<P> It is said that after one particularly satisfying victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, Mutrie (who was also the team's manager) stormed into the dressing room and exclaimed, "My big fellows! My giants!" From then on (1885), the club was known as the Giants . </P> <P> The team won its first National League pennant in 1888, as well as a victory over the St. Louis Browns in an early incarnation of the pre-modern - era World Series . They repeated as champions the next year with a pennant and world championship victory over the Brooklyn Bridegrooms . </P> <P> The Giants' original home stadium, the Polo Grounds, also dates from this early era . It was originally located north of Central Park adjacent to Fifth and Sixth Avenues and 110th and 112th Streets, in Harlem in upper Manhattan . After their eviction from that first incarnation of the Polo Grounds after the 1888 season, they moved further uptown to various fields which they also named the "Polo Grounds" located between 155th and 159th Streets in Harlem and Washington Heights, playing in the Washington Heights located famous Polo Grounds until the end of the 1957 season, when they moved to San Francisco . </P> <P> The Giants were a powerhouse in the late 1880s, winning their first two National League Pennants and World Championships in 1888 & 1889 . But nearly all of the Giants' stars jumped to the upstart newly - organized rival loop, the Players' League, whose New York franchise was also named the Giants, in 1890 . The new team even built a stadium next door to the NL Polo Grounds . With a decimated roster, the NL Giants finished a distant sixth . Attendance took a nosedive, and the financial strain affected Day's tobacco business as well . The Players' League dissolved after the single season, and Day sold a minority interest in his NL Giants to the defunct PL Giants' principal backer, Edward Talcott . As a condition of the sale, Day had to fire Mutrie as manager . Although the Giants rebounded to third place in 1891, Day was forced to sell a controlling interest to Talcott at the end of the' 91 season . </P>

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