Seals Stadium: tribute to an epic ballpark

If you ever find yourself needing a test pilot for a new time machine, don’t give me a call. While I might fully intend to kill Hitler or prevent the birth of the Kardashians by making sure their parents never meet, I’d be too likely to get sidetracked by the great history of San Francisco, and end up catching a game in Seals Stadium.

Never heard of it? Seals Stadium was a 18,500 capacity jewel of a ballpark, built in 1931 near the center of San Francisco. The Mission District park hosted the Pacific Coast League Seals and Mission Reds (!?!), and briefly the San Francisco Giants, before its demolition in 1959.

This week’s Let’s Go to the Morgue! pays tribute to Joe DiMaggio, Lefty O’Doul, Ike Boone and all the ghosts of Seals Stadium past. After scouring the Chronicle photo morgue, I headed out to the site of the park at 16th and Bryant to see what’s there now.

DO check out Laughing Squid’s “investigation” to figure out where the Seals Stadium home plate would be, in the shopping center now at 16th/Bryant.