SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -Peter Magowan recently made his rounds through the dugout and several fans stopped him to offer their best wishes and thanks for what he’s done during nearly two decades running the San Francisco Giants.
Come next Wednesday, Magowan will walk away from his role as primary owner and managing partner of the franchise after 16 years. He will head into a retirement filled with fishing trips, travel and time with his grandchildren. He already has a vacation to Italy planned for one of his first getaways.
“I’m ready. The difficult part was making the decision in the first place,” Magowan said. “But once I made it, I don’t look back, and that’s typical of me. When I make a decision, whether it’s the right one or the wrong one, that’s it and move on to the next decision. I’m comfortable. I wish we could have had a better year this year than we did. I really felt we’d be an improvement over last year’s team.”
seball in San Francisco, brought home run king Barry Bonds to town and ultimately also let him go, and the one who built a new ballpark.
Not to mention his work keeping former players and Hall of Famers such as Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda around in advisory roles. The 66-year-old Magowan is proud of those efforts. They all have been celebrated this year during the club’s 50th anniversary of its move from New York.
“You look at this ballpark and it’s certainly going to be a big part of Peter’s legacy,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “And the fact the Giants are here, because they were close to leaving San Francisco. Peter will always be instrumental in keeping the Giants here. And all the ex-Giants who come back here – (J.T.) Snow, (Shawon) Dunston and the ceremony for Orlando Cepeda – a lot of that is Peter Magowan. Once you’re a Giant, you’re always a Giant.
“He really takes a lot of pride in the history of the San Francisco Giants. He has done a great job of building the tremendous tradition they have here.”
There have been plenty of ups and downs during Magowan’s tenure and his decisions haven’t always been popular. But he’s stuck to what he believes and communicated openly with fans, receiving feedback and criticism.
n in attendance for the first time since its waterfront ballpark opened in 2000.
“I’ve always had the philosophy that a ballpark belongs to the community, not to the owner or set of owners. I think the community wants the team to be run in a way that if they were in charge, how would they want it to be run?” Magowan said. “They want to see a good product on the field and they want to have a good environment at the ballpark where everything works – clean ballpark, courteous employees, good food, take care of children, all of these things. And they want the team to behave in a way they would be proud of.”
That strong community image likely helped the Giants weather the steroids controversy that surrounded Bonds, who played 15 seasons in San Francisco before the team parted ways with the slugger following the 2007 season. His departure came a little more than a month after he broke Hank Aaron’s home run record with No. 756, and Bonds has since been indicted.
The seven-time NL MVP is accused of lying to a grand jury about his alleged use of performance-enhancing drugs. He hasn’t played again despite his desire to continue.
steroids and performance-enhancing drugs.
“I would hope when people look back on what Peter’s done for San Francisco, they look back on a positive note at what he’s accomplished,” pitcher Noah Lowry said. “Peter’s a fan of the game. The team was thinking of going elsewhere and Peter was able to keep this organization here. The years I’ve been here the fans are so into this organization, and it’s not going away.”
Magowan believes San Francisco’s loyal supporters have found a way to look past the steroid scandal, considering the Giants were far from the only club with problems.
“I think they are forgiving,” Magowan said. “It was very hard on me to go through all that stuff. I feel to some extent we’ve never really been able to tell our side of the story and the whole thing is still tied up in legal disputes. Maybe one day I’ll have an opportunity to tell my side of the story. The San Francisco Giants fans seem to have understood. There’s a great differentiation from what the press has decided to write on this particular issue and how the fans feel. I know how our fans feel. They write me a lot.
“They were split. I can’t say they were 100 percent in favor, but there was a strong degree of support for Barry and a strong aversion in blaming me for the problem of steroids in the country,” Magowan said. “No one wants steroids cleaned up more than I do. We should eliminate them.
the San Francisco Giants for the steroids scandal as if we’re the only team in the country – there’s not a team in baseball that didn’t have a problem. Just because we had the best player in the game is not reason enough to come down on us like certain elements of the press did.”
Combined with his time running Safeway, Magowan said he’s spent “29 years in a true pressure-packed environment.” He’s ready for a break.
The decision to bring Bonds to San Francisco came soon after Magowan bought the franchise before the 1993 season. The Giants were close to moving to Florida before Magowan’s group purchased the team from Bob Lurie.
The addition of Bonds revitalized baseball in San Francisco and helped the club build a privately funded ballpark. Last summer, the Giants hosted the All-Star game with Bonds and Mays taking center stage.
The Giants made the playoffs four times under Magowan’s rule. In 2002, they came close to winning their first World Series since moving west in 1958, falling five outs short in Game 6 against the Angels. Magowan calls that his “biggest regret.”
will say Peter helped.”
Magowan is keeping eight seats behind the dugout and still plans to be a regular at games. He’s still an investor, just a smaller one than he has been.
“My heart will always be with the Giants and I look forward to watching them play for many more years,” he said. “You’ll know where to find me.”
Magowan will turn over his duties as managing partner to Bill Neukom, a longtime Microsoft attorney and outgoing president of the American Bar Association.
Neukom grew up in nearby San Mateo, with then-San Francisco Seals owner Charlie Graham as a neighbor. He joined the Giants’ ownership group in 1995 and became a general partner in 2003.
Magowan has offered to help Neukom with the transition process.
“I’m available. That’s his call and if he doesn’t want to do it I totally understand,” Magowan said. “He’s got the right to decide his own management style and where I could help. The objective at the end of your time is to turn over the franchise in better shape than you found it.”
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