Without a Stadium Deal, Giants Likely to Move

A move by the San Francisco Giants, most likely to Denver, seems a definite possibility, according to baseball insiders, unless steps have been taken by Jan. 1 to move ahead with construction of a privately funded baseball stadium in downtown San Francisco.

Although Denver seems the most likely city to get the Giants, Vancouver and New Orleans are regarded as other possibilities. In any case, the Giants would remain in the Western Division of the National League.

The situation, as it has developed in the last year:

--Owner Bob Lurie of the Giants, a real estate magnate, threatened last fall to sell the team unless a new stadium were guaranteed. But Lurie ultimately withdrew his offer of sale and agreed to play through 1985 without such a guarantee in the old stadium that has proved a persistent loser--windy, cold Candlestick Park.

--The Giants drew an average of only 11,000 fans at Candlestick last summer. In recent weeks, Lurie has said emphatically that the Giants will not play another year in Candlestick. When he suggested that the Giants might move across the Bay and play in Oakland, pending completion of a new stadium in San Francisco, the idea was promptly rejected by Oakland authorities. Lurie now is in an even more exposed position than he was last year. Unless he gets a new stadium under way or moves in some direction, he will look weak.

--Corey Busch, the Giants’ executive vice president for administration, said this week that Lurie is going to have to have some firm indication that a new San Francisco stadium is assured by the first of the year. The strong implication was that if no stadium deal is reached by then, the Giants will start looking around.

Busch said that negotiations with other communities are not under way yet, but he and others said that they could be concluded rather quickly, once begun, especially if Lurie remained the owner of the club even after a move. Denver, Vancouver and New Orleans all have stadiums ready and waiting and have actively been seeking expansion clubs or existing franchises.

In San Francisco, Mayor Dianne Feinstein has maintained that no public money will be used to construct a stadium. The latest idea for a privately funded stadium involves a venture by real estate developer Peter Stocker in which the Giants would be expected to invest perhaps $20 million.

Lurie and Stocker have talked, but Lurie is reported reluctant to make such a large commitment and is still unhappy with Feinstein and other local politicians because of their unwillingness to make a commitment.

The proposed stadium would be built north of the freeway leading to the Bay Bridge and west of the Embarcadero--very close to the center of downtown. It would seat between 40,000 and 42,000 for baseball and be a part of a complex of shops and other facilities. Most parking would be in existing off-street parking facilities. According to planners, the stadium would be free of much of the wind that has plagued Candlestick.

Lurie is a San Franciscan whose holdings, valued at up to $200 million, are centered in the city. He has often spoken of his devotion to San Francisco but apparently has been losing patience.

Meanwhile, the pressure has been mounting on baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth and the club owners in general to either increase the number of teams in the major leagues or agree to the relocation of ailing franchises. At least 12 cities are expected to send delegations to a two-day meeting Ueberroth has called in New York next week to consider expansion.

It was announced this week that Denver Mayor Federico Pena will lead his city’s delegation to the New York meetings, at which each city will have an hour to present its case for a franchise. Other cities expected to be represented in New York are Vancouver, Washington, Indianapolis, New Orleans, the New Jersey suburbs of New York, Miami, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Buffalo, Phoenix and Columbus, Ohio.

It seems unlikely, however, that baseball will either expand or relocate franchises within the next year. If Lurie chooses to move, it is far more likely to be a matter of direct negotiations with the city or cities.

In such negotiations, the Denver authorities are thought to have the inside track. The Denver Baseball Commission has been highly active, even to the extent of gathering pledges for the purchase of thousands of season tickets, and Denver has been close to acquiring a major league franchise before. Several years ago, the Oakland A’s came close to moving there.

The Giants’ situation in San Francisco has been deteriorating for a long time, and there has long been a question whether the Bay Area is big enough to sustain two franchises.