Sports : Giants Won’t Leave S.F. Area

Bob Lurie, owner of the San Francisco Giants, delivered an early Christmas present to baseball fans today when he announced that he would no longer consider stadium offers from out-of-area cities.

The announcement came 10 days before a deadline Lurie had set earlier this year. He had warned that if a viable Bay Area stadium proposal were not put forth during 1988, he would entertain offers from other cities, such as Denver.

The wealthy developer, who stepped in at the last minute in 1976 to buy the team and prevent it from moving to Toronto, issued the statement the morning after Santa Clara city officials gave a county stadium task force the authority to submit a proposal for a 40,000-seat baseball stadium on city land.