Game #20-San Francisco Giants

San Francisco Giants vs Texas Rangers
AT&T Park
June19, 2009

Time for a whirlwind tour of San Francisco with Greg and Leslie. I headed up north literally for 24 hours to hit up a Giants and Earthquake game so I can get back home and rest up for Wes’ bachelor party next weekend. Left work early today and got up to SF around 5. Unfortunately it was gridlock time in the Bay area so I had to take the mass transit system, BART. I say unfortunately but in reality it was really easy, reminded me of Europe a bit. The trains and buses were exactly on time and I bet it saved us all a lot of hassle and headaches with car traffic. Well I met Greg at the Embarcadero and picked up Leslie on the way to the Giants game. This is how naive a So-Cal boy is about Nor-Cal weather…always, always bring a jacket. I read the weather report and it said 70’s except that the wind was howling and the temp dropped to the low 50’s during the ball game. I was in a t-shirt, jeans and flip flops, I was also shivering the entire game. Anyway, the stadium was beautiful. Had a great view of the bay, could see the kids sliding down the giant coke bottle placed right behind the 25 foot glove in the outfield. The Unit (Randy Johnson) was on the mound after notching is 300th career win just a couple days ago…a shoe in for the hall of fame. We also saw a splash down (ball into McCovey Cove) in the sixth inning by Fred Davis which was awesome, only the 49th of the year. Great game, good fun, and the final score of 6-4 Giants. OK the funny part of the game, Leslie looks to the right outfield and she says “I understand people have to advertise but that is a horrible name”. I scan over to the area she is looking at and all I see is the “strike out board”…then I realize what she is saying, only three strikeouts for the game or in other words KKK. Got a good laugh with her when I explained what the K’s actually meant.

Notes on the stadium: AT&T Park as mentioned above is a beautiful place to watch a game. I like when architecs use brick because it gives an old time feel to the place and the Giants stadium does not disappoint. As you make your way to your seat there are great team pictures and murals in the archways but the real treat is when you make your way through the tunnel and get our first view of the field. Starting from right to left you have the Splash Zone which Barry Bonds made famous (or infamous) during his homerun streak. Then you have McCovey cove where fans are in boats and canoes just waiting for a big hit to make it over the wall. Right outside of the cove is a picturesque view of San Francisco Bay and the Oakland Bridge. In left center field you have the gigantic slide Coke bottle and players glove for the kids. Finally if you have the right seat you can catch a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge. Just awesome.