Tribute to Young Giants' Fan

A moving memorial to a young Giants' fan killed in a fight has already been set up in the plaza outside the ballpark.

Facing the beauty of San Francisco Bay with a glorious sunset behind him on one of the warmest nights of the year, a good-looking young man in baseball kit smiles out from a photo pinned to a tree. Next to him is a wreath garlanded with this tribute: 'In memory of Anthony Giraudo. A Giants Fan Forever.'

'He was an American lad. An all-American boy,' said a lady standing there with a friend in quiet reflection as a ballgame continued into the night. 'An all-American boy,' her friend echoed in agreement.

The lady wished to remain anonymous as she knows the family well and her daughter was a friend of Anthony's. Describing Anthony, who was 18-years old, as a natural sportsman, she added, 'He loved sports. He never got into trouble. He was a good lad.'

She continued to pay tribute to his family whom she said were a very good, close family, and also Catholics. Anthony had an older brother and sister.

'He was the baby...his mum and dad loved him so much,' she said sadly.

Anthony died in hospital on Mother's Day after being punched by another 18-year-old, Taylor Buckley, outside of the ballpark on Friday near where the memorial has been set up. He fell and hit his head on concrete. A full report of the incident is in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Interviewed on NBC11's evening news, Anthony's father spoke without rancour and said that Taylor Buckley was going to have to live with what he had done for the rest of his life.

Buckley is also generally known amongst the youngsters. The lady by the memorial did not know much about him but said that some of her daughter's friends knew him in the networking manner of kids through things like school sports.

'Who would have thought that a punch to the head would kill someone,' she said.