The Giants ballpark is currently at the top of our list, so when we were back in town we seized the opportunity to visit the rebranded Oracle Park. This stadium is in a superb location, right in downtown San Fran with a remarkable view of the bay. It was easy to get sucked into the chants as the Giants fans were beyond enthusiastic as they cheered their team to a resounding victory in both our visits. There are many unique amenities for both kids and adults (slides, cable cars, and even a garden), and the concessions—which served fresh seafood and CA wines—are remarkable! A flock of seagulls takes over the stadium immediately after the fans leaves, which is always a fun surprise. Our experiences at this stadium were remarkable and keep us coming back to visit this phenomenal ballpark.
Design
The stadium layout, with the the Bay Bridge peaking out beyond left field, is gorgeous. Unfortunately, it is only visible from some areas. It was not visible from our seats in upper deck behind home plate, but we had an amazing view in our second visit. The most popular feature of the ballpark is the right field wall, which opens to McCovey Cove where kayakers wait for home run balls. The Coca-Cola bottle and large glove in left field add a nice touch and also serve as a play area. The hills in the background really finish out the beautiful scenic view.
Red brick was utilized throughout which fits nicely with the surrounding area architecture and orange team colors. The overhang around the stadium upper level is pretty basic, but there are adjustable covers over the back fence to block the wind.
We were able to easily access all the main areas of the stadium (unlike Dodger Stadium), which allowed us to check out all the stadium had to offer! The main level is the only one that fully wraps around as the upper levels are cutoff to allow for the open bay view.
The design around the scoreboard is cool looking and visible from most areas. Unfortunately, the score itself is very small and hard to read.
Statues of Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, and Willie Mays adorn the surrounding area and enlighten fans of Giants history. There’s a light up sign that emulates a ball going into the bay.
Location
AT&T Park is located right along the bay in South Beach of downtown San Fran with a remarkable view of the Bay Bridge. The scenery around the ballpark is beautiful with palm trees planted around the entrances.
The surrounding area is bustling with plenty of great restaurants and tourist attractions nearby. It appears safe, but you do have to be wary of the large number of homeless people in SF.
Since it is in downtown SF, parking may be difficult and is pricey. We fortunately had lodging downtown and could walk to the stadium. There are ferries, trains, or rideshare (Uber) if you don’t want to attempt parking.
Concessions
There were a large variety of tasty treats, with many popular to the SF area. Some of the best choices included garlic fries, Outta Here cheesesteaks, Crazy Crab’z seafood and crabcakes, chowder in a bread bowl, Orlando’s Caribbean BBQ Cha Cha bowl, Mission Street Taqueria, Ghirardelli chocolate stands, Sheboygan brat in sourdough bun, and Tony’s Pizza Slice House. Our first visit we tried the latter two.
In our second trip we tried the Crazy Crab’z crab sandwich, Gilroy garlic fries, Super Duper burger, and Ghirardelli ice cream sundae. All of them were pretty tasty. The crab sandwich was one of the best foods I’ve had at a ballpark. The tasty crab concoction was served between two pieces of toasted buttery garlic sourdough bread with sliced tomato. The Ghirardelli sundae was a little disappointing as there was really only chocolate on the top and the vanilla ice cream is from a third party. The garlic fries were crispy and pretty good, but unfortunately cold when we received them. Seattle still has the best garlic fries we’ve had at a ballpark.
The Anchor Plaza is a prominent area located directly behind the scoreboard, where many of the seafood stands are setup and is the home of the Anchor Tap Room Bar.
There were also great drink options including many CA wines, Bayside Brews and coffee! We have never seen a coffee at a stadium so we were sure to fuel up on Peet’s, the local coffee shop. We tried some Hell or High watermelon wheat beer, and Camelot cabernet sauvignon.
Amenities
There were a lot of family friendly activities throughout the stadium. There is an old cable car set up in the outfield for kids to play in or take goofy pictures (like the one below).
The Coca-Cola Fan Lot has several fun activities including a Coke bottle with slides inside, a large glove to crawl under, t-ball, batting cage and speed pitch.
I love gardening and was very enamored with the Garden Table and Hearth and their hydroponic garden system. They grow many of their herbs & veggies onsite to serve at the restaurant.
The Triples Alley is a special on-field area that fans can get early access to hang out during batting practice and then they are released to their seats across the field on the first base side.
They even have a social media cafe called the @ Café next to Peets. There are free cell phone charging stations and WiFi.
There are plenty of luxury suites for an additional price.There are a surplus of small team stores throughout the stadium and a large team store accessible from outside the stadium. There were plenty of restrooms, and there was sufficient leg space in our seats. Here’s the Giants A-Z Guide for more detailed info on additional stadium offerings.
Culture
Our first game, we went to an awesome game between the Giants and their interstate rivals, the LA Dodgers. The stadium was packed, and the crowd was very lively as chants of “Beat LA” reverberated throughout the stadium during the game. Our second game, the Giants shutout the Phillies and Bumgarner had a no-hitter through 6 innings. Attendance was a little lower during this mid-week game, but they were still enthusiastic.
There were home runs in both the games we went to, which got the crowd roaring. The home run display was just a measly water spray, which wasn’t too impressive. A water jet would have been more sufficient! The Coca-Cola bottle lights up, but it is only visible during the day. There’s a “Splash Hit” counter to tally the total home runs that are hit into the bay. We have yet to see one hit out of the park so we’ll have to keep visiting until we see one!
Here is the Belt home run we saw in our first game.
The Giants theme song “Bye, Bye Baby!” was really fun.
Lou Seal, the mascot, made a few appearances and is a cute little fella.
The biggest surprise to us was the flocking of seagulls immediately after the game. According to an attendant, the seagulls are “on a timer” and know when the game is over and time to feast on ballpark leftovers.
Summary & Scoring
Date Visited: Thursday, August 8, 2019; Sunday, April 10, 2016
Games Played:
Giants 5, Phillies 0. Giants shutout the Phillies and Bumgarner had a no-hitter through 6 innings. Box Score
Giants 9, Dodgers 6. A high scoring game made for a very cheery crowd and lots of home run celebrations. Box Score
Design: – The brickwork and layout with the bay view are gorgeous. The team history is very well portrayed inside and outside the stadium with famous player statues and team milestones. The poor scoreboard design and simple overhangs are the main cons.
Location: – Downtown SF with amazing views right along the bay
Concessions: – Many local favorites including Ghirardelli, Crazy Crab’z seafood, Gilroy garlic fries, and CA wine
Amenities: – Several unique extras like the @ Cafe, Hearth Garden Table, and family friendly activities like cable cars and Coca-Cola Fan Lot
Culture: – Packed stadium with very enthusiastic fans
Overall: – This is our favorite stadiums to date – great fans, stupendous view and location, many tasty concessions, and remarkable amenities
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