a Giants treasure,” Baer said after his visit. “He represents our heritage going back to 1949. He represents the game of baseball in the same mold of Jackie Robinson, the same mold of that era. While he wasn’t on the field in 2014, what he did in his history with the Giants made it possible for those who were on the field. “He bridges cultural values in the most dignified way possible. I got chills walking in and seeing him today.” Five other Giants hall of Famers — Mays, Willie McCovey, Juan Marichal, Orlando Cepeda and Gaylord Perry — received World Series rings last month when the current players got theirs in an on-field pregame ceremony.

John Shea is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: jshea@sfchronicle.com. Twitter @JohnSheaHey

Happy Birthday to the greatest from the NYGPS!!! Long may your cap fly off running the bases, long may you chase down balls in the gap and over your head, long may the ball fly off your bat and land over the wall, long may our memories of your greatness continue!!! Happy 84!!!