Peter Magowan

Infobox Person


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name = Peter Magowan
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birth_date = 1942
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education =Stanford University
employer = San Francisco Giants
occupation = President, Managing General Partner
term = 1993 — present
website = [http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/sf/team/frontoffice_bios/magowan_peter.jsp Giants Bio]

Peter A. Magowan (born 1942 [ [http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/dccom/0-5-621415-1-625357-1-0-0-0-0-0-104-7155-0-0-0-0-0-0-0.html "Peter A. Magowan"] [http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/dccom/ Daimler Chrysler Corporate Site] Retrieved on 25 December 2007] ) is the former managing general partner of the San Francisco Giants Major League Baseball franchise. Magowan, along with a group of investors, purchased the franchise on January 12, 1993, from the previous owner, Bob Lurie. Before Magowan's consortium stepped in with its offer to buy the team, Lurie had planned to sell the team to a group from St. Petersburg, now home to the Tampa Bay Rays. Magowan made his mark on the team immediately, signing free agent superstar Barry Bonds, a San Francisco Bay Area-native whose father began his career as a Giant.

Magowan is also noted for spearheading the construction of the Giants' current home, AT&T Park (previously SBC Park and Pacific Bell Park). Previously, several initiatives to build tax-supported stadiums had been rejected by San Francisco voters. In December 1995, Magowan unveiled his plan for 41,000 seat ballpark in China Basin, which would be privately funded - the first privately funded in over 30 years. The plan was passed easily by San Francisco voters, by a 2 to 1 margin. [http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/sf/team/frontoffice_bios/magowan_peter.jsp "Peter A. Magowan: President and Managing General Partner"] [http://www.sfgiants.com SF Giants Website] Retrieved on 25 December 2007] Pacific Bell Park opened in 2000, replacing the oft-criticized Candlestick Park.

In late 2007 and early 2008, Peter Magowan and Giants general manager Brian Sabean drew some criticism in the Mitchell Report when it was revealed Giants trainer Stan Conte came to Sabean and told him he suspected Bonds trainer Greg Anderson was distributing steroids and Giants management didn't investigate or tell Major League Baseball. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/19/SPH4UHKT2.DTL Don't blame Sabean for not blowing the whistle] ] Conte had been approached by a player. In the January 2007 Congressional hearings on performance enhancing drugs, Congressman Henry Waxman asked Commissioner Bud Selig to discipline Sabean and Magowan for their culpability. [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/16/SPGRUFL8I.DTL Selig, Giants might be stuck in unforgiving spot] ] Some sports insiders argued that Magowan and Sabean actions on steroids was not any different from other clubs at the time. When Magowan was interviewed for the Mitchell Report, Magowan told Senator George Mitchell that Barry Bonds told him he had used steroids; he withdrew that assertion a few days later. [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/14/SPKFTTR9M.DTL What Magowan told Mitchell about Bonds] ]

On May 16, 2008, Magowan announced he would be stepping down as managing partner of the Giants effective October 1, 2008. [ [http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3399713 Report: Magowan stepping down as managing partner of Giants] ]

Prior to purchasing the Giants, Magowan served as chairman and CEO of the Bay Area-based supermarket chain Safeway. He is also a director of Caterpillar, Inc., DaimlerChrysler, W5 Networks, Inc., and Spring Group, PLC.

Magowan's grandfather was Charles Merrill (1885-1956), co-founder of Merrill Lynch & Company and an early investor in Safeway. Magowan's father, Robert Anderson Magowan, was chairman and CEO of Safeway; Magowan's mother, Doris Merrill Magowan (1914-2001), was a prominent San Francisco philanthropist. Magowan is the nephew of celebrated poet James Merrill (1926-1995). He is a graduate of Stanford University.

External links

* [http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/sf/history/owners.jsp List of San Francisco/New York Giants owners ] Peter Magowan is from New York

Footnotes