Friday, Jul. 18, 2008
John Spevak: Giants' park tips
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ReprintEvery time I visit the San Francisco Giants' ball park, I realize what a good experience it is, even for people who are not Giants' fans or even fans of baseball.
Earlier this month my wife Sandy and I drove up to the city to see a game between the Giants and the Chicago Cubs. It was the fifth or sixth time I had been to the park. It was the first time for Sandy. We went early and stayed late.
I wasn't sure if Sandy would enjoy it as much as I do. She is an avid baseball fan, though not as fanatical as I am. Although originally a Dodger fan (she liked the era of Steve Garvey and Ron Cey), I've converted her (some would say cursed her) to becoming a fan of the Cubs, the team I rooted for since I was 7 years old growing up in the Chicago area.
It helped that we were able to get some good tickets through my daughter, Megan, who works in the Bay Area and has many good connections.
It was a very good experience for both of us. (I say "experience" rather than "game," because there is lot more to visiting AT&T Park than nine innings of baseball.) For those of you who go often, you understand. For those who don't go regularly or who haven't been there at all, I thought it would be good to provide you with some tips to make the experience as positive as it can be:
* Arrive early. If you're going to spend the bucks these days for gas, tickets, and ball park food, you want to get the most complete experience you can. Night games usually start at 7:15. Gates open at 5:15. If you leave Los Baños at 2:15 (taking Interstate 5 to 580, crossing the Bay Bridge, and getting off at the 5th St. exit), you can arrive at the gates when they open without rushing.
* Park on the street, but watch where you park. Since the last time I was at AT&T, the parking lots for ordinary fans (without season passes) were moved from south to north of the park, and quite a ways down. There are metered on-street spots closer to the park. But you have to employ good strategy and good eyesight.
For this trip, I arrived at 4:30. I dropped Sandy off at the park entrance and found several open metered spots within three blocks. I checked the signs on the meters which read "Two hour limit; enforced until 6 p.m." Perfect, I thought. I can put a few quarters in and be good for the night. Then I saw a spot a block closer, so I pulled in and started stuffing quarters in the meter.
It wasn't a cheap meter. One quarter is good only for seven and a half minutes (eight quarters an hour). Fortunately I had 12 quarters in my car coin collection. I was set . . . until I read the sign on this particular meter: "Two hour limit. In force until 7 p.m." (One block closer, one hour longer.) I was out of quarters (I needed eight more), and it was only 4:35.
I had to visit two nearby stores and plead in each case for four quarters for dollar. I had to walk down to meet up with Sandy, tell her my strange plight, then trudge back at 5:01 to stuff in the required extra quarters.
* If you're rooting not for the Giants but for their opponents, find other fans rooting likewise. Fortunately, when Chicago plays at AT&T there are many Cubs fans in attendance. Rooting for the Cubs is a little like having a virus in your neurological system that stays with you forever, regardless of what you might do to expel it.
We met many other people wearing Cubs' jerseys, T-shirts, and caps waiting outside the gate to be among the first fans in. Some were people who had traveled from Chicago. Others, like me, were transplanted Chicagoans who now live in California, including one guy who grew up in the town next to the Chicago suburb where I lived as a kid and who now lives in Oakdale.
As it happened Sandy and I were in seats near other Cubs fans, so when we cheered for a Chicago home run we had mutual protection from Giants fans who weren't as pleased as we were.
* Find a way to get into the "Club" area on the third level. Thanks to Megan's connections, we had a pass. After we entered the park's gates, we headed for this area, showed our passes (which were checked closely), and strolled close to the right field foul pole.
We bought some bratwursts and beverages, sat on the stools by the window overlooking the field ahead and the bay off to the right, and watched batting practice. In my younger days I might have brought a glove and gone out to the bleachers to try to catch batting practice home runs (as my brothers in-law were famous for doing in Chicago). But in my golden years I was content to watch from behind a window, eating my bratwurst leisurely.
* Take a jacket. No matter how hot it is in Los Baños when you leave, by the time a night game starts in San Francisco you'll need a warm jacket, and it will feel good.
* Oh, yes, the game. It was enjoyable, especially since the Cubs won on a late-inning home run. It's much easier walking out of the Giants' park wearing a Cubs jersey (me) or a Cubs jacket (Sandy) if your team has won.
Sandy enjoyed the park as much as I did. We both hope these tips will encourage you to take in a game while there is still about a half-season left to use good strategy and enjoy the experience to the max.
(Comments on the writings of John Spevak, a regular Enterprise columnist, are encouraged and can be sent via email to spevak@telis.org.)