Giants Past and Present by Dan Fost

Giants Past and Present by Dan Fost (MVP Books, 2010), 144 pages

2010 was the year in which the Giants finally gave San Francisco a World Series Championship, fifty-two years after moving from New York.

It was a moment of triumph, relief and joy among Giants fans, but the people behind this Past and Present series at MVP Books must have bemoaned their bad luck.  The Giants franchise was chosen as one of the latest teams to get a featured book dedicated to them prior to the 2010 season. 

The greatest moment in the team’s history since 1954 therefore does not get a mention and the numerous occasions when Dan Fost notes the Giants’ ‘nearly men’ status no longer seem so relevant.

However, despite these details already being out of date, Dan Fost’s timing might not have been as unfortunate as first seems.

Several other instalments in the Past and Present series have been reviewed here previously.  This one follows the same tried-and-tested format.  It’s a glossy, coffee-table offering that splits the history of the franchise into easily digestible sections, rather than following a potentially dry year-by-year sequence.  For example, there are sections on the Giants’ fierce rivalries from their time on both coasts of the States, the organization’s place in helping to break the “race barrier” and the great teams and dynasties throughout the franchise’s history. 

The Giants are a worthy franchise to have such a book dedicated to them.  The team started life as the New York Gothams in 1883 before becoming the Giants two years later.  They won five World Championships and seventeen pennants while in New York, battling for supremacy with the Yankees and Dodgers, before moving to San Francisco for the 1958 season.  

The book offers an excellent overview of the many notable players to have worn a Giants uniform over the years, not least in the main part of the book where it charts the lineage of the best players at each position on the diamond.  They range from pitching great Christy Mathewson in the early part of the twentieth century, to the 1960s heroes like Orlando Cepeda, Gaylord Perry, Juan Marichal, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey.  Barry Bonds is featured as well; however his links with the so-called steroid era are documented and his achievements are celebrated in a muted tone.

The presentation and layout is as clean and sharp as found in the other books in the series, with a decent amount of text sitting comfortably alongside the many photos.  There is a varied selection of action shots, the best of which shows Hall of Fame pitcher Marichal in mid-delivery with his left leg waving high in the air.  AT&T Park is always a glorious sight and the photos of the Giants’ current home are a treat, particularly in contrast to the place they moved from.  Candlestick Park had little charm to it and, as Fost states, “excitement for the new park never materialized into love for what quickly became a travesty”. 

The timing of the book’s publication does result in a few passages being incorrect less than one year on.  For example, the World Series section includes the following few lines:

“The Giants have a proud World Series tradition, including five championships and some of the greatest moments ever witnessed in the Fall Classic.  Yet the team’s World Series experience has also forced fans to swallow some bitter pills, and a world series has eluded the otherwise-storied team since it moved to San Francisco”.

That long wait is now over, but the inaccuracy really doesn’t hinder the book greatly and in some ways the timing has worked out well.

Had this book been published prior to the 2011 season, it would have been dominated by the 2010 World Series win.  Instead, it paints a very balanced view of the franchise’s entire history without allowing one period to overshadow any other.

Pair it with a book specifically about the recent season (“San Francisco Giants: Torture to Rapture 2010 World Series Champions” and “Giant Surprise: San Francisco’s 2010 World Champions” were rushed out in November and more will probably follow) and you’ve got the perfect overview for Giants fans old and new.

Have you read “Giants Past and Present”? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section below. Can you recommend any other similar books? If so, let us know.