2007.1.91

1981
8.375 in HIGH x 11 in WIDE
(21.27 cm HIGH x 27.94 cm WIDE)
Oakland Tribune Collection, Oakland Museum of California, gift of ANG Newspapers
2007.1.91

"JAN 15 1981" (stamped in blue ink onto caption affixed to back); "Frank Robinson, wife Barbara and Bob Lurie wear Giant smiles." (caption affixed to back)

Proof print photo copy with image of new San Francisco Giants Manager Frank Robinson (center), his wife Barbara (right) and Giants Owner Bob Lurie (left) at a press conference. All are sitting at a table full of microphones and electrical equipment. Lurie and F. Robinson are in suits and ties. All three are smiling. There is a photograph on the wall behind them depicting former Giants great Willie Mays. Text above image reads: "SXP911412-1/14/81--SAN FRANCISCO: Frank Robinson (C) was named manager of the San Francisco Giants 1/14, replacing Dave Bristol, who was fired 5 weeks ago. Giants owner Bob Lurie (L) makes the announcement at press conference. At right is Robinsons' wife, Barbara. Photo on wall is of former Giants star Willie Mays. UPI sm/Charles Blagdon (GIANTS)." There are cropping registration marks in pencil on top and right margins.

Frank RobinsonFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Robinson (5/30/2007) Frank Robinson (born August 31, 1935 in Beaumont, Texas), is a Hall of Fame former Major League Baseball player. He was an outfielder, most notably with the Cincinnati Reds and the Baltimore Orioles. During a 21-season career, he became the first player to win League MVP honors in both the National and American Leagues, won the Triple crown, was a member of two teams that won the World Series (the 1966 and 1970 Baltimore Orioles), and amassed the fourth-most career home runs at the time of his retirement (he is currently sixth).During the last two years of his playing career, he served as the first permanent African-American manager in Major League history, managing the Cleveland Indians to a 186-189 record. He went on to manage the San Francisco Giants, the Baltimore Orioles, the Montreal Expos and the Washington Nationals. Dave BristolFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (6/7/2007) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_BristolJames David Bristol (born June 23, 1933 in Macon, Georgia) is a former manager in Major League Baseball in the 1960s and 1970s. He managed the Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, and San Francisco Giants during this period.Bristol, a right-handed hitting and throwing infielder, never played in the major leagues. He became a playing manager in the Cincinnati farm system at the age of 24 with Hornell of the Class D New York - Penn League in 1957. By 1964, he was managing the Reds' top farm team, the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League, where, at age 31, he won a pennant.In 1966, Bristol was named to the Reds' coaching staff, and when the team performed badly under rookie skipper Don Heffner, Bristol took over the club as manager in July. At 33, he was the youngest pilot in the major leagues. Bristol guided the Reds through 3_ winning seasons, but he was dismissed following the 1969 campaign. Sparky Anderson, who took over from Bristol, would go into the Baseball Hall of Fame as the leader of the "Big Red Machine."Cincinnati (298-265, .529) represented the highwater mark of Bristol's managing career. He had losing teams thereafter, and his career managing record shows 657 win and 764 defeats (.462).In 1977, Bristol served as Atlanta Braves manager on two different occasions. Braves owner Ted Turner decided after a long losing streak that he would take over the managerial reigns of the team. However, this only lasted for one game (a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates) as baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn forbade Turner from managing further due to major league rules prohibiting players or managers from owning a share of a team. Afterward, Turner rehired Bristol for the remainder of the season. Bob LurieFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (6/8/2007) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_lurieRobert Alfred Lurie (born 1929) is a real estate magnate and former owner of the San Francisco Giants franchise of Major League Baseball from March 2, 1976 until January 12, 1993.In 1976, Lurie led a group to buy the Giants from Horace Stoneham for $8 million, thereby saving the team from potentially being sold to a Canadian brewery and moved to Toronto. Although Toronto was awarded with its own expansion team, the Blue Jays in 1977, it would not be the last time that San Francisco's baseball fans would fear the possibility of losing its team.The 1970s was a generally disappointing decade for the Giants and the trend continued throughout Lurieミs ownership. In 1985, a year which saw the Giants lose 100 games (the most in franchise history), Lurie responded by hiring Al Rosen as general manager. Under Rosen's tenure, the Giants promoted promising rookies such as Will Clark and Robby Thompson, and made canny trades to acquire such players as Kevin Mitchell, Dave Dravecky, Candy Maldonado, and Rick Reuschel.Meanwhile, in both 1987 and 1989, San Francisco voters rejected two stadium referenda to replace the notoriously unaccomodating Candlestick Park as the home of the Giants, despite the franchise's offer to pick up most of the tab for a new downtown park. Worst still, a plan to improve the existing stadium failed by an even wider margin. Frustrated, Lurie looked south toward Silicon Valley only to see San Jose and Santa Clara voters reject three more proposals to build a Giants ballpark.Finally, in October of 1992, Lurie announced that he would sell the Giants, claiming that he could no longer sustain the financial losses (averaging about $2-7 million annually) that had accumulated over the last few years. During his announcement, Lurie appeared visibly emotional, his voice breaking as he explained his hopes for turning the business side around when he bought the team in 1976. Nonetheless, losing teams and poor weather conditions at Candlestick Park kept many fans away, and at the time of Lurie's announcement, the team had finished with a 66-96 record--the worst in the majors and the poorest in its 27 seasons in California.Originally, Lurie had agreed to sell the Giants for $115 million to an ownership group headed by Vincent Piazza (father of baseball player Mike Piazza) with plans to move the club to St. Petersburg, Florida. However, the National League nixed the deal, pressuring Lurie to sell the club to Bay Area investors. In an 11th hour effort to save the team from moving, a group of local investors headed by ex-Safeway magnate, Peter Magowan, offered Lurie $100 million for the Giants. Willie MaysFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (6/11/2007) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_maysWillie Howard Mays Jr. (born May 6, 1931 in Westfield, Alabama outside Birmingham) is a retired American baseball player and member of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Mays, nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his first year of eligibility. During his playing days, Mays won two MVP awards and tied a record with twenty-four appearances in the All-Star Game.[1] He ended his career with 660 career home runs, 4th all-time.Mays' first major league manager, Leo Durocher, described his abundance of talent thusly: "He could do the five things you have to do to be a superstar: hit, hit with power, run, throw, and field. And he had that other ingredient that turns a superstar into a super superstar. He lit up the room when he came in. He was a joy to be around." [2]Upon his Hall of Fame election, Mays was asked to name the best player that he had seen during his career. Mays replied, "I don't mean to be bashful, but I was."[3]

Used: Oakland Tribune

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