Sadly it doesn't look like anyone tried to light buses on fire back in 1958 when the Giants moved into town, but “Foghorn Murphy” was on the scene.  Wait, who?

There's not a lot of details on this guy and what he did.  This question was posted on a bulletin board in 2003:

Any information on the real “Foghorn” Murphy S.F “sporting” figure??

Hello, Does anyone have any information on “Foghorn” Murphy, who got his nickname by opening baseball games and rodeos using a loud instrument. Something of a quasi-underworld figure, he was quite a flamboyant and well known character in San Francisco during the 1920's. I'm also curious about his real name. 

The only answer that turned up wasn't particularly great:

I met a “Foghorn” Murphy in L.A in Jan. 1950. He was running a diner that was along Riverside Drive. It was the old type dining car that was so common at that time. He said he got his name from selling newspapers on the streets of San Francisco in the fog. he was quite a character.

After digging around for a while, I found out he used to work as an announcer at the Livermore Rodeo, but there wasn't much on his baseball career.  All I could find was this bit in April 1971 edition of Baseball Digest in the “Down Memory Lane” column by Warren Brown:

In my small boy existence, and even during my beginnings as a baseball writer for pay in San Francisco, there was a ballyhoo specialist known as “Foghorn” Murphy.

In baseball regalia, equipped with a megaphone, and astride a horse he would ride up and down Market Street each time there was a ball game scheduled, yelling about today's game.

Naturally “Foghorn” practiced knocked himself out on Opening Day.

After I moved first to New York and later to Chicago in the early '20's I lost track of “Foghorn.”

I caught up with him, or he with me, in Los Angeles when I was there with the Cubs on a training trip.

By that time, believe it or not, “Foghorn” had become wealthy enough to own a club of his own, had he cared to do so.

Like Emperor Norton, “Foghorn's” notoriety in San Francisco was so extensive that he was even a topic of a piece in the satire magazine The Wasp:

“Foghorn’s” Voice is Stilled

“Foghorn” Murphy’s famous voice is stilled.

The man who has made himself famous riding horseback has gone to work.

He is a fireman—a job that will not require the use of his lusty lungs or his deep bass voice.

Recently “Foghorn” applied for a place in the San Francisco department and after a short wait they made him a full-fledged fireman.

He is wearing the blue uniform now instead of the ball uniform that he wore in his famous horseback rides through the city. So for the present, at least, the voice of the celebrated “Foghorn” will cease to resound through busy downtown streets.

There you have it, San Francisco used to have a guy galloping up and down Market Street yelling at people who may or may not have opened a diner in LA.  Should the Giants honor his memory Opening Day 2011 by putting some lunatic from the TL on a horse for the day?  I have to vote yes.

(photos via What's on the 6th floor?)

“Hot Carl” just linked us this video in the comments.  From youtuber cwk145:

At about 11:49pm I started filming this “celebration” bon-fire (And other random acts of civil disobedience) in the middle of the intersection when (at the 2:05 mark) suddenly I heard screaming and the sound of people's bodies being hit by metal as the engine of a car roars. I turned around just in time to see headlights and a fender speeding right towards me, I moved quickly then watched in horror as it drove straight through the crowd of people striking many of them and dragging some right through the fire itself! At least two were taken to the hospital that I'm aware of, I just barely missed being hit myself. Then before the car even stops, the crowd goes completely ape shit on it and the driver, smashing them up until a wave of cops storm down Mission St. and shut down the entire intersection.

Let's go Giants…? 

Someone give this man the businessman of the year award.  There I was, watching people jumping over a trash fire in front of Thrill of the Grill, police coming up Valencia from 17th and flanking up 16th, when all the sudden I hear “COLD BEER!  COLD WATER!” booming over the crowd.  Sure enough, I turn around, and the legend himself is forking over two ice-cold Budweisers for $5.

This dude literally doesn't give a shit about anything around him.  After making the sale, he turns around, walks up to the bonfire, makes a gesture with his head that says “oh, that's nice,” and immediately goes back to flipping beer for three times their market value.

Shortly, after I took these snaps, the riot cops began running at the crowd and Valencia Street turned into the running of the bulls.  At one point I looked to my left and saw CB/CW running away from the advancing police with all the other cool kids.

My life is complete.

Presumably high off the thrill of climbing atop of a firetruck on 22nd, people decided to storm the roof of a 14 Mission.  Within minutes, a soberish bystander climbed up the bus and individually talked everyone down since, you know, being blitzed on top of an electric bus is a pretty good way to get yourself killed.

After being talked off the roof, I figured people would move onto more noble pursuits like throwing 40ozs at police, but instead people just pried open the bus doors to take it over.  The driver threw up her hands and walked to the sidewalk as the guys stormed the bus.  With the driver off the side, Nikola Tesla sitting up front tried to start the engine.  Again, not very smart considering the entire reason the bus got stuck here in the first place was the power was cut.

After a few minutes of people faux-fulfilling their dreams of being a bus driver, they realized the bus wasn't going anywhere.  Still without any measurable success in a fight against an inanimate object, some guys were just like “fuck it, let's burn it!”  So a couple of guys lit the box on fire and tossed it under the middle of the bus.  Of course, that didn't work out so hot either, and after a few squabbles with bystanders not interested in burning the bus, the fire department showed up and pretty much put an end to the fight against a 14 Mission.

And with the police advancing, I walked down the street where another bus sat abandoned by its driver.  Inside the bus, two men sat waiting patiently to get a ride home, completely unamused by the happenings outside their window.  What a difference a block makes.