On May 1, 1883, a newly formed National League baseball team known as the New York Gothams played its first game on a field located at 110th street and Sixth Avenue in New York, a field where previously polo matches had been held—and with that game, the Polo Grounds and the franchise soon to be known as the Giants came into existence.

There were several different ballparks used in those first years, four of which were known by the iconic name Polo Grounds. It was at the third Polo Grounds where the franchise claimed its first World Series title in 1905, but it was the fourth Polo Grounds where Willie Mays made “The Catch” in 1954.

There is a lot of history in the Giants franchise.

The New York Giants were the first National League team to win a modern World Series—and they won five total. Since moving to San Francisco in 1958, the Giants have been to the postseason nine times, won four pennants, and, of course, the 2010 World Series.

Ask any fan to name “great” baseball franchises and you will surely hear the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, and New York Yankees, but none of those teams have won as many regular season games as the Giants franchise.

In fact, the Giants have the most regular season wins of any team in the history of organized sports—period.

Now that makes for a very impressive franchise history.

It only gets better.

The Giants franchise gets to “drop” names with the best of them. You might hear about the Yankees having a player at every position in the Hall of Fame, but no team has as many Hall of Famers as the Giants—none.

Orlando Cepeda, Monte Irvin, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Mel Ott, Bill Terry, Monte Ward, Carl Hubbell, Juan Marichal, Christy Mathewson, and John McGraw, these are but a few of the iconic figures who stand out among baseball’s elite, and who call the Giants their “Home Team.”

Every Hall of Famer from Giants history is in this book—as is every award winner, the greatest performances in franchise history, the postseason triumphs, the fan favorite players who never became stars, all the glory, the passion, and emotion that the greatest moments in franchise history evoke are all here in this Sports by the Numbers title.

San Francisco Giants: An Interactive Guide to the World of Sports (Volume 1)