Al Saracevic: Mayor Ed Lee made no secret of being the Bay Area’s No. 1 sports fan.
Mayor Ed Lee was not shy about his affinity for sports.
Lee, who died unexpectedly Tuesday morning, often wore a Giants hat in public. He exuberantly followed the Warriors, openly bemoaned his inability to stop the 49ers from leaving San Francisco and eagerly lobbied to bring high-profile golf tournaments to the city.
Lee made his sports priorities clear when he
joined Warriors officials Nov. 7 on a tour of the under-construction Chase Center. Then, the next day, he proudly carried the Ryder Cup into a news conference at the Olympic Club.
Lee was beaming the entire time he held the shiny, storied trophy.
“He was so excited about bringing the Cup into the room,” Olympic Club President Dan Dillon said Tuesday.
Still, Lee’s most lasting imprint on Bay Area sports is slowly rising from the ground in Mission Bay. He vigorously supported the Warriors’ efforts to build a state-of-the-art arena in San Francisco, returning to the team to its 1960s roots in the region.
The road was littered with obstacles, as arena opponents persistently protested the impact on the surrounding neighborhood. Lee remained undeterred, even as lawsuits piled up atop one another.
“They can litigate until the cows come home,” he said in May 2015, “but we will defend until the Warriors come home.”
Arena construction was 25 percent complete as of last month, with the Warriors planning to move there for the 2019-20 season. On Tuesday, the team issued this statement in the wake of Lee’s death:
“We are stunned and saddened by the news of Mayor Ed Lee’s sudden death this morning. The lasting impact he leaves on the City of San Francisco is a timeless tribute to his incredible leadership and vision.
“His love and passion for sports, including the Warriors, defined him as much as his witty humor and engaging personality. We will be eternally grateful for his commitment to the building of Chase Center — once termed his ‘legacy project’ as mayor — and his dedication to making San Francisco one of the greatest cities in the world.”
Lee wasn’t as successful in keeping the 49ers in town, much to his dismay. The relationship between his predecessor as mayor, Gavin Newsom, and the York family (owners of the team) deteriorated over the years, causing negotiations on a potential San Francisco stadium to fall apart.
Ultimately, the 49ers abandoned Candlestick Park for Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara in 2014.
Lee, in a Chronicle story published in February 2013, with the team’s departure already a certainty, said, “My gut feeling, I was really kind of almost crying about the 49ers.”
The York family issued a statement Tuesday that read, in part, “The citizens of San Francisco and the greater Bay Area have lost a wonderful man and tremendous leader. Ed was a friend we came to admire deeply for his compassion for others and his tireless work to effect positive change in his city and throughout society.”
At least Lee didn’t become entangled in any stadium messes involving the Giants. They already were housed in AT&T Park when he became mayor in 2011, months removed from their first World Series championship in San Francisco.
They added two more titles during Lee’s time in office. He unabashedly attended games, spoke at victory parades and savored their staggeringly successful run of three championships in five years.
Lee’s death hit the Giants hard. Manager Bruce Bochy called it “horrible news.”
“I had a chance to spend some time with him,” Bochy said at baseball’s winter meetings outside Orlando. “He was just a huge supporter of the Giants. You just loved his enthusiasm during the parades and when he came to the ballpark.
“It’s a tough loss for the city, a real sad day.”
As for Lee’s sometimes awkward speeches, Bochy said, “He was fired up, wasn’t he? He loved the Giants. He loved being a part of us winning and he had a lot of fun with it.”
Lee’s death also stunned and saddened the Bay Area golf community. He worked on the 2009 Presidents Cup as city administrator, and as mayor, he was instrumental in bringing the 2015 Match Play Championship and 2020 PGA Championship to Harding Park.
Dillon, a political lobbyist and government-affairs consultant, played golf with Lee on Saturday, in the Olympic Club’s Christmas tournament. They spent much of the round talking about their planned trip to next year’s Ryder Cup in Paris.
“It’s a huge loss for golf in San Francisco, no question,” Dillon said. “We wouldn’t have the 2020 PGA at Harding without him. He was a big supporter of the First Tee and a big supporter of women’s golf . ...
“We’ve lost a massive advocate for golf and future events in the city. Ed was just an extraordinary supporter of golf. It was a passion. It was his one true recreational outlet, that got him away from politics and city business.”
Chronicle staff writer Henry Schulman contributed to this report.