Horace Stoneham

Birthdate	04/27/1903
Death Date	01/07/1990
Debut Year	1936
Year of Induction
Teams	Giants
Position	Owner

The youngest team owner in National League history, Horace Stoneham inherited the Giants at age 32 in 1936; he owned the club until 1976.

Horace Stoneham responds to a collector requesting Christy Mathewson's autograph

Autograph collectors can be resourceful in their quest for the signature of their targets. In this letter Giants owner Horace Stoneham responds to a collector in search of Christy Mathewson’s autograph. “I regret we haven’t anything here with Christy Mathewson’s signature. As

Horace Stoneham RSPVs for dinner honoring Hall of Fame skipper Casey Stengel

Charles Stoneham presided over the Giants in New York and later San Francisco Giants for more than 40 years. He guided them in their move west. Shown here on Giants letterhead listing Stoneham as team president is a nice note accepting an invitation to the “Gang Dinner” on July 3, 1962 i

Horace Stoneham signs reassignment document for a minor leaguer

In this document dated March 29, 1942 Horace Stoneham assigns the contract of pitcher Wayne Kistler to Fort Smith of the Western Association. According to Baseball Reference, Kistler’s career record in professional baseball was 44-20 in three minor league seasons from 1940-1942. Stoneham was i

HoFer George Kelly thanks Stoneham for Old Timer's Day in San Francisco

George “Highpockets” Kelly played for the New York Giants from 1915-1926, winning back-to-back World Series in 1921 and 1922. Forty years after the ’22 championship Kelly accepted Horace Stoneham’s invitation to the Old Timer’s Game in San Francisco. After the

Here's a file copy of Stoneham's response to Kelly's letter

After receiving George Kelly’s letter, Horace Stoneham was compelled to respond. Shown here is a file copy of that correspondence. Stoneham writes, “Thanks so much for your gracious note. I am so pleased that you enjoyed the ‘day’ and our get-together. It was wonderful having

Horace Stoneham congratulates Warren Spahn on his 300th win

As president of the Giants, Horace Stoneham personally witnessed the greatness of lifetime National Leaguer Warren Spahn. A 12-time 20-game winner, Spahn finished with 363 wins. When Spahn joined the 300-win club on August 11, 1961, Stoneham sent him the telegram shown here. It reads, “Warmest

May 29th, 2020 Leave a comment

They tried and tried again. No matter what National League clubs did, they just couldn’t slow down Maury Wills in 1962. Wills’ Dodgers were in their fifth year in Los Angeles and thirsty for another World Series appearance. Winners of the 1959 Fall Classic, the team finished a disappointing fourth in 1960. They climbed to second place in ’61 and seemed poised for a post-season return in ’62. Wills did his part. The Dodger shortstop was historically great on the bases, swiping 104 bags. To put that into perspective, the last time a National Leaguer stole even half that many was in 1920. No big league team matched Wills’ total in ’62. The Dodger squad had one .300 hitter in batting champ Tommy Davis whose 153 runs batted in led the league. Davis got help from Frank Howard, the only other Dodger to tally 100 RBI. Together they counted on Wills to get aboard and make his way into scoring position. Dodgers and Giants vie for NL supremacy While Wills was on his way to the stolen base record, the Dodgers fought the Giants for the top spot in the NL. Behind Wills, Davis, and the pitching of Cy Young […]