100 Things Giants Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die

by Bill Chastain

With 128 years of Giants history in baseball, this lively, detailed book explores the personalities, events, and facts every San Francisco fan should know. It contains crucial information such as important dates, player nicknames, memorable moments, singular achievements, and signature calls. This guide to all things San Francisco Giants covers Willie May's basket catch, the year the Giants finished the season with a .319 team average, and the 1963 Marichal-Spahn matchup.

Genres: Sports, Baseball

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Bill Chastain began his journalism career as a freelance writer shortly after graduating from Georgia Tech in 1979. Some of the more notable publications where his stories have appeared over the years include: Razor Magazine, Nation’s Business, SPORT Magazine, and Inside Sports. Chastain worked as a sports reporter for The St. Petersburg Times and The St. Petersburg Evening Independent before going to The Tampa Tribune in 1990, where he worked for twelve years as a columnist and sports reporter. While with the Tribune he also served as a correspondent for Sports Illustrated. Currently he covers Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Rays for MLB.com.

Reviews

[Mark Mancini]

NINE-INNING BOOK CHALLENGE, Bottom of the Third.

I've read more entertaining books in this series (that guy who wrote the "Mets Fans" version was flat-out hilarious), but I still had an enjoyable time. Even though I am beyond pissed at how badly the Giants organization botched their 2026 Pride Night, they remain my favorite club and I love diving into their history. Say Hey!

RATING: Three out of Five Garlic Fries

[William Cheung]

Written in 2010 before the championships is very meaningful even before the amazing run the Giants had. Willie Mays is the GOAT. Loved the trivia as well. Learned a lot about my favorite team!

[Sahil]

A history of Giants Baseball through 100 people, moments, and activities to do. Learned about Mel Ott, Christy Mathewson, and other giants legends from their time in NY and early SF.

[James]

In the book 100 things giants fans should know and do before they die they talk about 100 important events about the san Francisco Giants. My favorite part was when they talked about Willie mays. The reason I liked it was because I was fascinated by how he went to fight in ww2 and still was able to play baseball after. He also had many accomplishments in his baseball career. He hit over 550 home runs and he won 12 gold gloves. He is considered one of best all around baseball players in the history baseball.

I would recommend this book to people who love baseball and want to know more about
it.

I liked how the author gave specific details about the event he described. He told exactly what happened and he didn't leave any details out.

[Jess Deitz]

Amazing book. I'm a young Giants fan and missed the glory days of Christy Mathewson, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and others, so reading some of the stories and milestones that they all reached was the reason for me reading this book. It was very well written and informative. Good book for all Giants fans, and any fans of the beautiful game.

[Brittany]

Go Giants!