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AT&T Park
Ballparks and Beer Guide
San Francisco,
CA
There's hardly
a bad seat in the house that Bonds is building.
Willie Mays
is honored with a statue and an address – 24 Willie Mays Plaza.
One of America's most scenic baseball
stadiums is in one of its most scenic cities.
SBC Park in San Francisco – in the same mold as Camden Yards in
Baltimore and Coors
Field in Denver – is an old-style park in a modern setting
with great sightlines from any seat. It sits on the edge of the bay
and, unlike it's predecessor, Candlestick Park, does not have the famous
winds that once blew a pitcher off the mound ('61 All-Star game).
It's famous among baseball fans around the country for McCovey Cove
where fans on kayaks and surfboards wait for home runs to be launched
over the rightfield wall. What they probably don't know is that the
cove – named after big-swinging '70s first baseman Willie
McCovey – is also as busy with boats as the concession stand at
the seventh-inning stretch. Many of them are party cruises.
AT&T Park Facts
• 24 Willie Mays Plaza San Francisco, CA 94107 Telephone:
415-972-2000 Fax: 415-972-2001. Web
Site.
• Coolers and bags larger than 16x16x8 are not allowed.
• Domestic beers ($6.50 for 16 ounces) are sold at most concession
stands; there's also specialty beer stands ($7 for 12 ounces).
Wine and mixed drinks are also sold.
• For food, the Gilroy garlic fries are the most popular
item (nearby Gilroy, CA is the garlic capitol of the world). They
are $5 and big enough for two. Chowder served in a Sourdough bread
bowl is a San Francisco treat ($6.50). Crab cakes and Caribbean
BBQ from former Giant first baseman Orlando Cepeda are other choices.
• Ticket prices range from $13 (centerfield bleachers) to
$90 (premium field club) with weekend and "premium"
games slightly more expensive ($20-110).
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Locals love the fact they can walk up without a ticket and enjoy a
few free innings from the outfield fence (courtesy protocol calls for
standing back after a while to allow others to watch). It's modern baseball's
version of peeping in through a corkhole in a wooden fence.
Abut an hour before games, McCovey Cove (also known as China Basin)
buzzes with activity. People arrive by ferry, the party boats cruise
the cove and kayakers and surfers start jockeying for position. Still
more people arrive on bicycles; they "valet" them by the bay.
Those arriving by the more conventional method (automobile) park at
the end of the water. Hundreds of others just come by to check out things.
It's an extremely inviting environment. Day games on sunny afternoons
are especially active.
Inside the park;
enjoying the $7 microbrew specialty beers.
The stadium opened up a whole new area of San Francisco and paved the
way for the development of SoMa, or South of Market, which really thrived
during the DotCom boom. Today, restaurants, apartments and new, clean
streets bring a bright look to the neighborhood.
There are a pair of places to go before games. One is is Momo's,
a fairly upscale restaurant directly across the King Street (at
2nd). The patio is the centerpiece of activity; it's loaded with ballpark
patrons getting loaded up on beers and grilled burgers. People play
ball here about two hours before the first pitch and head to the stadium
about 30 minutes before the game.
The crowd is predominately young (25-35), professional, single and
local. Some singles come here to take their swings with no intention
of going to the game and on Fridays, the gameday crowd converges with
the after-workers who have stopped in to have their usual drinks. The
non-gamers tend to hang at the inside bar rather than on the patio.
Another, around the corner (King and 3rd) is O'Neill's. Since
it's newer than Momo's it's actually a bit more popular. An Irish-themed
pub it's jammed packed. The more casually dressed crowd goes to O'Neill's.
For slower times, it has free WiFi.
A couple of other places people gather before games are Palomino
(345 Speer at the Embarcadero with its big patio and a good Happy Hour
(for food, the super-thin crust pizza is the best choice) and Gordon
Biersch (2 Harrison Street at the Embarcadero). They are a few blocks
down the street; it takes a short streetcar ride or a long walk (about
a half a mile) to get to the park.
After games, if it's early it's back to Momo's and perhaps GB. A few
more stops down the street car sits Pier 23. If it's late, then
it's out on the town to the many bars
of the city.
People gather for beers and burgers at Momo's across the street from
the stadium.
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