History UsefulNotes / MLBTeams

'''Colors:''' Midnight navy blue, orange, whitee\\

'''American League Pennants:''' 11 total; 1907, 1908, 1909, 1934, 1940,2006,2012

'''Nicknames:''' The Yanks, The Bronx Bombers, The Pinstripes\\

'''Home Ballpark:''' Rogers Centre[[note]]Everyone stillcalls it the [=SkyDome=] though.[[/note]]\\

'''World Series Titles:''' 1966, 1970, 1983\\
'''American League Pennants:''' 1944, 1969, 1971, 1979

'''World Series Titles:''' 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2018\\
'''American League Pennants:''' 1904, 1946, 1967, 1975, 1986

'''World Series Titles:''' 1923, 1927, 1928, 1932, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1941, 1943, 1947, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1956, 1958, 1961, 1962, 1977, 1978, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2009\\
'''American League Pennants:''' 1921, 1922, 1926, 1942, 1955, 1957, 1960, 1963, 1964, 1976, 1981, 2001, 2003

'''World Series titles:''' 1966, 1970, 1983\\

'''World Series titles:''' 1903, 1912, 1915, 1916, 1918, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2018\\

'''Nicknames:''' The Sox, The BoSox\\

Since late 2020, there have been rumblings around the majors of possible expansion, with [[UsefulNotes/NorthCarolina Charlotte]], UsefulNotes/LasVegas, UsefulNotes/MexicoCity, UsefulNotes/{{Montreal}} (for a potential Expos revival), UsefulNotes/{{Nashville}}, UsefulNotes/{{Orlando}}, UsefulNotes/{{Portland}}, [[UsefulNotes/{{Utah}} Salt Lake City]], [[UsefulNotes/OtherCitiesInTexas San Antonio]], and UsefulNotes/{{Vancouver}} among the top candidate cities for expansion or relocation. However, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred stated that expansion would not be a priority until the stadium situations of both the Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays were settled, with the former all but confirming plans to move to Las Vegas by 2027 and the latter announcing a deal for a new stadium in its home market in 2023 with an opening date no later than 2028 penciled in.

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/agasga.png]]

[[quoteright:250:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/8a6yhpv94ogg5ofujdye2ezg4.png]]

** Their current stadium, the Oakland Coliseum ([[IHaveManyNames also known by]] [[ProductPlacementName several corporate names]]), was also home to the Oakland Raiders [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague NFL]] team through 2019, making the A's the last team with this arrangement. This fact coupled with some disrepair at the Coliseum has the ownership wanting to get a new stadium built specifically for them, preferably in nearby San Jose. San Jose wants the team and has land available for that purpose, but Byzantine league rules with regard to team relocation [[note]]due to NL rival San Francisco owning territory rights to San Jose[[/note]] coupled with Oakland's competing efforts to build a new stadium in Oakland have those plans in DevelopmentHell. [[note]]Documentation and commentary on their quest for a new stadium can be found [[http://newballpark.org/ here]].[[/note]] In 2021, the Athletics began considering plans to relocate to UsefulNotes/LasVegas, much like their erstwhile stadium-mates, the Raiders, before them. A Las Vegas move became even more likely when the team announced in April 2023 it had agreed to purchase land for a new ballpark near the Las Vegas Strip (no doubt to avoid upsetting the Raiders by sharing their stadium again), all but confirming they are moving to Las Vegas. With the stadium and the relocation expected to be completeled in time for the 2027 MLB Season.

* The '''UsefulNotes/{{Boston}} Red Sox''' are often considered by their fans--beg your pardon, [[InsistentTerminology Red Sox Nation]]--to be LaResistance to the Yankees' [[TheEmpire Evil Empire]] (a view not much shared by fans of other teams these days, [[RuleAbidingRebel given that they have effectively acted exactly like the Yankees since 2004]]). They've proven immensely successful early in centuries, winning one World Series in the 1900s,[[note]]The first ever modern World Series in 1903.[[/note]] four in the 1910s (in which the newly built Braves Field was used for both the 1915 and 1916 Red Sox due to Fenway Park having been used as the Braves' home for their own World Series as their own stadium was too small and to take advantage of the larger seating capacity Braves Field had at the time),[[note]]They played in and won five of the first fifteen Series ever played.[[/note]] two in the 2000s, and two in the 2010s--but won no World Series at all from 1918 to 2004 (this is sometimes known as "The Curse of the Bambino", although despite what the [[CulturalTranslation American film version of]] ''Film/FeverPitch'' told you, barely any hardcore Sox fans believed that this curse was why they kept losing). That finally ended in 2004 when the Red Sox, coming off a MiracleRally that saw them come back from an unprecedented 3 games to nothing hole to beat the Yankees, swept the rival Cardinals in the World Series (during [[WeirdMoon a lunar eclipse]], nonetheless) while avenging their last two losses to the same Cards back in 1946 and 1967. They've won three more championships since then [[note]](including beating the same Cardinals again in a rematch which was spurned on by the events of the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing in which the attack took place right ''next'' to Fenway Park at the finish line)[[/note]], effectively ending their "loser" status for good, even becoming the second most successful sports team in the whole Northeast since then (not that the bar is too high), just behind the New England Patriots who have won 6 Super Bowls in a 20 year span (also based in Beantown, though in nearby Foxboro) they're the only Boston team who has ''yet'' to lose a World Series championship, having gone undefeated since their 2004 championship [[note]]unlike the Patriots, Celtics and Bruins who have lost a combined 7 championships during the same stretch[[/note]], although the team was accused of technological sign-stealing (intercepting the opposing team's messages) during its World Series-winning 2018 season, all but ending their dominance as they have since slipped back to mediocrity, except for a surprising run to the 2021 ALCS where they lost to the hated Astros in 6 games.[[note]]Stealing signs by itself is not against the rules; teams will often try to do so once they get a runner to second base (giving that player a view of the catcher's signs). What is ''very'' illegal is the use of technology to steal signs in real time (while the Astros later admitted to stealing signs during their 2017 World series win (while their 2019 World Series run was still on going) and were properly fined and stripped of draft picks (and leading them to fire their GM (who was banned for the entire year) and manager following their 2019 World Series loss), the Red Sox likewise managed to escape serious repercussions (in a similar way to their hated rivals the Yankees) by mostly on account of how dominant their 2018 squad was (aside from the firing and eventual rehiring of their manager Alex Corra who was suspended the entire 2020 season for his role in the Astros Scandal).[[/note]] The Red Sox are SeriousBusiness in Boston (to the point that their NL counterparts the Braves were forced to move to Milwaukee in 1952 as the Red Sox grew to be too popular), and the rivalry between them and the Yankees is the biggest FandomRivalry in North American sports, if not sports period [[note]]the closest contenders are the UsefulNotes/{{NBA}}'s Celtics-Lakers rivarly and the UsefulNotes/{{NHL}}'s Bruins-Canadiens rivarly, making the city of Boston notorious for having epic rivalries with 3 out of the 4 Big Sports Leagues[[/note]]. When viewed from outside the rivalry, however, the Red Sox have since the end of the curse merely become the lesser of two evils (the result of [[HeWhoFightsMonsters adopting Yankee-like spending habits]]). For a while they were said to be "Film/{{Moneyball}} on an unlimited budget", as their (then) general manager Theo Epstein used those ideas to great effect. In addition to their legendary rivarly with the Yankees, they also have notable rivalries with the Tampa Bay Rays [[note]]which has gotten far more heated in recent years due to current Red Sox GM Chaim Bloom, the former GM of the Rays, who has been accused by die-hard Red Sox fans as being a spy whose loyal to Tampa Bay by outright sabotaging the team by not allowing the Sox to re-sign members of their 2018 World Series team (in an attempt at rebuilding the far larger payroll Red Sox club in the exact same way he turned the low payroll Rays into a powerhouse), such as allowing the unpopular trade of popular outfielder Mookie Betts to the Dodgers to go through (despite him wanting to stay in Boston) that netted them Alex Verdugo, letting most of their pitching staff aside from ace Chris Sale walk and most recently not re-signing shortstop Xander Bogaerts who would sign with the Padres once they signed an aging Trevor Story from Colorado to replace him at shortstop[[/note]], the Chicago White Sox,[[note]](known amongst fans of both Sox clubs as the Battle of the Laundry)[[/note]] the Los Angeles Angels,[[note]](which is again a greater part of the infamous Celtics-Lakers rivarly bleeding into baseball)[[/note]] and the St. Louis Cardinals.[[note]](whom they split 4 World Series wins with, and have had an epic rivarly that now bleeds into all 4 sport leagues, until the Rams left St. Louis to return to Los Angeles)[[/note]]

* The '''Cincinnati Reds''': Cincy was the first city to have a professional team (the Cincinnati Red Stockings), so the Reds are generally considered the oldest club in the league (even though, in the words of Joel Luckhaupt, "the line from the Reds back to that 1869 squad isn't a straight one"). Before [[ExecutiveMeddling TV ratings became important]], it was custom that the first major league game of every season take place in Cincy, and even today the Reds Home Opener is quite a big deal. They won their first World Series in 1919 [[note]]tragically tainted due to the Black Sox Scandal as the White Sox intentionally threw the series to the Reds[[/note]], and wouldn't appear in another World Series until 1939 where they got swept by the powerhouse New York Yankees, they would bounce back and win their next championship in 7 games against the Detroit Tigers in 1940. The glory days of the Reds were the '70s, when they were called the ''Big Red Machine'' that began with the team adopting the Yankees way, by banning all ''facial'' hair and long hair back in the late 60's [[note]]humorously the Yankees themselves wouldn't adopt the Reds' policy until George Steinbrenner (whom had a history with the United States Air Force) arrived, though he would allow players to grow mustaches, something the Reds would ban outright[[/note]], and stocking up on players throughout the 60's, though they would appear in another World Series in 1961 only to again lose to the powerhouse Yankees in 5 games [[note]] becoming the shortest World Series[[/note]], before appearing in two more to start the 70's off where the Big Red Machine took off (losing first to the powerhouse Orioles in 1970 and again to the Mustache Gang Athletics in 1972 during their three-peat) before finally securing victory in 1975 during an epic 7 game World Series over the Boston Red Sox [[note]]which became famous for Fisk's epic wave to the ball to stay fair as he hit a home run to end Game 6 to extend the series to Game 7[[/note]] and starting an unprecedented winning streak in Game 7 by going ''9-0'' in World Series games by repeating in 1976 by sweeping the Yankees (getting revenge over their defeats in 1939 and 1961 in the process). Longtime ESPN broadcaster Joe Morgan was a member of the Big Red Machine, and he would never let you forget it. Another bright spot came in 1990, when the Reds swept the World Series against the heavily-favored A's, getting revenge for their defeat in 1972. Owned for a while by the [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} totally insane]] and despicable Marge Schott, famous for her [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking racist tirades, collection of Nazi memorabilia, and devotion to her Saint Bernard, Schottzie and later on Schottzie II]] who was outright hated by many die-hard Reds fans for ruining the club's reputation because of her famous tirades and Nazi connections [[note]]despite her being a die-hard fan herself as part of the Rosie-Reds woman's fan club back in the 60's, the 1990 World Series itself was mirred in controversy because of her tirades on wanting the series to end in the full 7 games in order to bring a ton of money to her team, rather than a sweep[[/note]], relief was finally brought when she sold the club in 2001 in part due to failing health. The Reds have eight players in the Hall of Fame, and would undoubtedly have a ninth if longtime player (and later manager) Pete Rose hadn't been expelled from MLB for life in 1989 due to betting on games.[[note]]Diehard Reds fans will often point out that if he ever bet on the Reds, he bet on them to win. This might have been true, but from MLB's perspective it's irrelevant; the leadership has wanted the game to have as little to do with gambling as possible ever since the "Black Sox" scandal. Once bitten, twice shy, as you might say. Plus, if he didn't bet on them to win every game, then his not betting on a particular game could be construed as a cue for others to bet against them.[[/note]] Since their 1990 championship however, the Reds have mostly seen teams with great hitters but terrible pitching. After being swept by the Braves in the 1995 NLCS, it would be 15 years before they would taste the postseason again...only to be swept by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2010 NLDS, being no-hit by Roy Halladay in game 1. This is also where hometown hero Ken Griffey Jr. played most of his later, more injury-prone years [[note]]Griffey's father was a member of the Big Red Machine, and Griffey himself was a Reds fan growing up, he even wore the same number (#30) as his father when he signed with them after leaving the Mariners[[/note]]. After years of mediocrity, they made the playoffs 3 times in 4 years from 2010-2013 with a nucleus of cerebral first baseman Joey Votto, flashy second baseman Brandon Phillips, and streaky-hitting outfielder Jay Bruce, plus young pitchers Homer Bailey (who threw 2 no-hitters for the Reds) and Johnny Cueto (2008-2015). Despite this, the Reds playoff luck seemed to match their next door neighbors the Bengals: being swept in the 2010 NLDS, leading 2 games to none in the 2012 NLDS vs. the Giants, winning both games in San Francisco before losing three straight at home, and losing 6 of their last 8 regular season games (including dropping their final five) in 2013, dropping them to the NL's second wild card spot and having to play the wild card game in Pittsburgh against a Pirates team making the postseason for the first time in 21 years. By 2014 their championship window was closing, but ownership remained steadfast on contending one last time in 2015 because their home Great American Ball Park was hosting the All-Star Game. At the trade deadline, they traded the aforementioned Cueto (to Kansas City, where he was a part of their World Series championship team that year) and starting pitcher Mike Leake (to San Francisco). From 2016-18, the Reds were an afterthought, never winning more than 68 games, with some of the worst pitching in major league history. They seemed to be coming out of the slump in 2019 (a season which featured two bench-clearing brawls with the Pirates), winning 8 more games than the previous season, with the acquisition of pitcher Sonny Gray from the New York Yankees and the breakout season of third baseman Eugenio Suarez (whose 49 home runs are the most ever by a Venezuelan player). Before the MLB season was delayed due to COVID-19, the Reds were on track to field a contender in 2020 (after breaking the franchise record for free-agent spending), with the acquisitions of outfielder Nick Castellanos, infielder Mike Moustakas, and pitcher Wade Miley, among others. That team would limp into the playoffs and get swept (by the Atlanta Braves)inthe Wild Card round. After half-heartedly trying in 2021, Reds ownership decided to blow the team up, with ownership trading nearly every "big name" player just weeks before Opening Day. When longtime fans complained, team president (and son of the team owner) went on the team's radio station ''on Opening Day'' to ask fans "where you gonna go?" The 2022 squad lost 100 games. However, the team surprised many the next season as several prospects were called up and broke out and the Reds proceeded to contend for a wild card playoff spot deep into the month of September.

* The '''UsefulNotes/{{Philadelphia}} Phillies''': [[LongRunner Played their first season in 1883]] after [[MeaningfulRename replacing]] the Worcester [[LocationThemeNaming Worcesters]], thus making them one of the oldest franchises in baseball, if not all of American professional sports. With two World Series championships as of this edit, their victory in the 2008 Series is particularly notable for ending a 25-year streak of Philadelphia not winning a championship in ''any'' major sport. Though they were the best team in the National League in the late [=2000s=], they are historically the losingest baseball franchise ever (and in terms of number of losses, the losingest team in all of professional sports). They were also the last of the 16 original Major League teams to win a championship, their first title not coming until 1980. Like all Philadelphia sports teams, their fans are usually appear to be generally good-hearted working-class folk, but they can get really dangerous if drunk or if their team wins a championship (rioting is a popular Philly pastime), and if you should get caught wearing a Mets uniform, or a Mets cap, or anything related to the Mets (or [[FandomRivalry New York]], really) then you're really just asking for it.[[note]]As of the 2022 playoffs this has now extended to the Atlanta Braves due to their Tomahawk Chop chant (despite the good relationship the two cities' fanbases), which they proceeded to mock, though this was mainly due to the Braves being notorious for choking.[[/note]] The late, great Harry Kalas — known to most of America as TheVoice of NFL Films after John Facenda died — was their lead TV/radio announcer until his death during the 2009 season. From 2007 to 2011, the team basically became the Yankees of the National League, procuring superstar players (mostly pitchers) at any price to make World Series runs. However, they went straight back to their losing ways in 2012, and were forced to commence a full-blown rebuild in 2015, which lasted until their fortunes finally started turning around in 2018. This was capped by a 2022 run from a Wild Card berth into the World Series, where they were defeated by the (hated) Houston Astros to give them their first legitimate untainted championship. By the way, the team's somewhat uncreative nickname is an artifact of history; in the early days of baseball media would often refer to teams by simply pluralizing a city name. Also known for the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phillie_Phanatic Phillie Phanatic]], one of the goofiest and most-beloved mascots in sports.

* The '''San Diego Padres''' seemingly only receive national attention for [[ButtMonkey being on the wrong side of history]] -- they've surrendered several historical milestones (gave up Barry Bonds' record-tying 755th home run and Pete Rose's then-record-breaking[[note]]Ty Cobb's hit total has since been disputed[[/note]] 4,192nd base hit, were no-hit by pitcher Dock Ellis whilst the latter was high on LSD, and are one of only three teams to be no-hit twice by the same pitcher [[note]]that pitcher being Tim Lincecum of the Giants, with both no-hitters coming during otherwise poor seasons for him[[/note]]), collapsed multiple times at the end of the regular season to allow division rivals to key up a MiracleRally (notably to the Colorado Rockies in 2007 and San Francisco Giants in 2010 -- both teams would eventually win the NL pennant, and the Giants won the World Series that year), had few players reach individual success (they didn't record their first no-hitter until April 2021, and they were the last team to have a player hit for the cycle as well), and in 2016 became the only team to begin a season by being shut out in their first three games (getting outscored 25-0 by the Los Angeles Dodgers at ''home''). The Padres typically field OK-to-mediocre teams, and few players get much in the way of national attention due to the team's small market and offense-unfriendly stadium. However, they ''have'' had some real success in their history, most notably in 1984, when they came back down 2-0 against the notorious loser Cubs and won the NL pennant, and in 1998, when they went 98-64 to win the most games in franchise history, won the NL West, faced not one, but TWO 100-game winners in the postseason in the Astros and Braves and soundly beat them both, and put up an underrated fight against the dominant Yankees, who swept them in the World Series. The only players to really achieve superstardom with the Padres are Hall of Famers Tony Gwynn and Trevor Hoffman,[[note]]Dave Winfield is an arguable case; he was an established top player with the Padres, but didn't become nationally well-known until he joined the Yankees[[/note]] though Fernando Tatís Jr. is quickly becoming the third. Known for odd public address-related incidents; in the team's very first home game under owner Ray O. Kroc (the same as UsefulNotes/McDonalds) in 1974, Kroc grabbed the microphone and apologized to the befuddled crowd for the team's poor performance. Later, in 1990, they got Roseanne Arnold to sing the National Anthem for some reason, and she delivered a deliberately horrible rendition that briefly irritated the entire country. Their long-time radio announcer, the late Jerry Coleman, was well known for frequently saying things that just plain didn't make any sense ("It's a high sky out there, and that can get you in trouble if you get caught in the middle of it."), while their late television broadcaster Dick Enberg was known to openly root for the opposing team during losing streaks. Also known for their former mascot, the San Diego Chicken, who is the reason most teams have annoying mascots today, and their distinctive uniforms: both the 1970's era brown-and-yellows and the modern camouflage uniforms -- which are a tribute to San Diego being America's largest military town -- are widely regarded as some of the ugliest ever, though even these have their defenders ([[note]]The Padres would, by popular demand, finally return to the Brown and Yellow color scheme beginning in 2020 (though in a far more tasteful way that involves brown pinstripes), leading to much fan rejoicing[[/note]]).

* The '''UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco Giants''': Another of the classic NL teams, with roots going back to 1883. Most of their first seven decades were spent in [[BigApplesauce New York]] at the oddly-shaped Polo Grounds in Harlem, where the team enjoyed a three-cornered intracity rivalry with the [[TheRival (hated)]] Brooklyn Dodgers and the AL Yankees (whom they faced in six World Series). The Giants' luster began to fade in the mid-1950s due to mediocre play and a crumbling stadium, but as luck would have it the [[ArchEnemy (hated)]] Dodgers were moving to sunny California and needed a travel buddy! And so in 1958 they relocated to San Francisco, where they've been ever since. From 1960 to 2000 they played in [[ImColdSoCold frigid, windy]] Candlestick Park, where (supposedly) a pitcher was blown off the mound during the 1961 All-Star Game, and (definitely) Game 3 of the 1989 World Series was interrupted by the Loma Prieta earthquake. After flirting with moves to Silicon Valley and St. Petersburg, Florida, they traded up to spiffy new [[ProductPlacement Pacific Bell]] ([[IHaveManyNames later SBC, then AT&T, and now Oracle]]) Park in 2000 (with its infamous [[AlienGeometries Triples Alley]] in right field and its constantly-changing name). The Giants have a proud pedigree of Hall of Fame players -- including Carl Hubbell and Mel Ott from before the move, [[LivingLegend Willie Mays]] in both cities (but mostly in SF), and [[TheBigGuy Willie McCovey]] and [[HotBlooded Juan Marichal]] after the move -- but starting in TheNineties they became best known as the team of [[ArrogantKungFuGuy controversial]] superstar [[TragicVillain Barry Bonds]], as he obliterated cherished baseball records at the cost of [[ThenLetMeBeEvil his reputation]]. Despite his dominance, the Giants still remained unable to bring a World Series title to San Francisco during the Bonds era[[note]]it didn't help that the Giants failed to build a proper team around Bonds' weaknesses [[/note]]. It took a stretch of irrelevance, during which the team hit big on several draft picks – including pitchers [[PintSizedPowerhouse Tim Lincecum]] and [[TheStoic Madison Bumgarner]], third baseman [[{{Acrofatic}} Pablo Sandoval]], and catcher [[TheChosenOne Buster Posey]] – to launch the Giants to their first title since 1954. They won in 2010 by surrounding their homegrown stars with a roster of [[RagtagBunchofMisfits other teams' castoffs]]; then, after working in more homegrown players and younger free agents, [[StarTrekMovieCurse they did it again in 2012 and 2014]], establishing the "[[MemeticMutation Even Year Magic]]" meme[[note]]Or "Even Year Bullshit", if you prefer--as rival teams' fans (and even some Giants supporters) do.[[/note]] and establishing themselves as one of the powerhouse teams of the first half of TheNewTens. But even in disappointing odd-numbered years, the garlic fries are tasty, the park is beautiful, the broadcast teams (former players Kruk and Kuip[[note]]Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper[[/note]] on TV, Hall of Fame honoree Jon Miller and his partner Dave Flemming on radio) are rated among the league's best, and they can always try to ruin things for the [[RuleOfThree (hated)]] Dodgers.

* The '''UsefulNotes/SanFrancisco Giants''': Another of the classic NL teams, with roots going back to 1883. Most of their first seven decades were spent in [[BigApplesauce New York]] at the oddly-shaped Polo Grounds in Harlem, where the team enjoyed a three-cornered intracity rivalry with the [[TheRival (hated)]] Brooklyn Dodgers and the AL Yankees (whom they faced in six World Series). The Giants' luster began to fade in the mid-1950s due to mediocre play and a crumbling stadium, but as luck would have it the [[ArchEnemy (hated)]] Dodgers were moving to sunny California and needed a travel buddy! And so in 1958 they relocated to San Francisco, where they've been ever since. From 1960 to 2000 they played in [[ImColdSoCold frigid, windy]] Candlestick Park, where (supposedly) a pitcher was blown off the mound during the 1961 All-Star Game, and (definitely) Game 3 of the 1989 World Series was interrupted by the Loma Prieta earthquake. After flirting with moves to Silicon Valley and St. Petersburg, Florida, they traded up to spiffy new [[ProductPlacement Pacific Bell]] ([[IHaveManyNames later SBC, then AT&T, and now Oracle]]) Park in 2000 (with its infamous [[AlienGeometries Triples Alley]] in right field and its constantly-changing name). The Giants have a proud pedigree of Hall of Fame players -- including Carl Hubbell and Mel Ott from before the move, [[LivingLegend Willie Mays]] in both cities (but mostly in SF), and [[TheBigGuy Willie McCovey]] and [[HotBlooded Juan Marichal]] after the move -- but starting in TheNineties they became best known as the team of [[ArrogantKungFuGuy controversial]] superstar [[TragicVillain Barry Bonds]], as he obliterated cherished baseball records at the cost of [[ThenLetMeBeEvil his reputation]]. Despite his dominance, the Giants still remained unable to bring a World Series title to San Francisco during the Bonds era[[note]]it didn't help that the Giants failed to build a proper team around Bonds' weaknesses [[/note]]. It took a stretch of irrelevance, during which the team hit big on several draft picks -- pitchers [[PintSizedPowerhouse Tim Lincecum]] and [[TheStoic Madison Bumgarner]], third baseman [[{{Acrofatic}} Pablo Sandoval]], and catcher [[TheChosenOne Buster Posey]] -- to launch the Giants to their first title since 1954. They won in 2010 by surrounding their homegrown stars with a roster of [[RagtagBunchofMisfits other teams' castoffs]]; then, working in more homegrown players and younger free agents, [[StarTrekMovieCurse they did it again in 2012 and 2014]], establishing the "[[MemeticMutation Even Year Magic]]" meme[[note]]Or "Even Year Bullshit", if you prefer--as rival teams' fans (and even some Giants supporters) do.[[/note]] and establishing themselves as one of the powerhouse teams of the first half of TheNewTens. But even in disappointing odd-numbered years, the garlic fries are tasty, the park is beautiful, the broadcast teams (former players Kruk and Kuip[[note]]Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper[[/note]] on TV, Hall of Fame honoree Jon Miller and his partner Dave Flemming on radio) are rated among the league's best, and they can always try to ruin things for the [[RuleOfThree (hated)]] Dodgers.

** The Giants also hold the distinction of having won more games (over 11,300 as of 2022) than any other MLB franchise, and likely the most games of any professional sports team in North America.

** From 1902 to 1953, the club was known as the UsefulNotes/StLouis Browns,[[note]] They were the UsefulNotes/{{Milwaukee}} Brewers in the AL's inaugural season, but a last-place finish prompted a move to St. Louis. [[/note]] and even then were mostly associated with losing, though they did manage a single World Series appearance in 1944 where they lost to in-town rivals the St. Louis Cardinals. During this era the Browns (owned at the time by the highly eccentric Bill Veeck) fielded the shortest player in baseball history, 3'7" midget Eddie Gaedel, who took one at-bat as a publicity stunt (and Veeck only got away with it by filing Gaedel's contract with the AL offices [[LoopholeAbuse at the very end of the work week]], ensuring it would get a quick approval and not be scrutinized until the following Monday; the league subsequently [[ObviousRulePatch revised its rules to ensure all contracts are reviewed by the Commissioner before a player is eligible to take the field]]). The Browns years seem to be something of an OldShame for the franchise, as the Orioles do not recognize or commemorate any of their statistics or records from their time in St. Louis, and instead leave it to the Cardinals to honor the "Brownies". Ironically, from 1920 to 1953, the Browns owned Sportsman's Park, and the Cardinals were their tenants, but the Cards' vastly greater popularity led to the Browns' eventual departure to Baltimore.

** From 1902 to 1953, the club was known as the UsefulNotes/StLouis Browns,[[note]] They were the UsefulNotes/{{Milwaukee}} Brewers in the AL's inaugural season, but a last-place finish prompted a move to St. Louis. [[/note]] and even then were mostly associated with losing, though they did manage a single World Series appearance in 1944 where they lost to in-town rivals the St. Louis Cardinals. During this era the Browns (owned at the time by the highly eccentric Bill Veeck) fielded the shortest player in baseball history, 3'7" midget Eddie Gaedel, who took one at-bat as a publicity stunt (and Veeck only got away with it by filing Gaedel's contract with the AL offices [[LoopholeAbuse at the very end of the work week]], ensuring it would get a quick approval and not be scrutinized until the following Monday; the league subsequently [[ObviousRulePatch revised its rules to ensure all contracts are reviewed by the Commissioner before a player is eligible to take the field]]). The Browns years seem to be something of an OldShame for Baltimore, as the Orioles do not recognize or commemorate any of their statistics or records from their time in St. Louis, and instead leave it to the Cardinals to honor the "Brownies". Ironically, from 1920 to 1953, the Browns owned Sportsman's Park, and the Cardinals were their tenants, but the Cards' vastly greater popularity led to the Browns' eventual departure to Baltimore.

** From 1902 to 1953, the club was known as the UsefulNotes/StLouis Browns,[[note]] They were the UsefulNotes/{{Milwaukee}} Brewers in the AL's inaugural season, but a last-place finish prompted a move to St. Louis. [[/note]] and even then were mostly associated with losing, though they did manage a single World Series appearance in 1944 where they lost to in-town rivals the St. Louis Cardinals. During this era the Browns (owned at the time by the highly eccentric Bill Veeck) fielded the shortest player in baseball history, 3'7" midget Eddie Gaedel, who took one at-bat as a publicity stunt (and Veeck only got away with it by filing Gaedel's contract with the AL offices [[LoopholeAbuse at the very end of the work week]], ensuring it would get a quick approval and not be scrutinized until the following Monday; the league subsequently [[ObviousRulePatch revised its rules to ensure all contracts are reviewed by the Commissioner before a player is eligible to take the field]]). The Browns years are something of an OldShame for Baltimore, as the Orioles do not recognize or commemorate any of their statistics or records from their time in St. Louis, and instead leave it to the Cardinals to honor the "Brownies". Ironically, from 1920 to 1953, the Browns owned Sportsman's Park, and the Cardinals were their tenants, but the Cards' vastly greater popularity led to the Browns' eventual departure to Baltimore.

** From 1902 to 1953, the club was known as the St. Louis Browns,[[note]] They were the Milwaukee Brewers in the AL's inaugural season, but a last-place finish prompted a move to St. Louis. [[/note]] and even then were mostly associated with losing, though they did manage a single World Series appearance in 1944 where they lost to in-town rivals the St. Louis Cardinals. During this era the Browns (owned at the time by the highly eccentric Bill Veeck) fielded the shortest player in baseball history, 3'7" midget Eddie Gaedel, who took one at-bat as a publicity stunt (and Veeck only got away with it by filing Gaedel's contract with the AL offices [[LoopholeAbuse at the very end of the work week]], ensuring it would get a quick approval and not be scrutinized until the following Monday; the league subsequently [[ObviousRulePatch revised its rules to ensure all contracts are reviewed by the Commissioner before a player is eligible to take the field]]). The Browns years are something of an OldShame for Baltimore, as the Orioles do not recognize or commemorate any of their statistics or records from their time in St. Louis, and instead leave it to the Cardinals to honor the "Brownies". Ironically, from 1920 to 1953, the Browns owned Sportsman's Park, and the Cardinals were their tenants, but the Cards' vastly greater popularity led to the Browns' eventual departure to Baltimore.