Former San Francisco Giants owner Peter Magowan passes away

Peter Magowan led the consortium that kept the San Francisco Giants in California in the 1990s

Peter Magowan was one of the most influential figures in the history of the San Francisco Giants.

Magowan, who died Sunday at age 76, led a local consortium that purchased the Giants in January of 1993. It was the first of several milestone moves made by  Magowan, chairman of Safeway Foods, that would preserve the team’s presence in San Francisco and elevate it to the game’s front ranks.

At the time of the purchase, the Giants had won only one pennant in 30 seasons, negotiations on a badly needed new stadium to replace Candlestick Park were in chaos, and attendance  had fallen to levels not see in a decade.

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Magowan led a 12-person group that purchased the team from Robert Lurie, who otherwise planned to sell it to a St. Petersburg-based group that was prepared to transfer the club to a newly constructed domed facility in that city.

Even before finalizing the sale, Magowan and his chief executive Larry Baer, set about to upgrade the talent base. They opened negotiations in December of 1992 that led to the signing of free agent Barry Bonds. In 1993, Bonds won the MVP and led the Giants to 103 victories, missing out on the NL West Division title only because the Atlanta Braves won 104. San Francisco’s failure to qualify for post-season play despite topping 100 wins was one impetus behind creation the next year of the wild card.

More importantly, by ending speculation about loss of the team to Tampa-St. Petersburg Magowan’s purchase invigorated enthusiasm in and around San Francisco. In 1993, Giants home attendance rose by more than a million fans, to 2.6 million.

In 1995, Magowan unveiled a plan to construct a new ballpark in the China Basin area of the city. For years San Franciscans had turned down efforts to provide public financing for a replacement for Candlestick.

With the conclusion of the 1994 strike, though, Magowan and Baer developed a plan they closely and intentionally intertwined with the city’s maritime history. To the surprise of many, their approach worked; when China Basin funding went to the electorate voters approved it by close to a two-to-one majority. The facility at the time called PacBell Park and recently renamed Oracle Park, opened in 2000.

The 1996 hiring of Brian Sabean as general manager was another substantial step in upgrading the team’s management structure. During a 17-season tenure as GM, Sabean would preside over three World Series championships, a fourth World series appearance, and seven post-season trips. In the 30 years prior to Sabean’s appointment, the Giants had made just three post-season appearances.

With Bonds as their centerpiece, the Giants christened their new home by reaching post-season play, drawing a franchise-record 3.318 million fans in the process. They made it to the World Series in 2002, losing in seven games to the California Angels. In 2011, as defending World Series champions, they reset the franchise attendance record to 3.387 million, the mark that still stands.

Magowan stepped down as managing general partner of the San Francisco Giants in when he turned 66 in May of 2008, although continuing to hold an ownership stake as well as the title of President Emeritus.