New York Nine

Baseball the way it was meant to be, down and dirty with brutally honest analysis

Friday, August 9, 2013

A Trip to the Park by the Bay



It’s been a long, long time since I've posted on here, probably too long for anyone to particularly care, but as a newly unemployed lawyer I figure I should probably do something aside from apply to jobs, work out and watch stuff on Netflix.  In the last year or so I've been knee-deep in legal and compliance writing between studying for the bar and work so I’m going to ease back into this baseball writing thing with a not-so-analytical take on my trip to AT&T Park (with pictures!).

I’ve been to my share of Major League parks in my time, I’d say give or take nine including parks no longer in existence like Shea and Old Yankee Stadium, and can say fairly confidently that of those I’ve been AT&T is high on my list of best experiences at a game.  Granted, it was only one game, a day game between the Giants and Cubs on one of the nicest and warmest day you’ll experience in a summer in San Francisco, but there was very little if anything I could really complain about.  For one, as you can see in some of my pictures, it is an absolutely gorgeous park, situated right on the water where as you can probably see on TV there are ton of boats parked there that really make it picturesque in every sense of the word.  But even more than the scenery the park itself is a sight to behold.  Built in 2002 near the beginning of the retro-park craze that attempted to make every field as quaint and quirky as Fenway (which doesn’t work, there’s only one Fenway), AT&T is one of the few parks that blend the retro and contemporary well.  Indeed, the Giants added some little old-timey touches like the brick, the odd dimensions and the bullpen mound on the field of play and combined them with some of the advantages of modern ballpark building like large concourses, more comfortable seats and great food amenities that doesn’t feel fake or forced.  Unlike other “retro” stadiums like New Yankee Stadium which kind of half-assed the retro look by putting a lot of work in the exterior and then making most of the interior of the stadium in stucco and heavy modern looking concrete, AT&T’s combination feels more seamless and thorough.  Of course, the scale of AT&T is considerably smaller than NYS and there’s no beautiful bay nearby in the Bronx, but what makes the former park more aesthetically pleasing is that it doesn’t feel like its aping some earlier stadium while sticking in some big luxury boxes; AT&T looks and feels like an entirely new entity onto itself.

As for the experience in the park itself, AT&T again distinguished itself by having a little bit of everything and not feeling overwhelming.  Before I chose what I was going to eat that day (always the most important decision of any game) I walked the entire concourse and found a little bit of everything I could possibly want, from your standard ballpark fare like hot dogs and fries, to Mexican, Italian, Chinese, Japanese and a few others that escape my memory.  I settled on the North Beach Stand, which refers to the Little Italy of San Francisco, and had one of the best meatball subs I’ve had in some time, along with some garlic fries.  Garlic fries? Oh man, you have not had garlic fries until you’ve had them at AT&T.  Not to keep dumping on NYS but I’ve had their garlic fries many times and they really don’t even come close to these were, fresh garlic right on the fries really made the difference.  And the drinks?  Again, AT&T was unparalleled in their variety of wines and beers available, not just your standard Bud and Bud Light but actual craft beers like Anchor Steam, Mendocino and Speakeasy to name a few.  And the best part?  The lines were manageable at every place you wanted to go to.  While the food selection was certainly on par with say a Citi Field that has a Shake Shack and Blue Smoke I’d favor AT&T Park for the sheer fact that you won’t spend two innings getting the food, even at a sold out game on a Sunday afternoon.  In sum, although the prices were certainly as high as some of the New York parks, I’d give the edge again to San Francisco because of variety and quality.

Finally, and most importantly is the atmosphere and the game itself, and again AT&T didn’t disappoint.  Now this game could have easily been DOA for a variety of reasons, first that they’re playing the NL Central cellar-dwelling Cubs, or that the Giants are pretty awful themselves despite winning the World Series least year, or the fact that it was a stunningly beautiful day out (which as any person who’s been to San Francisco will tell you is a rare thing indeed in the summer) but instead it was unquestionably awesome.  I’ll admit I was nervous about this, especially because I had convinced my mom and sister to come along who are not shy in their dislike of all the baseball I watch, but we got to the park early and by all accounts had a great time.  For one, they gave everyone a free Marco Scutaro T-shirt when they got there, and before the game they had an impromptu concert with some guy (can’t remember who it was) and by the time the game was ready to begin everyone was in their seats and ready to go.  The game itself ended in disappointment for the fans with the Giants losing 2-1, but the experience was not; fans stayed until the end (what a novel idea), cheered and were into every bat and held on until the last batter hit a lazy fly ball to left field.  I’m not going to engage in hyperbole saying these were the best fans ever, and surely it’s much easier to be a fan when you’ve won two of the last three World Titles, but the park very much felt alive throughout my time there.  Even in a lost season in a relatively meaningless game Giants fans were into it, having fun and getting loud.  They didn’t need some corny public address announcer yelling “make some noise” along with some silly graphic with a “noise-o-meter” (looking at you, NYS), and instead rose to the occasion when needed along with some simple organ playing from time to time.  Ultimately, a great crowd will make any event into a very good one but it is that combination of crowd and atmosphere that can make it into a special one.  In my estimation, AT&T Park is that special kind of place that makes me wish I lived a little closer to that Park on the Bay.


P.S. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that my sister, my inspiration to start blogging again, also has a blog about entirely different things at http://mensinsta.blogspot.com/, you should all check it out if you enjoy fashion and funny dating stories.