Hot Time at ATT Park

I have wanted to see the great Tim Lincecum pitch for the Giants ever since he came up to the major leagues. I finally got my chance Friday night at ATT Park in San Francisco. I invited the world's best Giant fan, Donna, to go with me. It was a shutout, highlighted by a homerun by a guy they call Panda, Pablo Sandoval, their latest batting star.

I have only been to one baseball game in the last 15 years. It was in 2000, as I recall, since my son and I went, just a few days after watching Tiger play the US Open down at Pebble Beach. There are times when I miss going to the games with the kids. I particularly miss going to Spring Training in Scottsdale in the early Spring. Lots of golf in the morning, baseball in the afternoon, and great meals in the evening. But I certainly did not miss the rather low life and smelly baseball fans.

ATT Park has a great address, 24 Willie Mays Plaza. Willie was probably the best ballplayer I have ever seen. Going to the ballpark is easy for us. BART leaves Walnut Creek near our home and stops in the financial district of San Francisco. From there, it is either a brisk 15 minute walk, or a very inexpensive roundtrip muni streetcar to the ballpark. After the game, the muni streetcar rumbles and clunks by to take us underground, back to the BART station.

Perhaps one of the best features of the ballpark is pictured. Some seats allow great views of the bay, as well as the ballgame. It is so easy to start daydreaming, and thinking about all the sailboats and freighters on the Bay.

The stadium is very cozy:
Field Dimensions
Left Foul Line: 339 Feet
Right Foul Line: 309 Feet
Center Field: 399 Feet
Left-Center Field Alley: 364 Feet
Right-Center Field Alley: 421 Feet

With a seating capacity of only 41,503, it is among the smaller ballparks in baseball. A few football games are also played here. But the Forty Niners are still out at the old home of the Giants, Candlestick Park out in Hunter's Point. The grass is Kentucky Bluegrass. And it is only 48 feet from home plate to the first row of seats. In 2004, ATT Park became the first professional sports venue to provide free wireless to all of the fans.

Now, back to the game, sports fans. Tim Lincecum, for those of you that do not follow baseball, is perhaps the hottest commodity, since he won the Cy Young Award last year for being the best pitcher in the National League. Add to that his skateboarder surfer dude look, unusual pitching delivery, and boy wonder charm, he is the biggest draw in baseball.
He is only 5 feet, 11 inches tall, and weighs 170 pounds. He is barely 25 years old, from Bellevue, WA and went to the University of Washington. He is known both as "The Franchise" and "The Freak". It was a great evening watching him throw well over 95 mph. And of course, Donna is a walking baseball almanac, adding considerable facts and humor to the game. All the guys around us were impressed that she brought her baseball glove to the game!

I also looked forward to the great food items at ATT Park. Garlic fries, sushi, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, pizza, burritos, Chinese food, beef and dog grills, and the usual beer, wine and soda tempt even the hardcore cheapskate. I think they even have waiters or runners who bring food to the seats. The variety of food choices has increased dramatically from the old hot dog and beer days. I settled on a very tasty turkey burger and a cold Bud. Donna went for the tacos, which looked outstanding.

I once had the goal of attending a game in every major league ballpark. I think I made it to about nine, including Wrigley Field in Chicago. But I would still like to see Boston's Fenway Park, and the new Yankee Stadium in New York. How many of you remember the LA Dodgers playing at the LA Coliseum with the short left field fence? Or the LA Angels playing in a replica of Wrigley Field in Los Angeles? For that matter, I have seen the Giants in all three of their ballparks: Seals Stadium, Candlestick, and now ATT.

It was a big thrill to drive up to San Francisco from the Fresno area when I was a kid. We left early in the morning, got to the ballpark, watched all 9 innings, then went to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner before the long drive home. It would be my Dad, my brother, and sometimes one of my Dad's customers, or one of our school friends. We also had a bus service that transported us to the game and Fisherman's Wharf when I was in high school. And it was always more fun than the drive to LA to see the Dodgers or the Angels.

Back then, the New York Yankees were my favorite team. This was long before the Dodgers and Giants moved out west. The Yankees would be on the radio, as I recall. I once stayed home from school "sick", so I could listen to the opening game back in the 60s. I think it was the season that Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris had their home run duel to eclipse Babe Ruth's home run record. I remember even keeping score in an official scorebook.

After I graduated from college, I attended numerous games in Oakland. Most of the Athletics' players lived in Alameda, where I lived and worked. They gave us free tickets all the time, since nobody went to the games back then. We always sat behind the visiting team dugout to harass the opposing team's players. And several times, we could not find our car in the parking lot after the game, even though the attendance was well under 5,000 people. I think you can guess why? The owner back then was the infamous Charlie Finley.

But we did see some great players: Harmon Killebrew, Mickey Mantle, Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Bob Gibson, Nolan Ryan, Roberto Clemente, Robin Roberts, Ernie Banks, Duke Snider, Sandy Koufax, Stan Musial, Warren Spahn, among many others. the game seems so diluted of talent these days. And they really need to enforce the steroid, HGH, Epo, blood doping, HCG issues. I can only hope that Usain Bolt and Albert Pujols are clean!

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