Every Picture Tells a Story: Candlestick Park — San Francisco (1995)

 

 

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY:
CANDLESTICK PARK — SAN FRANCISCO (1995)

Note: Why am I posting “old” photos lately? Thing is, years ago social media wasn’t around. Many of us post our current photos of people, travels, and experiences. So then, why not post some of our fondest memories along with the interesting stories that accompanied them, too? And besides, it’s fun. This is the continuation of my series where I take old photographs and share the stories behind them. Remember — a photograph and memory that is NOT shared becomes lost over time, and is eventually forgotten and then it disappears and is gone forever. Think about that, friends. I do wish more people would share photographs and memories and remember the meaning of those moments.

The Major League Baseball season started last week. So, I’m posting several pictures of ballpark visits from years past, mostly at stadiums that no longer exist. I have a strange fascination for sports stadiums. Maybe it’s because they’re the historic battlefields of thrilling victories and just as many lost bets and burned bankrolls.

I can’t even count the number of games I watched on television over the decades, plus the number of bets I made on games played at hallowed shrines like Candlestick Park, in San Francisco. Heck, the Beatles even played their last concert on their final disastrous and doomed world tour at Candlestick Park (1966). That alone makes this sacred territory and a musical holy land. The sepulcher between Revolver and “Strawberry Fields” and Sgt. Pepper. Rock n’ roll mecca.

The first thrill I can remember from Candlestick Park was the miraculous comeback in the 1972 playoffs, when Roger Staubach (who had missed the entire season with a shoulder injury) came off the bench with two minutes left in the game, and led the Cowboys to two last-second touchdowns and a stunning playoff victory vs. the 49ers for the third straight season. Thing was, that “miracle” took place on the same day as Franco Harris’ famed “Immaculate Reception,” so — much like the death of c.s. lewis — not as many people remember it. Exactly a decade later, the 49ers extracted revenge with Joe Montana and Dwight Clark’s “the catch” in the NFC Championship game, going on to win their first Super Bowl.

Candlestick Park hosted 8 NFC championship games. And guess which NFL stadium has hosted the most Monday Night Football games in history? That’s right — Candlestick (with 36).

I was never into the San Francisco Giants, but still most of us do remember where we were at the moment of the 1989 earthquake, when terror struck just prior to a World Series game and rocked Candlestick Park moments before the first pitch. Many baseball people say Candlestick Park was a terrible venue for baseball. I trust their opinion. Nonetheless, there sure were lots of great players and games at Candlestick. It seemed so wildly eccentric on television, especially when watching football games. Remember that strange seating configuration where thousands of seats in the end zone were so far out of view of the field that they sat empty all the time? Candlestick Park just seemed like a wonderfully horrible magical uncomfortable place.

This photo was taken outside Candlestick Park at sundown during a 1995 visit. A few years later, I returned and actually got inside the stadium (I’ll try to find those photos later). The final 49ers game was played at Candlestick Park in 2013. It was demolished a year later. Although I have not returned to this place in several years, I’m told the land now sits mostly empty, awaiting redevelopment though the vacant lot and proximity to harsh winds and constant fog makes it’s unlikely for anything like what was there before and so now all that remains are photographs and memories.