Editing Candlestick Park (section)

==Reputation==
As a [[baseball park|baseball field]], the stadium was infamous for the windy conditions, damp air and dew from fog, and chilly temperatures. The wind often made it difficult for outfielders trying to catch fly balls, as well as for fans, while the damp grass further complicated play for outfielders who had to play in cold, wet shoes. Architect John Bolles designed the park with a boomerang-shaped concrete baffle in the upper tier in order to protect the park from wind. Unfortunately, it never worked properly. For Candlestick's first 10 seasons, the wind blew in from left-center and out toward right-center. When the park was expanded to accommodate the 49ers in 1971, it was thought that fully enclosing the park would cut down on the wind significantly. Instead, the wind swirled from all directions, and was as strong and cold as before. Giants [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum|Hall of Fame]] [[center fielder]] [[Willie Mays]] claimed the wind cost him over 100 home runs. (It may be noted that in the 12 years he played at Candlestick Park, from 1960 through 1971, Mays hit 396 home runs, 203 at Candlestick and 193 on the road.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=mayswi01&year=Career&t=b |title=Willie Mays |author=Baseball Reference}}</ref>) Nonetheless, he had less difficulty fielding balls in the windy conditions. Mays was used to playing in difficult and absurdly sized field conditions, beginning his career at the [[Polo Grounds]] in New York, which featured an enormous outfield where he made a famous World Series-saving [[The Catch (baseball)|catch]].

During the first [[Major League Baseball All-Star Game|All Star Game]] of {{baseball year|1961}} (one of two played in the park—the other was in {{baseball year|1984}}), Giants pitcher [[Stu Miller]] was blown off balance by a gust of wind and was charged with a [[balk]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/07/sports/baseball/stu-miller-dies-at-87-blown-off-mound-in-all-star-game.html |title=Stu Miller, All-Star Who Committed a Windblown Balk, Dies at 87 |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |agency=Associated Press |date=January 6, 2015 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=February 2, 2017}}</ref> Two years later, wind picked up the entire batting cage and dropped it 60 feet (18 m) away on the pitcher's mound while the [[New York Mets]] were taking batting practice.

[[File:Candlestick Park 1965.jpg|thumb|250px|A Giants game at Candlestick in 1965]]

The stadium also had the reputation as the coldest park in Major League Baseball, with winds blowing directly off the Pacific Ocean. It was initially built with a [[radiant heating]] system of hot water pipes under the lower box seats in a space between the concrete and the ground. The pipes were not embedded in the concrete, however, and did not produce enough heat to offset the cold air. Both the city and the Giants balked at the cost of upgrading the system so it would work properly, which would have involved removing the seats and concrete, embedding larger pipes, and replacing the concrete and seats. As a result, the Giants played more day games than any Major League Baseball team except the [[Chicago Cubs]], whose ballpark, [[Wrigley Field]], did not have lights installed until 1988. Many locals, including Giants' broadcaster [[Lon Simmons]], were surprised at the decision to build the park right on the bay, in one of the coldest areas of the city.<ref name="Storied"/> Attorney [[Melvin Belli]] filed a claim against the Giants in 1960 because his six-seat box, which cost him almost $1,600, was unbearably cold. Belli won in court, claiming that the "radiant heating system" advertised was a failure.<ref>''How Do Astronauts Scratch an Itch?'' by [[David Feldman (author)|David Feldman]]</ref>

The Giants eventually played on the reputation to bolster fan support with humorous promotions such as awarding the 'Croix de Candlestick' pin to fans who stayed for the duration of extra-inning night games. The pins featured the Giants' "SF" monogram capped with snow, along with the [[Latin]] slogan "''Veni, vidi, vixi''" ("I came, I saw, I survived"). Among many less-than-flattering fan nicknames for the park were "North Pole", "Cave of the Winds", "Windlestick", "The Quagmire", and "The Ashtray By The Bay". Older fans called it "The Dump" in honor of the former use of the land. Ironically, the Giants played their last night game at Candlestick (against the [[Los Angeles Dodgers]]) on September 29, 1999, under clear skies and a game time temperature of 74°<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SFN/SFN199909290.shtml|title=Los Angeles Dodgers at San Francisco Giants Box Score, September 29, 1999}}</ref> as well as their last day game at Candlestick on September 30, 1999, under blue skies with no fog and a game time temperature of 82°, all of which was common for September games.

Giants owner [[Horace Stoneham]] visited the site as early as 1957 and was involved in the stadium's design from the outset. While he was aware of the weather conditions, he usually visited the park during the day, not knowing about the particularly cold, windy and foggy conditions that overtook it at night. Originally, Bolles' concrete baffle would have extended all the way to left field, which would have further reduced the prevailing winds. Nevertheless, the size of the structure was reduced for cost savings. In 1962, Stoneham commissioned a study of the wind conditions. The study revealed that had the windy conditions been known prior to construction, conditions would have been significantly improved by building the park 100 yards farther to the north and east.<ref name="Storied"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nd.edu/~nathaz/doc/tribute-JEC-wind-engineer.pdf |title=A Tribute to Jack E. Cermak |first=Ahsan |last=Kareem |website=JEC Wind Engineer |year=2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060914205144/http://www.nd.edu/~nathaz/doc/tribute-JEC-wind-engineer.pdf |archive-date=September 14, 2006 |access-date=September 9, 2016}}</ref> This would have meant building it on [[fill dirt|fill]], however, which is less stable during earthquakes. The stadium's location on the bedrock of [[Bayview Hill]] provided more stability.

The winds were intense in the immediate area of the park. Studies showed they were no more frequent than other parts of San Francisco but are subject to higher gusts. This is because of a hill immediately adjacent to the park. This hill, in turn, is the first topographical obstacle met by the prevailing winds arriving from the Pacific Ocean {{convert|7|mi|km}} to the west. Arriving at Candlestick from the Pacific, these winds travel through what is known as the Alemany Gap before reaching the hill. The combination of ocean winds free-flowing to Candlestick, then swirling over the adjacent hill, created the cold and windy conditions that were the bane of the Giants' 40-year stay on Candlestick Point. It was indeed the wind and not the ambient air temperature that provided Candlestick's famed chill. The Giants' subsequent home, [[Oracle Park]], is just one degree warmer, but is far less windy, creating a "warmer" (relatively speaking) effect. While the wind is a summer condition (hot inland, cool oceanside), winter weather is right in line with the rest of sea level Northern California (mild with occasional rain).

===Other design flaws and irregularities===
Candlestick was an object of scorn from baseball purists for reasons other than weather. Although originally built for baseball, foul territory was quite roomy. According to Simmons, nearly every seat was too far from the field even before the 1971 expansion.<ref name="Storied"/> As with the radiant heating system in the grandstands, the heating systems in the dugouts were wholly inadequate. Players on other [[National League (baseball)|National League]] teams – especially if they had played for the Giants beforehand – complained that the visitors dugout was noticeably colder than the Giants' dugout. That was due to two factors. One was that the Giants' dugout included a tunnel to the clubhouse, so heat from the clubhouse flowed into the dugout. The other involved the placement of the dugouts. The Giants' dugout was located on the first base side, which was on the south side of the stadium. The visitors' dugout was located on the third base (west) side of the field.