Double Play

I’ll confess it: as a kid, I was a massive A’s fan. I liked the Giants fine, but the true halcyon days of my boyhood were spent at the Oakland Coliseum. It was always windy as hell at Candlestick, though it was the urinals near the cheap seats that left the most lasting impression on me. You shared one smelly trough with a dozen other guys.  

Thankfully it’s been 10 seasons since the Giants gave up the ’Stick and moved to AT&T Park. I’ve seen loads of games at AT&T, taking refuge in the fact that even if the Giants couldn’t pull it together –  still waiting on that bat, Sabean! – they finally had a stadium worthy of Willie Mays’ legacy.  

Yet how many of us really know AT&T Park – I mean, as a structure you use well. How many fans muster energy for something other than finding their seats, getting a beer, and hollering at the Dodgers (only Communists root for the Dodgers)? I hit three games in a row at AT&T Park, each time trying to understand how to get the most out of the stadium.   

After collecting my press pass for the first of three games against the Marlins, I met up with Jorge Costa, the senior vice president of ballpark operations. Jorge continually walks the stadium during games, and he started me out on the ball field. As we traveled over the Giants’ bullpen mounds, I hesitated before stepping onto the small hill of freshly raked dirt, but Jorge urged me on.

Jorge’s  iPhone never stopped buzzing with new attendance numbers as we headed toward the command center under the seats behind the left field foul pole. We poked our heads into the traffic control office run by Greg Sedlock with the city’s Department of Parking and Traffic.

Greg monitored several video screens in a windowless room to see that things were going smoothly around the park. I couldn’t resist throwing my fan experience questions at him and he replied with rapid-fire proficiency. 

“Muni is always so crowded after the game, how can I get a seat?” I asked.

“Walk down to the 4th Street stop,” he answered.

“I rode my bike here and I live in the Mission. How should I get home?” I asked.

He suggested I pick up my ride from the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition parking lot no later than a half hour after the end of the game.

From there I should follow a route that goes west along McCovey Cove to Third Street (at the Lefty O’Doul Bridge) and head south from there to 16th St. “All the traffic is heading north, so you shouldn’t have to worry about cars,” he explained. (I followed Greg’s instructions on my way home and he was right.)  

As Jorge and I continued our tour, he pointed out that the bathrooms under the bleachers are never full, the Marina entrance to the park is the least congested, and that fans tend to arrive 20 minutes before and after the game starts. 

Finally, I asked him where I should stretch my legs in this beautiful park.

“The view level,” he replied. “The upper deck has the best views and it’s the least crowded.” I followed his advice and damn if it wasn’t gorgeous. Only Communists can resist the roar of the cheap seats. 

Dining at the ballpark rarely gets beyond a Coors and a brat, and that’s if you’re going fancy. But after spending the better part of the second game (one the Giants would win after dropping the series opener) with director of concessions Sandie Filipiak, I realized there’s lots I hadn’t eaten at AT&T. 

“When you live so close to wine country, why not have that in the park?”  Sandie asked. And before I could get my bearings, we were at a California wine cart, holding plastic cups of Leonhardt zinfandel from Dry Creek Valley and a Pets Petite Sirah from Vinum Cellars. Gallo it wasn’t.   

From there we were off to what Sandie called the “hidden treasure of the ballpark,” an Italian food stand called North Beach.

It’s located on the promenade level, about flush with the visitor’s dugout. As we drank our way through several Italian reds and a glass of prosecco, I learned that the Italian sausages are good, but the meatball sub with soft, delicious meatballs made daily at Original US Restaurant on Columbus, is better.   

During my ballpark bender, I also enjoyed the grilled crab sandwich at Crazy Crab'z behind the scoreboard in center field, and for something resembling a healthful meal, the jerk chicken bowl at Orlando's was rather good. Load up on extra sauce, though.  

At this point in my AT&T run, I couldn’t miss out on the stadium’s two new restaurants: Public House and Mijita.

Public House had the best-kept secret at the entire park. The bar offers 24 bottled beers and 24 on draft. Selections range from Oregonian doppelbocks to handcrafted IPAs, and bartenders will pour your drinks into plastic cups if you want to take your beer into the stadium.  

I had a nice long chat and beer tasting with Greg Stone, the man in charge of drinks at Public House. As we ate mac and cheese (not bad), pulled pork sliders (better yet), and house-pickled veggies (Jesus, San Francisco, I love you!), Greg told me that he’s trying to “reimagine what a beer at the ballpark has to be.”  

“It’s funny, though. One guy’s mad that he can’t find the Coors, and the next guy wants to talk about Belgian saison-style beers. And they’re both wearing Giants caps,” Greg explained. “That’s San Francisco!”   

The next day I stopped into Mijita and tucked into a Mexican feast. The highlights were the nachos (really crisp chips, tasty guacamole), the smooth Fortaleza blanco tequila, and the avocado, citrus, and jicama salad (I know that only Communists eat jicama at the ballpark, but it was the only vegetable I’d seen in days).  

Having gotten the inside track on how to use and dine at the park, I now had my third game (with a delightful 4:05 p.m. start time) to determine where to sit. As a fan I’ve been everywhere from the bullpen to the bleachers, but I wanted to know where Russ Stanley, head of tickets, plants himself.   

As we chatted in Russ’ office in the bowels of AT&T, he told me he sits all over. He loves section 302 for its expansive views. He took in the Giant’s World Series appearance in 2002 from the club level, around section 220. When he’s with his kids, it’s right behind home plate in the field club. “They’re texting so much and are so distracted that it’s the only safe place,” he joked. “I don’t want ’em getting clocked with a foul ball.”

I learned from Russ that the best place to get a foul ball is during batting practice, down either foul line, and that the lower bowl of the stadium is the warmest on chilly nights –sections 106–123 are the best protected because the wind tends to blow west to east. Now I wanted to see it all for myself.  

Armed with four pairs of tickets from Russ, a buddy and I sat our way across the park as a lovely cap to my AT&T excursion. The well-named view level did offer the best vistas – we were in 305 – and for a cheap and lazy day at the park, it was up high but out of the sun.

Next was the club level, where we sat in the front row on the first base side. One section up, and you’re still surprisingly close to the action. The club fans tend to be less boisterous as these aren’t cheap seats, but knowledgeable chatter from the regulars was the order of the day.

As the Giants worked their final innings (they finished 10 to 9 in the bottom of the tenth), we sat with the swells a couple rows behind the plate in the field club. 

Astounding seats to be sure, but something about the presence of waitresses and the clearly distracted public surrounding us made me wonder if things were better back in 220. Most damning of all for a bleachers-bred baseball populist like me was the fact that few had sung “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” during the seventh inning stretch. (Only Communists don’t sing “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”)

All told, though, I’m now much better equipped for an AT&T adventure. Most importantly, I learned that to really experience the ballpark, you have to keep moving. I may roost for a game or two with a particular section or a particular glass of suds, but with so much on offer at the ballpark, my only loyalty (no offense to you, meatball sub) is to the Giants themselves.  

It ain’t hard to get to a Giants game at AT&T Park. Once there, all you need is connected to the stadium. Try out Public House and Mijita on the Third Street façade. The Marina entrance is out back, and the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition bike valet service is on 3  ^rd   Street. The food is good behind the scoreboard, the beer is good at Public House, and the bathrooms under the bleachers have proper urinals, many of which are always free.

Aaron Britt takes you further behind the scenes at AT&T Park in this video, created in partnership with Flip Video and Urgent Content. The clip was shot with a Flip camera and edited by Urgent Content.