Major League Baseball finally became a truly national enterprise April 15, 1958, when the Giants beat the Dodgers 8-0 at Seals Stadium in the first MLB game on the West Coast.

After the ’57 season, the Dodgers left Brooklyn for Los Angeles and the Giants departed New York for San Francisco. In the ’58 opener at the venerable ballpark at 16th and Bryant, Ruben Gomez tossed a six-hitter as S.F. rolled.

A few of the “firsts”: The Dodgers’ Gino Cimoli, who went to Galileo High, was the first batter (he struck out). The Dodgers’ Charlie Neal had the first hit (a single leading off the second). Gomez had the first S.F. hit (a single in the third). The Giants’ Daryl Spencer hit the first homer (a solo shot off Don Drysdale in the fourth).

The Giants went 80-74 in the eight-team National League in 1958, finishing third. The Dodgers went 71-83 and finished seventh. Seals Stadium remained the Giants’ home through the ’59 season before they moved to Candlestick Park in 1960.

— Steve Kroner

More Information Editor’s note With the sports world at a standstill because of coronavirus concerns, The Chronicle will highlight memorable moments in Bay Area sports history.