Former Giants executive Magowan dies at 76

Peter Magowan, the former San Francisco Giants executive who thwarted a relocation attempt and championed construction of the waterfront stadium now called Oracle Park, passed away Sunday at age 76 after a long fight with cancer. He died at his home in the San Francisco's Pacific Heights neighborhood, surrounded by family and friends, his wife Debby Magowan told the San Francisco Chronicle.

The Giants announced plans earlier this month to induct Magowan into the franchise's Wall of Fame during a ceremony at the ballpark on Feb. 9. He will be the 53rd person and first non-player to receive a plaque on the wall. A Giants fan growing up in New York, Magowan was the leader of an investment group that purchased the team from Bob Lurie in January 1993. Their efforts kept the Giants in San Francisco, staving off a possible move to the Tampa-St. Petersburg area.

Other highlights of his tenure as managing general partner (1993-2008) included signing Barry Bonds in 1993 and replacing the rundown Candlestick Park with a new stadium in the city's China Basin neighborhood in 2000. "Peter Magowan did save baseball for San Francisco," then-commissioner of baseball Bud Selig said when Magowan stepped down in 2008.

"He should get credit for that. That's a fact. He got a beautiful ballpark built. When you look back at what he's done in San Francisco, a town he loves, those are the two overriding things he did." Magowan had been ill for many years, undergoing surgeries to treat prostate and liver cancer. He had recently entered hospice care, according to the Chronicle.

--Field Level Media

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