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AT&T Park - Buy San Francisco Giants tickets for AT&T Park at TickCo.com!

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AT&T Park / San Francisco Giants
 

Year Opened	2000
Capacity	41,059
Dimensions	339L, 364LC, 399C, 421RC, 309R
Playing Surface	Grass
Last Visit	2005
Web Site	www.sfgiants.com
Online Broadcasts	Yes
Online Ticket Sales	Yes
Phone	415/972-2000
Ticket Prices, Weekend/Weekday (2006)	Premium Field Club, $80/$75; Field Club, $73/$68; Club Infield, $67/$62; Club Outfield, $54/$51; Club Left Field, $45/$40; Premium Lower Box, $47/$40; Lower Box, $39/$34; View Box, $29/$27; View Reserved, $25/$20; Arcade, $33/$28; Left-Field Bleachers, $25/$18; Bleacher Center Field, $18/$13; Standing room, $12/$10; Jr./Sr. Bleachers, $7/$6.
League	National League
Parking	Adjacent lots are convenient and expensive.
Address/Directions	24 Willie Mays Plaza, San Francisco. The stadium is located on the southeast corner of downtown San Francisco. Major parking lots are located south of the stadium; if you're coming up on 101 or 280, follow the freeway signs for AT&T Park parking.
Written by:	Kevin Reichard
Rating

My first thought during my first visit to AT&T Park -- back in those halcyon days when the ballpark was known as Pac Bell Park -- was that any home-run record set by Barry Bonds should be accompanied by a giant asterisk: it's only 309 feet down the right-field line, and what looks like a towering shot into McCovey Cove on television is a whole lot less impressive in real life.

And then Barry Bonds ends up hitting the longest home run in ballpark history the next inning -- 499 feet to dead center. The crowd goes nuts, especially so as the Giants were facing the dreaded Los Angeles Dodgers in a crucial game (in fact, the Giants tied the Dodgers in the wild-card race with a win). 

Of course it's a silly thing for me to minimize what Bonds has done: a player must perform under the condition he's presented with, and for every cheap home run Bonds has hit in AT&T Park, he probably lost one in the swirling winds of Candlestick Park. Plus, despite the dimensions, the stats indicate that AT&T Park is really a pitchers' park, as the 25-foot walls make the outfield dimensions seem misleading.

One can have debates like this because of how thoroughly Barry Bonds infuses the atmosphere at AT&T Park -- yes, the short porch in right was built expressly for him, in the same manner that the short porch was built in Yankee Stadium for Babe Ruth -- and I mean this is an entirely good way. Signs promoting him and his home-run exploits are everywhere, from the concourses to the outfield fences.

This just adds to the ambiance of AT&T Park, which manages to be both intimate and sprawling while providing one of the best experiences in major-league baseball today. It is a stadium of nooks and crannies, crammed into a relatively small footprint (13 acres) in a convenient bayside location.

It is also a ballpark where the fine art of just standing around can be practiced. I am one of those ballpark fans that likes to move around during games: sure, I'll watch most of the action from my seat, but I like to move around for an inning or two and watch the action from several different angles. That's why I like the new breed of minor-league parks where a concourse circles the field. AT&T Park takes this notion to a new level: there are actually two concourses that circle the park -- one at field level, one at a more traditional mezzanine level -- and they are open to all ticketholders. The lower concourse is mostly indoors: the Giants call it the Field Level, and it is literally at the field level. You can watch the action from behind the right fielder and peer onto the field.

The upper concourse is really where the action is, especially in the outfield area. The left-field outfield contains the huge Coca-Cola bottle with childrens' slides and miniature AT&T Park; a raised platform where the kids enter the slides also offers a unique vantage point. Beyond the center-field scoreboard is a restaurant area with BBQ and seafood. The right-field concourse is fairly narrow, but extremely popular, as folks gather to watch Barry Bonds try to crank one into McCovey Cove (which is a lot smaller than it appears in television). The concourse then extends into the grandstand and goes past a raft of food and concession stands. Both outfield areas are great places to stand around and watch the game -- in fact, I'd recommend you buy a Standing Room ticket if you can't score a ticket on the Club Level. (Or you can even try watching the game for free: a public promenade along right field has openings for viewing the action free of charge.)

There are basically five seating areas in AT&T Park, and I spent some amount of time in most of them. I didn't even try to get to the Suites level, but my ticket was for the Club level, and I'd recommend trying to score a ticket there. (If you don't, fear not: every seat in the ballpark is angled toward the infield diamond, and I can say there's really not a bad seat in the house.) Club levels are a relatively new phenomenon in ballparks and stadiums of all sorts: teams can ask higher prices for mid-range seats by adding amenities like restricted access, shorter concession lines, and other amenities. The Club Level at AT&T Park sits below the suites and above the main grandstand, and while the views aren't especially hot -- I had a great view of action down the line, but you are set off rather far off the field -- you do get an enclosed concession area and additional indoor seating areas, plus some concession offerings not found in the rest of the stadium; for instance, the Club Level features healthy offerings from a local farmer's market, including fruit and fresh lemonade. (Club Level tickets are harder to score: technically they are sold out, but you can usually score a single ticket at this level.) The view from the Club Level is also gorgeous: you can see out on the harbor and observe any ships going in and out of port.

In addition, the Club Level can provide some heated respite on a cold San Francisco night. While AT&T Park is certainly more fan-friendly than Candlestick Park where the elements are concerned, you'll want to bring a lightweight coat or sweater almost any time of the year for a night game.

Concessions
Where to begin, where to begin...

SBC Park represents the rest of the Bay Area in its emphasis on good food, and there's plenty in AT&T Park that you simply won't find in any other ballpark. For starters, there are the Gilroy Garlic Fries, available throughout the park; the scent of them pervades the concession areas and wafts onto the seating areas. For $5, you get a huge pile of garlic fries -- you'll need to share them with a friend or two or three. They feature enough garlic to repel an army of Draculas, but if that's not enough for you, a Stinking Rose Restaurant stand feature a 40-clove chicken sandwich. You can prove whether your spouse really loves you after downing one of those.

The Gilroy Garlic Fries stands also features Gordon Biersch microbrews. Though Gordon Biersch breweries and restaurants can be found all over the country, the chain began in Palo Alto and the restaurants still reflect California's importance in the resurgence of microbrewing in America.

Speaking of microbrews: they are available in abundance throughout the park, but there are some curious omissions: Sierra Nevada, for example, is not available, but Anchor Steam is. You'll pay for the privilege of quaffing a microbrew: $7 for 12 ounces. Then again, there's no such as a cheap beer at AT&T Park: various Bud, Miller, and Coors beers will cost you $6.50 for 16 ounces. Other beverages include B.V. and Sutter Home wines, mixed drinks, Tully's coffee, espresso/cappuccino, and the obligatory hard lemonade.

Another California culinary tradition is Boudin sourdough bread, which must be sampled by every tourist to San Francisco. At AT&T Park the Boudin sourdough bread is used as a bread bowl for chowder. At $6.50, it's fairly spendy for a bowl of soup, but then again this is ballpark fare.

The dogs at SBC Park are a mixed bag, however. To their credit, the Giants have resuscitated Doggie Diners, hot-dog stands that were once prevalent in the Bay Area. Skip the $3.25 Giants Dog -- it's a pretty bland hot dog and not worth the money. Much better is the Superdog -- yeah, it's a quarter-pound of hot dog, but it's worth every ounce of fat. After downing both a Giants Dog and a Superdog over five innings, I just didn't have the intestinal fortitude to try a third-pound dog at the Say Hey! Willie Mays Sausages Stand, though they did look pretty tasty.

Also looking pretty tasty was Krispy Kreme doughnuts and Berkeley Farms milk, but the thought of piling a Krispy Kreme on top of the Superdog was again too much for me to consider.

Mexican and Italian food is also prevalent at AT&T Park at several different stands. You can choose from fajita burritos, chicken-fajita salad, tacos, burritos, Italian-sausage sandwiches, pizzas. and quesadillas.

In the center-field area you'll find Orlando's Caribbean BBQ, named after former Giant Orlando Cepeda, and the Fresh Catch stand, which features Fisherman's Wharf-style sandwiches and crab cakes. There are tables set up between these two food stands so you can eat the food in some peace and not worry about spilling barbeque sauce all over yourself.

Otherwise, you'll find all the ballpark staples throughout the park: candy, soft-serve ice cream, brats, peanuts, nachos, and Cracker Jack.

If all this good and unique food is too much for you, there are Carl Jr.'s hamburger stands throughout the park.

For the Kids
That huge Coca-Cola bottle in left field also serves as the children's play area. Two playground slides actually wind their way through the Coke bottle, and next to it is a miniature SBC Park where kids can bat balls and run the bases.

Parking
Two adjacent parking lots provide about 5,000 parking spots, and they are best accessed from Highways 101 and 280. The cheapest lot is $25. Other methods of getting to the game include trolley car, Metro trains, CalTrain, buses, and ferries. The Giants claim that no other park in major-league baseball is better served by public transportation. The China Basin Ferry Terminal alights in dead center field and provides what looks like a very scenic approach to the game.