2.) This post will contain no further references to the movie “The Rock”, nor will it discuss the island of Alcatraz.
3.) I did get to visit the island and though it may not seem like it, on my tour I’ve done other non-baseball-related activities too but haven’t put them in a post yet. As I’ve fallen 3 games behind I promise I will get to a “miscellaneous adventures” posting or two but it’ll probably have to wait a bit.
4.) The drive from Seattle to northern California was gorgeous. It actually reminded me a lot of rt. 88 in upstate NY with the tree covered mountains and concrete pavement. The vast stretches of farmland were a nice touch as well.
5.) I stopped in wine country (Napa Valley specifically) on my way to San Francisco. I visited 5 wineries and took a ride on the Napa Valley Wine Train where they served various wines with a gourmet lunch and we got a private tasting at Grgich Hills winery. Further details about those and other stories are going to have to wait for the “miscellaneous adventures” post.
6.) I drove into San Fran with rush hour traffic and that sucked but I was trying to make it to a 12:45 Giants game so I didn’t really have another choice. I was able to check into my (wicked swank!) hotel a bit early and headed down to the water and Candlestick Park...wait, I mean Pac Bell…wait, I mean AT&T Park…
Game Notes:
San Francisco has a pretty robust public transportation system. I could walk to the park from my hotel but there were both trains and busses that were letting people off right at the stadium. The first thing I noticed was a big statue of Willie Mays.
This kid was either rude or oblivious…or a little of column A and a little of column B. I was clearly snapping a photo of the statue when he walked over from directly behind me and parked himself there with his paper. He didn’t leave for a solid minute or two so I had to move on. Thanks a lot.
I took a spin around the outside of the park and headed over to the famed McCovey Cove. I took some pictures but they’re kind of boring because the cove wasn’t filled with kayaks and dingy boats waiting for a Bonds home run. On the outside of the park there were all kinds of signs commemorating the Giants’ 50 years in San Francisco…same as the Dodgers in LA…good for them.
The funniest thing at AT&T Park was this sign.
Shoulda said: “Patrons of AT&T Park (hereinafter the “Stadium”) shall watch out for any and all objects, articles and projectiles, which objects, articles and projectiles may or may not be flying, traveling or moving forward or backward at a rate of speed which may or may not be considered high. Objects, articles and projectiles shall include but not be limited to baseballs and bats, the origin of which shall be the Stadium.” …or something like that.
That would have cleared things up.
I headed inside and immediately stumbled upon the second funniest thing at AT&T.
.jpg)
Really?
REALLY??
Yeesh.
Almost everything else about the park was really cool. After Atlanta, Colorado and Seattle I was getting a little worried that I was going to see the same thing over and over and over again. The field dimensions, in terms of the seats, were extremely similar and the layouts of the concession areas were starting to blur together. AT&T changed that. You CAN use the area around the park to your benefit (as the Rockies did with the surrounding mountains). The walkway by the bay and the backdrop behind the outfield is gorgeous. You CAN have a park that functions like many other of the new parks, yet feels unique at the same time. The concession areas were extra large and unique booths could be found around the entire park and on multiple levels in the outfield. The food offerings were the most interesting I’ve seen to this point with chowder and other seafood, coffee, tacos/burritos, brauts and many other options to go along with the typical ballpark fare.
Most of the parks I’ve seen have dedicated little kid areas. Maybe I’ll eventually stop including pictures of these things but not until I’m over the phenomenon. Maybe it’s just because Fenway doesn’t have them but I’m still fascinated.
I wish I could have done something like this, but alas…
Again, no short jokes please.
High Points:
-It really is a pretty stadium.
-AT&T Park is the first park to offer Guldens’ spicy mustard. Everywhere else has plain boring yellow. VERY high point for this guy.
-This is sort of a ‘tweener but the park had some expensive drinks ($10.00 Jack and Coke, $7.75 16oz. beer) but the food was relatively cheap ($4.00 hot dog).
-They had various stations for kids to play video games. Note the score.
-It wasn’t the Giants’ doing but I had glorious weather for this game. Perfect temperature with a little breeze and hardly a cloud in the sky. I hope that doesn’t skew the final grade!
-Not quite monster seats but these were in right field above the scoreboard. I really liked them because of the relative privacy, easy access, clear view and how close they are to the action. I didn’t pay for tickets but I sat in these seats for a half inning.
-Ushers were MUCH nicer here than Atlanta (not hard) and most other places. There were just enough fans to make it a good game (i.e. they cheered on their team loudly, even when NOT prompted by a video board!), but there were still enough empty seats to move about freely. To go along with this point, there were a LOT of people keeping score. San Fran fans seemed to know their baseball.
-Most concessions have either the radio broadcast or TVs showing the game while fans wait in line. The Giants have HDTVs for their fans! Hoo-raay HD!
-I had a braut (I think it’s the same as a sausage?) with kraut, onions, mustard and BBQ sauce! It was different and it was good.
-I thought the cashier mischarged me but when I ordered a beer up in the top level and she said $5.25! It was only 12oz. but relative to the other prices around the park that seemed like a good deal.
Low Points:
-The drink prices really were a bit high I think.
-I walked up to a beer stand with two elderly vendors working it. I asked them if they knew how many ounces were in the beers they were selling and I was met with a flat “no” and a stare. That wasn’t too “fan-friendly” if you ask me. It’s written on the bottom of the cup fercryinoutloud!
-The jerk with the paper in front of the Willie Mays statue.
-All the corporations who keep buying stadiums and changing their names. I was just getting used to Pac Bell when they go and change it to AT&T. I know there were other names too…just can’t think of them off the top of my head.
-I know California has earthquakes but did we really need a solid 5 minute video explanation of the evacuation route for every single section in the park??
Overall Grade: A-
Game Stats:
Teams: Giants vs. Rockies
Final Score: 3-2 Giants
WP: Merkin Valdez
LP: Ryan Speier
S: Brian Wilson
Time: 2:52
Announced Attendance: 30,509
Ticket Price: $15.25
Parking Price: N/A
Trip Stats:
Home team record: 3-3
Best Anthem: Tropicana Field
Miles Driven: 2205
States Visited: 6
Beds slept in: 8
Next Stop: Oakland Athletics
Favorite Park: AT&T Park (Giants)
No comments:
Post a Comment