SF Giants Opener Against Houston Astros - Free Viewing at AT & T Park

It didn't need the sun, although it shone beautifully, to bring out the smiles on the faces of thousands of Giants' fans as they celebrated the opening of the 2010 season at the AT & T baseball park this afternoon.

The Giants were playing their opening game in Houston against the Astros and a free event with hotdogs, giveaways and autograph signings of former players were part of a jumobotron viewing party.

The gates at the Willie Mays Plaza opened at 3 pm and three thousand hotdogs were given away. Christin and Garron were about to tuck in. 'I love that!' Christin said of the hotdog offer.  'That's what got us walking in!'

'Fantastic!' agreed Garron. The couple work opposite the ballpark. However, Christin really does have more of an interest in the Giants than food! A San Franciscan, she is a lifelong, diehard fan who has endured many a weather-beating at the Giants' former home at Candlestick Park.

'We used to laugh at the tourists who came in their tee-shirts and shorts. We don't have to do that here, it's so warm and sunny,' she said.


Today, with the opening of the season, the Giants are celebrating the 10th Anniversary of their move from Candlestick to the AT & T Park.

Garron describes himself as a 'recent transplant' to the city. His loyalties are with the Atlanta Brewers but he had plenty of compliments for the Giants. 'I've always liked the Giants. They weren't one of my hated teams,' he said.

The game started just after 4 pm with Cy Young Award winning pitcher Tim Lincecum on the mound in Houston.

But not before a presidential Opening Pitch had been thrown by George H.W. Bush.

It wasn't long before the fans in the ballpark in San Francisco were cheering for the home runs. When John Bowker got an RBI - Run batted in, Mark, (lt), and Sean were jubilant!



With the Giants already in the lead by 3-0, there was much to celebrate!

cont in next blog

SF Giants Celebrate 10th Anniversary of Move to AT & T Park from Candlestick Park - One Lifelong Fan's Nostalgia

When the San Francisco Giants play their opening game of the season in Houston this afternoon, it will mark the tenth anniversary of their move to their home at the AT & T Park, south of the centre of the city.

David is a lifelong Giants fan who has nostalgic memories of the old Candlestick Park, the good and the bad, and their move in 2000.

'I have four brothers and my dad used to take us out to Candlestick Park, take us out to the bleachers, and back then they were bleachers, wooden benches all the way across!' he recalled.

It was probably 1968, he thought, when his dad first took him along. 'We still had Willie Mays out there, Willie McCovey, the Alou brothers, Matty, Felipe, Jesus, all three of them played the field for us, left, center, right,' he said.

'We had Juan Marichal,' he said, adding to the list. 'He completed half of the games he started, which is unheard of now.'

His memories of Candlestick Park are chilly and windy. 'I remember any time we went out there, it was time to get out your heavy coats and your blankets.' The stadium, now the home of the 49ers football team, is on the bay south of the city.

The wind not only affected temperatures but play. 'My dad said if it wasn't for that wind blowing, Willie Mays would have broken the Home Run record.' A view that was shared by many people, added David.

And then the amazing stadium, with its address of 24 Willie Mays Plaza, south of the centre of the city opened up. David was there on Opening Day. 'It was so different compared to Candlestick. It was an event just to walk around the shops and the food stalls. At Candlestick, the vendors came to you!' he said. 'There was great excitement. Everybody was happy, it was a hopeful feeling,' he recalled.

He remembers boats sailing up the creek - pictured behind him - to sit in McCovey Cove and wait for the 'splash downs,' and also remembers there being one in the very first game that was held there!

The players that stand out in David's mind during the move to the AT & T Park were Barry Bonds, one of the greatest-ever baseball players, Jeff Kent and Kevin Mitchell, both winners of the National League's Most Valuable Player award, and 'Matt the Bat' Matt Williams.

The stadium - only named AT & T Park in 2006 and originally called Pacific Bell Park, then SBC Park - arguably has the most stunning views of a baseball stadium. On a sunny day, it's an experience just to sit high up in the stands and gaze out across San Francisco Bay.

Not surprisingly, with such a smart stadium, new fans were attracted to the game. 'There were much more family, much more novice kind of fans,' said David.

Candlestick Park was for hardcore fans, much more so when the seasons were lean and the team was on hard times. David and his family were among them. 'We were out there at least 20 times a season,' he said.

However, Candlestick Park days might have been bleak weather-wise, but David looks back to a warmth of camaraderie with the players. 'It seemed the players were much more in touch with their fans at Candlestick. After the games the players would be out in the carpark signing autographs. Now you have to pay for their autographs or its only on special days,' he said.

David"s Best Player?

'It would have to be Willie Mays. He was just an all-round player. There was never a dull moment with him.'

Best Season?

'I would have to say the World Series with the Angels. That was a beautiful season. (The Anaheim Angels defeated the Giants by four games to three in 2002)

'And the playoff against the Pittsburgh Pirates. That was incredible to see Roberto Clemente and Willie Mays, they were the two titans of the time.'

Was he at Candlestick Park when the huge 1989 Loma Prieta quake struck as the World Series, a Bay Area battle between the Giants and Oakland Athletics, was about to start?

'No, but I remember that day I was working in Brisbane (opposite). It was exactly 5.04 pm and we were watching the game on TV. I remember the announcer saying the stadium was shaking...and just after they said it, we felt it.'

The quake was so severe, David and his colleagues were sent home, and, stopping off at a gas station on the way, he bumped into Oakland Athletics player Jose Cansenco. 'I said "hello" and he signed a couple of autographs and then he said he had to go. Probably because we were all Giants fans!' laughed David.

Hopes for this year?

'There's a good feeling for this year. It's rare when you get that good feeling without there being named players. I'm looking to see Andres Torres and Travis Ishikawa come alive.'

And what of the girls' heartthrob, two-time Cy Young Award winner, Tim Lincecum?

'He brings the game a sense of "regular-guy", he's not a prima donna.'

David's family tradition with the Giants is continuing. His son, Joseph, is a fan, and his six-year-old grandson, Julian, playing in his first year in the Little League, will be going along with his grandpa.

Unfortunately, David is working today and so won't be at the free jumbotron viewing in the ballpark that will be showing the Giants opening game being played away against the Houston Astros.

The game is at 4.05 pm but the ballpark gates open at 3 pm with free hotdogs for the first 5,000 fans. Sponsored by the Giants, and Comcast SportsNet who also have giveaways for the first 2,000 fans, there will be a chance to visit the field and dugouts, and have autograph signings from Giants alumni.

Said David, 'But I'll be there in spirit and hear all the cheering as I pass by!'

WonderCon 2010 Celebrates Comics, Sci Fi and Fantasy

WonderCon 2010 is a conference celebrating the world of comics, sci fi and fantasy...see previous blog

Some, however, like Badger, Thalisha, Douglas and Shellee were not, apparently, despite appearances, in costume!

'It's pretty much us!' said Badger. The friends, it seems, spend much of their lives as Victorian


sci-fi characters, a genre known as Steam Punk.

'This is my first time here,' said Douglas, who said he had enjoyed everything about the event from the people he had met, to seeing 'everyone else dressed in amazing costumes,' and the fictional displays of adult and children's cartoons.

Also the actors. Around the center, Douglas had spotted actors from 'movies I have enjoyed from when I was five all the way up to the videos I watched last night!'


Other people were there there for the fun and with a professional interest. Like Lilleah, a brilliantly coloured unicorn from the video game Robot Unicorn Attack. She runs the business, www.BeastCub.com, that provides artistic animal costumes.

But if actors charging fees for autographs presented problems for some conference goers, there were no such problems for fans of cartoon writer and illustrator, Darwyn Cooke. He was generously signing his book, 'The Hunter', an adaptation of Richard Stark's book, for free. Also there for fans was a $2 preview of his next offering, The Outfit, which fans could buy and which was freely autographed.

'It goes on and on!' said Darwyn of his autographs. He'd been an hour at the table where I met him, but had other tables around the conference. 'It stops looking like a name at a certain point!'

But his fans were not disappointed. Michael, of Foster City, who said he goes to the conference every year, was delighted with his signed book.

What took Darwyn into the world of comic illustrating?

'Love of it - ie comics - as a child and a love of drawing. They come together very easily when you're young. And it just never left me.'

It took Darwyn six months to complete The Hunter. He expects to finish The Outfit by the end of May, and for it to be on sale in October.

Tonight the Masquerade costume competition will be held, where costumes have to be both original and handmade.

WonderCon 2010 Hits San Francisco!

The streets of San Francisco have taken a comic turn this weekend as thousands of people, many in fancy dress, have arrived for a conference celebrating comics, sci-fi and fantasy.

WonderCon 2010 is taking place at the Moscone Center, a gathering of the superstars of writers, illustrators and actors from the world of comics and films, together with publishers, dealers and fans. Tomorrow, actors Nicolas Cage and Zachary Levi - 'Chuck' in the TV show - are due to appear.

Outside the Moscone Center, Mette, Bryan, Elena and Chris were just leaving.

'I'm just here in general to dress up in the conference and to see which people have shown up,' said Elena, meaning the vendors, actors and artists. She and Chris were characters from Watchman, the comic and film. Before the weekend was over she was hoping to find James Marsters, of Torchwood and Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame.

Brian was Resident Evil, a film and video game, while Mette described herself as a rif of the evil Time Lord of Dr Who. She pointed to the punk element of trainers, a trademark of the last and one of the most popular-ever Dr Whos, actor David Tennant.

For Chris, Wondercon is about two things, to dress in costume and to take photos. He enjoys the camaraderie. 'A lot of the time I'm chatting to people in between taking photos,' he said.

 Inside the center, the floor was decorated with stalls plying comics and memorabilia. Actors, writers and illustrators met their fans and signed autographs, there were talks on aspects of comics, movies and TV shows, and people in imaginative character costumes provided entertainment and photo opportunities.

It was easy to tell who Gabriel and Garrett were, as Batman and the Joker. This was Garrett's first Wondercon.

'It's a lot of fun, everyone's really nice,' he said. But he hadn't been prepared for his popularity! 'I didn't expect everyone would want to take my picture!'

With them was Erin as Anarchy from DC Comics. 'It's just so much fun,' said Erin, who had met Jeff Johns, writer of the newest version of Teen Titans.

However, there was a downside she thought to the plethora of actors offering autographs. 'It's sad. All the big actors charge for their autographs,' she said. James Marsters, who has appeared in a string of popular TV shows, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Smallville, Torchwood, and films P.S. I Love You and Dragonball Evolution, and is currently in the TV show, Caprica, was charging $45, while last year, Mark Hamill, actor of Luke Skywalker and voice of the Joker in the animated version of Batman, charged $100.

According to the WonderCon website, the guest list included comics legends Murphy Anderson, Sergio Aragonés, and Joe Kubert along with some of the superstars of today's most popular comics, science fiction/fantasy authors Peter S. Beagle and Tim Powers, WonderCon moderator supreme and also comics historian and writer, Mark Evanier, and pop culture icon Stan Freberg and his wife, Hunter.
Actor/producer/writer Michael Chiklis was also making his first appearance and introducing his new comic book series.

Superstar artist and DC co-publisher Jim Lee also joined DC co-publisher Dan Didio and chief creative officer Geoff Johns on the DC Nation panel.

Last year, Wondercon attracted record numbers of 34,000 people.

Apple iPad Launch in San Francisco!

Hundreds of people were outside the Apple Store by 9 am this morning ready to collect their pre-ordered iPads that were launched across the US today...see previous blog

Many of the avid iPad collectors were professional users and developers.

Michael and Wei, who had only queued for two hours, are developers of dishfinders.com, a food app launched in February on the iPhone and now adapted for the iPad.

Michael excitedly turned up the app, and suddenly tantalising dishes were floating across the screen.
His app is designed to encourage restaurants to send in pics of food on their menus, and also to have customers interacting, uploading live pics as the food is served, with reviews.

The app is new and Michael and Wei, who live in San Francisco, are hoping to get many users. But today, they were simply excited to see their product on the iPad.















San Franciscan blogger Justine...http//ijustine.com...emerged from the store with a whoop and a celebratory dance!

'It's beautiful!' she said. More than that, her expectations are that it will make journalistic life a lot easier.

'It's smaller and more portable,' she said, comparing it to her current laptop, the MacBookPro, but bigger and easier to use than her iPhone. Up to today, Justine said, she was waking up in bed first thing in the morning and working on her iPhone but the size of the iPad will make things much easier.

She had also tried the MacBookAir, Apple's lightest laptop, but found that was not good for editing pics. Although she won't be editing pics on the iPad, she expects to have a much more user-friendly computer to travel around with.

The size was also one of the attractive features for Greg, from San Francisco, and one of the first people to exit the Apple Store with an iPad bagged in white plastic. A frequent air traveller, Greg was looking forward to easier use on aircraft.

'What I think I like about it is the ease of the (use of) email and also being on the internet, and just the size,' he said.

How much did he know about it before trying it out?

'I've read pretty much everything they've released. I'm a big Apple fan,' he said.

pics from Chris: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisflowersmd/sets/72157623637515295/ flickr photostream of iPad launchflickr photostream iPad Launch

US Launch of Apple iPad Greeted with Great Excitement in San Francisco!

'This is beautiful! It's awesome!' said app developer Andreas Schobeo, almost moved to tears outside the Apple Store this morning as he held two iPads gently in his hands.

Andreas was seeing both the iPad and his app in action for the first time as the iPad was launched across the US today. By 9 am crowds who had  pre-ordered the iPad or were walk-ins were queuing around the block from the Apple Store.

Andreas had been one of three people to start queuing from about 11 pm last night. He spent the night- hours outside the store just above Market Street with about 12 others until 4 am when the crowds slowly began arriving.

But Andreas' emotional reaction was tangible. The first thing, he said, he was going to do with it was play Planet of the Zombies, which he'd already uploaded.

'What else, other than making out, are you going to do with it?!!' asked Brian Tong of c.net.com in a fun, quirky interview but capturing the emotion.

'Cuddle it!' he said, bantering back. But no, he wouldn't do it for the cameras, that was for a private moment!!!

Andreas' app is '3banana'. It is like a notepad that collects texts, photos and location and is described on his site as: “If you’re looking for a simple way to take, store, and share notes in the cloud, 3banana makes organizing your notes easy with notes based on in-text hashtags.” - Lifehacker

Andreas, who is aged 30 years and from Zurich, Switzerland, living in San Fran, gave a demonstration of his app. 

Awestruck, he said of the iPad, 'I'm touching the future.' 

pics from Chris: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisflowersmd/sets/72157623637515295/ flickr photostream of iPad launch

SF Giants' Pitch Ready for Opening Home Exhibition Game Against Oakland 'A's!

It may be April Fools Day, but preparing the Giants' pitch at the AT &T Park has been no joke.

Tonight sees the Giants testing it out for the first time in an exhibition game against the Oakland Athletics.

And for award-winning Head Groundskeeper, Greg Elliott, it marks the culmination of six weeks of intensive labour and innovative changes...see previous blogs

In fact, the pitch has been almost ready for the last two weeks. In mid-March, Greg surveyed his handiwork and said, 'We could play baseball now. We are fine tuning.'

'We are 85 per cent ready for opening day. That doesn't mean we couldn't play. We could play a game out here tomorrow but it wouldn't be to our standards,' he said. 'Our standards' meaning nothing less than perfection, of course.


One of the new features is a different mix of grass, chosen for ability to withstand wear and tear, recuperate quickly and, not least, colour.

Underfoot, it needs to be spongy and springy, said Greg testing it out. To his delight the grass had grown in well and the colours were 'coming along.'

What greeted his eye at that moment was the ryegrass, the new incumbent being a Bermuda that is still dormant.

He dropped to the ground enthusiastically and peered into a strategic gap in the grass. There, poking through the sandy-coloured soil, were tiny shoots of Bermuda Tifway 11, displaying small spreading sprouts.

'We are starting to get positive growth, it's very exciting! It's loving the sun!' he said.

The tricky part to build is the pitcher's mound. This mound is in only it's second season of being built with six specially-engineered circular steel pallets that hold compacted soil for firmness. Their faint outline could be seen below the topsoil.

That day, Greg wanted more moisture in the mound. 'Moisture is the key to everything we do,' he said, a fine balancing act between too much and too little. Helping this is a totally new feature of moisture sensors. Three have been placed in the grass to measure moisture levels, ground temperature, salinity and acidity.

'It's a really cool project, technically speaking,' said Greg, adding 'Who knows, we could do it in the soil in the future.'

An accurate record of water levels also means less water being used, saving both on the environment and the bills. Being green is 'really big for us,' he said of the Giants' organization. 'There is no reason to have any excess out there and many reasons to take care especially of our resources.'

There was good news about the infield. It was 95 per cent ready in Greg's estimation. The test, and he  knelt down to demonstrate, is to put a small, sharp-ended key into the clay and twist. If the key turns smoothly, all is well, but if it turns up chunks of soil, then more work is needed.

Underfoot, the infield must give a 'cork-like feeling, springy and firm.' His infield responds just the way he likes it! He is going to continue giving it a little more conditioner, and remove a few tiny 'rocks'.

Rocks?

'People misunderstand and panic when I say 'rocks'! he said hastily. 'It's gravel, really.' He caught sight of a 'rock', bent down, picked it up and held it out in the palm of his hand.

Reassuringly, the 'rocks' that instill fear of a ball veering off course are bits of gravel smaller than one-quarter of an inch, part of the normal make-up of soil. Fine tuning indeed!

Home plate was more of a problem. 'We weren't happy with home plate, so we turned it over to dry it a bit more. Today was a good day. We have got the weather for us to do that,' he commented.

His instinct had served him well. It was hot in the empty stadium at 1 pm, and by the end of the day television weather reports were showing a high of 71 degrees, the highest temperature so far this year.

What was the problem with home plate? The 'tarp' had been down for a long time and with the El Nino spring producing well-fulls of water, it was 'dry on top and squishy beneath.' The field would have suffered too, but for Greg's care of the mix of soil and sand, and tilling to greater depth.

With innovations that Greg, the Giants and fans alike hope will make it one of the best baseball pitches in the country, he paid tribute to the enormous support given to him by the Giants' organization and particularly his boss, Jorge Costa, Senior Vice President, Ballpark Operations.

Now the day of testing is here.

'We call it Ground Hog Day when the team's in town!' he said, by which he meant that there are little variations to the daily maintenance 'but the end result is the same.'

In a few hours, the Giants will be playing against the Oakland 'A's. They play their opening game of the season away to the Houston Astros on Monday, which leaves Greg a few more days for final tweaking. Then the Orange and Black onslaught of the 2010 season begins at home next Friday against the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Greg and his pitch will be ready!