San Francisco Giants - Croix de Candlestick

 

The Croix de Candlestick is an award pin that was given out to baseball fans as they exited Candlestick Park at the conclusion of a night game that went extra innings. In reference to the ballpark’s legendarily cold winds, the pin carried the motto, “Veni, Vidi, Vixi” (“I came, I saw, I survived”)

In order to receive a pin, the fans would have to redeem their ticket stub for the pin at Patrick & Co. Stationery store in San Francisco. The pin, developed by team marketing director Patrick J. Gallagher, was first issued in 1983. In 1983 the San Francisco Giants played in five extra inning night games, with a total attendance of 70,933 and in 1984 they played in five extra inning night games with a total attendance of 44,031. The pin was given out for several years. On September 28–30, 1999, tens of thousands of fans received the pin for attending the Giants’ final three-game home stand at Candlestick, against the team’s archrival, the Los Angeles Dodgers. A San Francisco Chronicle columnist later called it “the smartest marketing promotional in Bay Area history”