The San Francisco Giants will launch a public tour of the World Champions trophy beginning in early January, the team announced today.

In the months leading up to the opening of the 2011 baseball season, the World Champions Trophy Tour presented by Visa, will travel throughout northern and central California, southern Oregon and western Nevada.

"For more than 52 years, our dedicated fans have supported us through thick and thin," said Giants Managing General Partner and CEO Bill Neukom. "The trophy belongs to them as much as it belongs to us, and we want to thank our fans by extending the World Champions celebration throughout Giants country."

"It's great news that the Giants have decided to share this trophy with Giants fans all over America," said Mayor Newsom. "We're honored to join the Giants in kicking off this tour, and thank them for being such an excellent civic partner over the years. Congratulations again to the entire Giants organization on a magical 2010 season."

The tour will begin at San Francisco's City Hall on Tuesday, January 4 and will continue on to the State Capitol in Sacramento on Thursday, January 6. It will then make public appearances throughout the northern and central part of the state, southern Oregon and western Nevada. In addition to Sacramento, the Trophy Tour will visit nine regions: the Central Valley (Stockton/Modesto/Fresno), Northern State (Redding/Chico), Southern Oregon (Medford), North Coast (Eureka/Ft. Bragg), Sierra Nevada (Tahoe/Reno), Central Coast (Monterey/Salinas/Santa Cruz/San Luis Obispo), North Bay (Santa Rosa/Sonoma/San Rafael/Vallejo), East Bay (Richmond/Walnut Creek), San Francisco Peninsula (San Mateo/Santa Clara Counties). The World Champions Trophy will travel in a wrapped 2011 Toyota Tundra CrewMax supplied courtesy of the local Toyota Dealers Association. (A complete listing of tour stops with corresponding dates is below.)

Fans can view the trophy in person at each stop during the specified times on a first-come, first-served basis. The viewings are free to the public. Fans will have the opportunity to have a professional photo taken and can purchase those photos on-line.

The Trophy Tour will make a few detours when it travels to the Giants Spring Training Facility in Scottsdale, Arizona and to New York City to pay tribute to those New York/San Francisco Giants baseball fans residing on the east coast. It will also make a trip to Troy, New York - where the team was originally founded - and a visit to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.

Finally, the trophy will tour the neighborhoods of San Francisco eventually making its way to AT&T Park for the home opener on April 8, 2010.

San Francisco World Champions Trophy Tour

Presented by Visa

Tour Schedule (Subject to Change)
Specific Locations and Times to be announced in January
For more information and regular tour updates visit: sfgiants.com

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.