San Francisco Giants Timeline

John McGraw (third baseman 1902–06; manager 1902–32) and Christy Mathewson (pitcher, 1900–16) led the New York Giants before uniform numbers were introduced; both have "NY" displayed in place of a number.

Image source: John McGraw

Casey Stengel played for the Giants from 1921 to 1923 and was later inducted into the Hall of Fame as a manager.

Image source: Casey Stengel

Hughie Jennings, inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player, managed the Giants from 1924 to 1925.

Image source: Hughie Jennings

In 1944, Carl Hubbell (#11) became the first National Leaguer to have his number retired by his team.

Image source: Carl Hubbell

Frank Robinson, later inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player, managed the Giants from 1981 to 1984.

Image source: Frank Robinson

KNTV's broadcast contract with the Giants began in 2008, one year after the team and KTVU mutually ended a relationship dating to 1961.

Image source: KNTV

During the 2021 and 2022 seasons, player Brandon Belt gave himself the title of self-proclaimed captain, though this was not an official capacity.

Image source: Brandon Belt

Originally scheduled for July 11, 2020 but postponed due to COVID-19, the Giants retired Will Clark's #22 on July 30, 2022 — the franchise's eleventh retired number.

Image source: Will Clark

The Giants announced they will retire Jeff Kent's #21 on August 29, 2026 following his election into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Image source: Jeff Kent

As the New York Giants and Philadelphia Athletics met in three World Series, the Giants won in 1905, beginning a rivalry that dated back to when the teams were in New York and Philadelphia.

Image source: 1905 World Series

The rivalry between the New York Giants and Chicago Cubs was once regarded as one of the most heated in baseball, with Merkle's Boner leading to a notable 1908 season-ending matchup in New York.

Image source: Merkle's Boner

The Giants and A's enjoyed a limited rivalry at the start of the 20th century; they met in the 1905, 1911, and 1913 World Series, with the A's winning in 1911 and 1913.

Image source: 1911 World Series

Before interleague play, the Giants and Yankees met in seven World Series: 1921, 1922, 1923, 1936, 1937, 1951, and 1962, with the Yankees winning the last five.

Image source: Red Sox–Yankees rivalry

In his July 4, 1939 farewell speech, Yankee slugger Lou Gehrig declared that the Giants were a team he "would give his right arm to beat, and vice versa."

Image source: Lou Gehrig

The Giants lost the 1962 World Series in seven games to the New York Yankees, one of several postseason meetings between the two clubs.

Image source: 1962 World Series

The rivalry between the Giants and the Oakland Athletics was renewed in 1968 when the A's moved from Kansas City to Oakland.

The historical Giants-Cubs rivalry was revisited when the Giants beat the Cubs in the 1989 National League Championship Series.

Image source: 1989 National League Championship Series

The Giants were swept in the 1989 World Series by their cross-Bay rival Oakland Athletics in the earthquake-interrupted "Battle of the Bay"; it resulted in the A's last world championship as of 2024.

Image source: 1989 World Series

Moments before the scheduled start of Game 3 of the 1989 World Series in San Francisco, the Loma Prieta earthquake struck, causing a ten-day delay in the "Battle of the Bay" series.

The introduction of interleague play in 1997 pitted the Giants against the Athletics usually six games per season; the balanced schedule format introduced in 2023 makes those meetings yearly.

Image source: Interleague play

The Giants beat the Cubs in their tiebreaker game in Chicago at the end of the 1998 season, continuing the historic rivalry.

Image source: 1998 National League Wild Card tie-breaker game

The Giants lost the 2002 World Series to the Anaheim Angels, falling just short of a championship.

The 2010 NLCS inaugurated a Giants rivalry with the Philadelphia Phillies after confrontations between Jonathan Sánchez and Chase Utley and between Ramón Ramírez and Shane Victorino; it died down after 2010 and 2011.

On June 6, 2012, the Giants beat the Cubs in a "Turn Back The Century" game in which both teams wore replica 1912 uniforms.

Image source: Chicago Cubs

The Giants and Cubs met again in the 2016 National League Division Series, which the Cubs won, continuing their long-standing rivalry.

Image source: 2016 National League Division Series

With the advent of the balanced schedule format introduced in 2023, the Giants' regular-season meetings with the Yankees now occur every year.

For the 1977 season, the Giants switched to pullover uniforms.

The 1978 season saw the Giants add a black alternate uniform, an inverse of their road orange uniform.

Before the 1983 season, the Giants returned to a traditional buttoned uniform designed by Sidjakov Berman & Gomez.

Coinciding with the move to Pacific Bell Park in 2000, the Giants unveiled new uniforms aesthetically close to the style they originally wore in their early years.

In 2001, the Giants added road and home alternate black uniforms.

Before the 2010 season, the Giants unveiled a new orange alternate uniform used on Friday home games.

In 2015, the Giants unveiled a new black alternate uniform used on select Saturday home games.

In 2021, Major League Baseball and Nike introduced the "City Connect" program, with special uniforms reflecting each community's pride and personality.

Image source: City Connect

In 2025, the Giants began wearing their black alternate uniform on select road games as well.

On April 8, 2025, the Giants unveiled their City Connect 2.0 uniforms, featuring sleeves with a glove design reading "San Francisco Giants Est 1958" reminiscent of 1960s San Francisco rock music posters.

In 2026, the Giants updated their black uniform with Latin American-inspired imagery and gray accents, with the chest wordmark "Gigantes" based on the 1983–1993 home uniforms.