A Park Worthy of the City
Written: Jul 24 '01 (Updated Jul 24 '01)
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Pros: Beautiful views of the Bay, excellent views from all locations, Loyal and knowledgable fans
Cons: No automatic flush toilets (took me a while to think of a "con")
The Bottom Line: Pac Bell Park is one of baseball's great new parks, and I'm looking forward to return trips.
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| janesbit1's Full Review: Pacific Bell Park |
Back in the early 1990’s I spent an extended weekend in San Francisco for a four game series with the St. Louis Cardinals. Any excuse to visit San Francisco is a welcome one because it is one of the most interesting cities in the U.S.—scenic vistas, diverse culturally, great restaurants, and great weather. Unfortunately, Candlestick Park didn’t match up to the charms of the city and ranked among the worst ballparks in the majors. Those were the days when it was an adventure to get out of your car in the Candlestick parking lot—you’d hope for the severe winds to be at your back to blow you towards the gate. Inside the park any pop fly was a potential hit because fielders continually staggered inside that wind tunnel of a bland cookie cutter stadium and had to guess where the ball would land.
No longer!
San Francisco now sports one of baseball’s most beautiful stadiums to match the character of this great city. Whether Pacific Bell Park itself is the most scenic is debatable, but when you consider that you have the bay vista over the outfield with ships sailing the blue waters of the China Basin and McCovey Cove beckoning just beyond the right field wall, this stadium can lay claim for having the most picturesque views.
Pac Bell follows in the recent tradition of the retro ballparks (most notably Seattle’s Safeco Field) to give good and relatively intimate views to everyone who can get inside the gates. And getting inside isn’t nearly as easy as it is in most cities since sell outs are the norm here in the relatively small stadium that can cram around 45,000 with a standing room crowd. There’s even some shades of Wrigley Field present—unlike most modern parks, there is no bullpen set aside in the outfield. Instead the bullpen pitchers must warm up along the right and left field foul lines.
Notes on tickets
The surest way to get seats is to have season tickets, but that doesn’t bode well for those of us who can only visit San Francisco on a weekend trip. Some rival teams may have organizations that fashion a road trip together, complete with a ticket package, but suppose you decide to go on your own? I attempted to get single game tickets for the July Diamondbacks series before the season started through the Internet on the first day that these tickets went on sale. That hardly worked, as I was only able to obtain a single standing room only ticket for the Friday game.
A couple months later, I was cruising around the Giants website and noticed that they now had a few tickets available, so I was able to purchase excellent seats behind home plate on the second level just below the broadcast booth. Unfortunately, the Internet service that the Giants use tacks on another 9.50 per ticket in service charges, so my $40 face value seats went for the regular $50 fee that scalpers charge customers who buy these seats before the game starts.
Now, if you want a bargain and don’t mind missing part of the game, try waiting until the first inning has started and you’ll stand an excellent chance of getting those same prime seating scalper tickets for $20. Other less expensive sections will be priced down as well—their face value goes from $26 down to $10. Naturally the scalpers will desperately give you a huge break on these prices once the game starts.
Customer accommodations
Parking reasonably close to the ballpark doesn’t appear to be a huge problem, and the rates are far better than they are in places like Chicago’s Wrigley Field. If you’re staying downtown (or actually most anywhere in the Bay area), the public transportation between BART and the MUNI bus system is reasonably good and inexpensive.
Like many of the modern parks, Pac Bell provides activities for the kids. The main areas for the younger fans reside in left field, highlighted by a giant slide through the giant Coca-Cola bottle fixture and a mini ballpark for a continuous and non-competitive wiffle ball game for small tykes. Expect it to be surrounded by parents jockeying for picture taking of their young.
Concessions are high priced just like nearly ever other major league stadium and consist mostly of standard baseball fare—hot dogs, hamburgers, popcorn, pretzels, sodas, and beer. They also have a pretty decent pizza place and have Gilroy Garlic Fries and Krispy Kreme donuts (just like their San Diego neighbors). For more unique San Francisco concessions head to the left field area for seafood and calimari rings or for Jamaican BBQ at Orlando’s (franchise by former Giant Orlando Cepeda). Also notable is the freshly squeezed lemonade
The seats at the Club level were quite comfortable, and I didn’t feel cramped when the surrounding seats got filled up (and since sellouts occur regularly, you might as well resign yourself to sitting in your assigned seat). The other sections seemed to have reasonably comfortable seats as well though the bleachers are aptly named. Because the park is relatively small, good views can be found from every place in the park—there are no such things as “obstructed views” at Pac Bell.
The Giants website is very helpful on stadium information, and it can even give you a preview of what your view will look like from any seat. Just consult Pac Bell Park information at http://giants.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/sf/ballpark/sf_ballpark_history.jsp
The fans
Although I’d heard that Giants fans can be very rude to visitors, I found them to be very friendly, loyal, and courteous (if they sound like perfect Boy Scouts, I wouldn’t go that far!). Most of the fans in my section were season ticket holders (outside the ones who had purchased their tickets from scalpers) and cheered for their hometown favorites but were quite understanding of this visiting Arizona fan. I had very enjoyable exchanges between the fans each day and never felt intimidated like I did in the much more hostile Shea Stadium.
Now, if you happen to be a Dodgers fan, you will probably have a completely different experience! I witnessed the Giants radio announcers themselves pelting a fan a couple rows ahead of me with paper objects because he was wearing the enemy Dodger blue cap. (Actually, it was all done in good-natured fun and was in the Club level where a little wealthier class of fans attends the games. I wouldn’t vouch for the safety of any Dodger fan who ventures into the bleachers).
I enjoyed my experience at Pac Bell Park immensely—largely enhanced by the fact that my beloved Diamondbacks slaughtered the Giants both Saturday and Sunday. But even had my team lost the series, I would look forward to return trips to this magnificent facility. San Francisco is such a great city to visit—our American version of Paris—and now it has a ballpark that is worthy of the city’s charms. Unfortunately, the Diamondbacks have no more weekend games in San Francisco this season. . . But there’s always next year!
Recommended:
Yes
Parking Availability: No Problemo
Seat Location: Luxury Box
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Epinions.com ID:
janesbit1
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Member: John Nesbit
Location: Phoenix, Az.
Reviews written: 295
Trusted by: 281 members
About Me:
Watching movies and baseball, now reviewing at oldschoolreviews.com
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