SF Giants Sell-out for Opening Home Game Against Atlanta Braves

The Giants' opening home game tomorrow against the Atlanta Braves is a sell out!

The very last ticket went at 4.42 this afternoon - and I purchased it!  Waving it afterwards beneath the imposing statue of Willie Mays outside the entrance to the AT & T ballpark, it felt more like Willie Wonka and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory revisited.

Unluckiest person of the afternoon was Monty, the first person to be told all the tickets had gone. It was a double whammy for the Giants fan visiting from New York.
 Minutes earlier he had been at the front of the small late afternoon queue and been offered a ticket. But he went to confer with a friend waiting for him in a car at the sidewalk about the seating detail, as his friend had already purchased a ticket.

And when he returned, he discovered too late that it been almost the last ticket and there were no more to be had.

'I'm very disappointed,' he said.

A minute after Monty had left the ticket window, the sales lady had announced, 'There's only one ticket left!' The girls in the queue in front of me - pic below - didn't want only one, so that left me.

It cost $70 and is in the Arcade. The ballpark has a seating capacity of over 41,000.

Next to face disappointment were a group of university graduates from London enjoying a two-week tour of California.

Nick, Sarah, Finbarr, Liz and Alex had been to Vegas and LA, and were now in the city and had multiple reasons for wanting to see the game.

Sports lovers, they knew it was the opening home game of the season and had been looking forward both to the game and to seeing the ballpark in its stunning location. It would also have been a great experience for them as well as an opportunity for a slice of American culture.

Already they had spent some of their holiday watching baseball on TV, and some of them had been to hockey and basketball games. Had there been a football game nearby, they would have gone to that too.

'We'll probably visit a vineyard tomorrow instead,' said Liz, keeping their spirits up with thoughts of another aspect of California culture.

A wise decision in all probability. Only 30 tickets had been on sale today and, asked if tickets would become available tomorrow through 'returns', the ticket lady said with confidence, 'Unlikely!'

The game starts at 1.35 pm with the Giants on a high. They won their opening away games against the Houston Astros 10-4.