SBC Park / SF Giants, San Francisco

If you're a baseball fan you're going to want to visit the newest park in the league. Pac Bell Park is just a few years old in is a great developing neighborhood with lots to do before and after a game. If you don't want pay for a ticket or you find baseball too boring to watch a complete game you can still experience the fun by stopping by McCovey Cove where you can take a peek through the fence and catch a bit of the game for free. You'll also be able to see, in the cove itself, all of the freaks in the water waiting for a ball to come over the fence.

First Baseman Aubrey Huff was possibly the Giants biggest offensive player during the 2010 season, having a batting average of .290, 26 home runs, 86 RBIs (Runs Batted In), 100 runs, and 7 stolen bases. But, in August he found himself in a batting slump. Now baseball players are superstitious, leading them to do anything that will bring them luck. Jason Giambi, the 2000 American League MVP during his time with the Oakland A's, revealed in 2008 that he wore a gold thong as good luck. The concept also was featured in the comedy movie Zoolander, where the antagonist male model, played by Owen Wilson, stuns the audience by pulling off the impossible--reaching into his pants and pulling off his thong as a trophy to show off. Perhaps Huff picked this up, as he revealed that his wife's red thong was producing results. Using a thong as good luck fit well with San Francisco's whacky fans, and shortly before the World Series a whole box of women's red thongs were delivered to the Giant's locker room. During his Civic Center celebration, Huff raised and stretched the thong over his head in victory. The thong certainly beats the Terrible Towel as the fan garment. Check out the link with various images of Huff displaying, biting, and otherwise showing off his wife's thong!

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Baseball, being a very ritualistic and superstitious sport over a rather long season, tends to generate in its players some very bizarre behavior. This is particularly true for closing pitchers who do so much in maybe just one or two innings. Perhaps following upon the handlebar mustache of Oakland A's great Rollie Fingers, Brian Wilson chose to wear a boot black dyed beard. Below the baseball cap, Wilson sports a mohawk style hairdo.

Wilson's pitching antics became noticed when he began to win games. His 48 saves during the 2010 season led the major leagues. He had an incredibly low 1.81 earned run average and a record 93 strikeouts over 74 2/3 innings--better pitching than any San Francisco closer since Robb Nen in 1998.

Bringing the spectator to the edge of his seat during the final minutes of the game, Wilson's closing style also often included a scarry run up in the number of balls pitched before he got the batter swinging. During several nail biting 9th innings, Wilson actually walked tying runs onto base before finally closing down the game with the last strike out. Wilson's signature end to the game is a double armed cross, a defiant gesture some might confuse with religion.

See the link below for the Santa Cruz fans who first popularized the "Fear the Beard" slogan by wearing fake beards to Giant games, but it's also notable that another Giant relief pitcher also wears a beard, resulting in an end game sequence of beard SF pitchers! Sergio Romo, a native Californian Giants pitcher whose of Mexican-American heritage, began lengthening his beard as the 2010 season continued.

During 2010 Romo was primarily used as a "set-up" pitcher, meaning that he pitched in the late innings while trying to save a game or protect a lead, prior to the last inning closer--Brian Wilson. Romo bridged the gap between the starter's tired arm in the 5th to 8th innings, and the one inning only closer, who depends upon a very rested arm. Romo's record was very good, with a major league win/loss record of 13 to 6, an ERA of 2.63, only one blown save during the 2010 season. Thus, as the 2010 season continued, opposing teams and stadium fans became mesmerized by a sequence of spooky bearded closing pitchers--who were also outstanding in their game.

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Since the SF Giants had never before won a World Series (they had been there three times and lost), fans really went crazy with this win. Attached are some images of the huge crowd that appeared for the World Championship celebration parade. During my own attendance, I had to endure about an hour and a half of parking and ticketing hassles at the BART Pittsburg-Bay Point Station--which was overwhelmed with Giant Fans heading for the city. BART added 13 trains to handle the some 200,000 plus attending the parade. The parade itself began with police motorcycles and fire trucks clearing the way along Market Street, from the corner at Montgomery Street in the Financial District all the way to the Civic Center where a stage was erected in front of city hall. Then, various fan floats sponsored by Levis, NBC, and various tech companies brought in music. Antique cars followed with retired greats--Willie Mays, Bobby and Barry Bonds, Willie McCovey, which were in turn followed by politicians--Mayor Gavin Newsome, Senator Diane Feinstein, and others. Numerous other floats with various corporate and civic dignitaries joined the parade, and so last were the cable car like rides of the individual players. The pressure of the crowd was so great that I could only spot a few of the players. I saw pitchers, Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain, and Jonathan Sanchez waving from their cars, but missed Brian Wilson because he chose to walk the route. I also saw catcher Buster Posey, and the great outfield batter Cody Ross. After the parade passed, I had lunch with friends at a Japanese restaurant in the Financial District, before walking alone toward the Civic Center. San Francisco was filled with wild fans!

If you're in San Francisco during baseball season (roughly, late March through early October), take in a Giants game at AT&T Park, which is a compact ballpark with a great view. There's not a bad seat in the house, and it's a fun way for visitors to the city to mingle with the home crowd. Even if the Giants lose, you can still eat hot dogs, drink a beer, and enjoy looking at the Bay.

If you don't mind sitting on a backless bench, try the bleacher seats - they're relatively inexpensive and close to the garlic fries stand. Buy online and print your own ticket. The Giants' colors are black and orange, if you want to proclaim your loyalty to the team.

There's a play area for children behind the bleacher section. I've always wanted to try the big Coke bottle slide.

This is the home of the San Francisco Giants. As you can see, the designers of this stadium took full advantage of the surrounding area.

You can also feel good about spending your money here, because the stadium was built entirely with PRIVATE funds, meaning the team didn't force the city to build it for them with the taxpayers' money. Giants owner Peter Magowan personally secured financing for the park, which was completed in 2000.

Tickets are $6-65, sightly higher on weekends.

Equipment: Some people bring their baseball gloves, especially if they are sitting in an area that might get a ball batted into it.

Don't forget your sunscreen. And like everywhere in San Francisco, it may get chilly so bring a jacket.

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On 10 August 2007 I saw the San Francisco Giants play the Pittsburgh Pirates at AT&T Park, just a few days after Bonds hit his MLB-record 756th home run. On this night Bonds went 3 for 3 with a home run to right field, and the Giants had a big 6-2 lead heading to the eighth inning. The Pirates made a great comeback, scoring 6 runs in the 8th to win the game 8-7. Hey, I'm from Pittsburgh, I was happy.

We sat in the left field bleachers, section 139. Single game seats here are normally $27, for season ticket holders they ar $17 a game. Since bought our tickets just days before Bonds' record breaking home run, prices were inflated, and we ended up paying $33 a seat to watch the two worst teams in the league!

Beers at the park are $8 for the plastic bottles, and the hot dogs were about $8 also.

We landed our seats on Stubhub, about two months before the game. We were hoping to see Barry hit one out, but alas. For a daygame our seats in the "Arcade" section saw full sun for the entire game. Very close to the field and a good sense for the action.