Back in 1889, The then New York Gothams won the baseball pennant over the Brooklyn Bridegrooms. They had beaten the St. Louis Browns the previous year as well, so feeling on top of the world, the manager at the time, Jim Mutrie, burst into the locker room and shouted, “My big fellows! My giants!” From then on, the name just stuck. This is the story given of how the name changed from the Gothams to the Giants which it’s been ever since, now playing their games in San Francisco. I’ve also heard a version where the owner had stated in a press conference after they won, “we are the giants of the world!”
When you hear the word “giants”, what do you think of? A sports team? For some, probably. Others may think of a really tall person. Someone who may play volleyball or basketball. Others think of folklore and fables such as ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. In this story, which dates back to the 1700’s, a boy named Jack encounters some magical beans which he plants in the ground. The beans then grow a beanstalk so tall; it passes the clouds. Jack then climbs it to find that it leads to the house of a giant. Someone who is so tall, Jack barely comes up to his big toe. These are a few examples, but where did this idea of giants come from? In my worldview, I believe that they were inspired by real people.
Being a Christian, I believe the Bible to be historical fact. The Bible mentions people of great stature. One example is in the book of Numbers chapter 13. Here the spies were sent out to check out the land of Canaan. Near the close of the chapter, the spies report back to the people and compare themselves as grasshoppers in the sight of these people. Why would they compare themselves to grasshoppers to these people if they weren’t a gigantic nation?
Two other references include Goliath and Og, the king of Bashan. We have all heard the story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel 17. In verse four, it states that Goliath was “six cubits and a span”. In today’s measurements, that would be just over nine feet tall! Too, the Bible states in Deuteronomy 3:11 that Og’s bed was nine cubits long, or twelve feet. Why would he need a bed that long if he himself wasn’t that tall?
So, I do believe that giants are not a folklore or myth as many do today. I believe they really existed. Hey, I would consider anyone over 6’5 to be a giant, but that’s just me. I mean, it makes sense to me for things like Stonehenge to have been built by a few guys who were ten feet tall, no?
There is also the story of the ‘red-haired giants’ by the Native Americans. The Paiute tribe in Nevada states that they used to fight another tribe called the Si-Te-Cah were described as cannibalistic and having red hair. They were massive people who eventually lost their war with the Paiutes.
These are just some of the hundreds of ancient references that extremely large people once roamed the earth. Nations all over the world make mention of large humans walking around. One that surprised me was from Pliny the elder, a Roman historian. He wrote that he had an encounter with someone named Gabara who was 9’9. The Roman army used him in their battles and Pliny said that he was so well loved by the other men that they began to worship Gabara. Can you imagine seeing a ten-foot-tall person? I really can’t.
So, whatever happened to this mammoth species? No one really knows. Many species today have had a giant ancestor. We know today that people who are very tall have knee and leg problems. They can usually be seen walking with a cane. Much of the diseases we have today didn’t exist back then, so they probably didn’t have that problem.
I’ve only scratched the surface on this extremely fascinating study. I haven’t even dived into everything there is to know about them. The only thing I really want to know is why these creatures aren’t talked about in our history books. There’s so much more to explore.
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