AT & T Park

Baseball is not my favorite pastimes, nor is it one sport that I’m all too excited to follow or watch. Though I am inherently a Dodger fan having lived in Los Angeles most of my life, when I visit my brother and his family, I always, somehow, end up rooting for Bay Area teams, the Oakland A’s or the San Francisco Giants. So putting away the Northern Cal/ Southern Cal rivalry, I actually enjoy catching a baseball game in Northern California once in a while.

This time of year, fall, is the best time to watch games, with the season winding down and the top teams vying for the playoffs, there’s an added tension and games mean much more. Today I was fortunate to go to a SF Giant’s game. I wasn’t necessarily rooting for a Giant’s win, but I was more interested in seeing the Colorado Rockies lose (it just works out better for the Dodger’s that way).

Anyway, I’ve been to a few baseball stadiums, and I must say that the AT& T Park in San Francisco is one of the nicer one’s I’ve been to. It not exactly in the heart of San Francisco, but it’s pretty close to the bustling part of the city. The San Francisco Bay surrounds one side, and the other side is adjacent to the city. It’s a beautiful stadium and by no means big at all. The best way to get there is to take public transportation. You can take BART and if you are coming from the East Bay, the ferry, both take you to the Embarcadero. From there, it’s about a 15-20 minute walk to the stadium. This way you don’t have bother with trying to cross the bridge, city traffic, parking.

On the way to the stadium, you walk along the San Francisco Bay with gorgeous view of the Oakland Bay Bridge, Treasure Island and the shops and restaurants that are along the Bay. The City has done a great job beautifying the area with pieces of art and sculptures along the way.

The stadium itself is pretty cool. It’s got an old world charm to it that is reminiscent of baseball stadiums of the past. Its façade is made of bricks with a few neon signs signifying its existence. Once in the park, there are activities for kids, slides, batting areas, etc. and plenty of souvenir shops and food choices. Like any other stadium, the food and beer prices are way overpriced but I do recommend the garlic French fries. Yum, and a beer to wash it all down.

Almost every seat in the stadium is decent and even the high, nosebleed seats are pretty good. Ticket prices vary depending on what area of the ballpark you want to sit in, but all in all, a great place to watch a game, take the kids and the family, without too going broke.