SF Giants 2010 Opening Day!

The Opening Day for the Giants in San Francisco is as much about fashion and food as baseball. In orange and black outfits, and panda costumes aka Pablo 'Panda' Sandoval, it's a day for fans to dress as sporting glitterati.

And while the city have just named every Monday 'Vegetarian Day,' they might just as well call this 'Giants' Sick Day!' Alongside the ballpark, with just under two hours to go to the Opening Pitch, fans crowded onto outside tables at the newly-opened Mejita restaurant. There, the first request for a pic set the scene, being met with concerned and hasty denial.

'No! 'I'm playing hooky and I don't want anyone to see me!' said a lady, as she tucked into a plate of Mexican food with three friends.

Around the corner, people were streaming onto the Willie Mays Plaza, and staff were doing a great job in ushering what would be almost 43,000 fans through the massive, dark-green gates, including carrying out bag searches. Free calendars were being handed out, too, at the entrances.

Inside the teeming ballpark, Sara, though, had no such qualms of 'sick day!' as she sported a panda hat and number 48 shirt of Pablo Sandoval.

'I'm partial to his number. We sit just past third base so we get to see him close up,' she said. But she's also a huge fan of him apart from his number. 'He's a great guy! We've spoken to him and he's signed autographs for us,' she said.

A born and bred San Franciscan, she's a third generation Giants' fan.

On John's head was a shiny history of the Giants encapsulated in the badges pinned to his cap. Covering the years from 1988, they are mostly of opening days, but two specials are Barry Bonds' 500th home run and the 2002 World Series.

'I love it, this is my 24th consecutive opening day,' he said. A fan since 1951, and living 70 miles south of the city, he has high hopes.

'I think we may see a play-off for this year,' he said.

Such was Michelle's enthusiasm to be there, she had    flown in overnight from Indiana, leaving at 3.30 am ET and half-an-hour past midnight, San Francisco time.

'I had heard about the 10th Anniversary and I'm going to all three games in the series,' she said.

Strings of orange beads matched her carefully-teamed outfit. 'I'm a huge fan, ever since this ballpark opened up,' she said.

Ken has been a fan for much longer, with memories going back to Candlestick Park from where the Giants moved ten years ago.

'I remember when I was younger and in school and summer school, and we would go on trips to the ballpark,' he said.

The difference between the AT & T Park and Candlestick?

'Less windy!' he said.

The official celebrations for the 10th Anniversary of the opening of the AT & T Park take place on Sunday with a reunion with some of the 2000 National League West Division Championship team, including Barry Bonds - pic of team displayed on jumbotron

Bobby, from San Francisco, was orange and black from head to toe.  On his seventh Opening Day extravaganza, he had brought his four-year-old son with him for his first!

Confident about the Giants making the play-offs, he was hopeful of a place in the World Series and his favourite player is Tim Lincecum.

Will he be buying a newly-designed Lincecum wig with its trademark long black hair?

He will. His orange and black wig is soon to be consigned to history.
'This one is three years old and I'm going to update it!' he said.

SF Giants Opening 2009 -

Giants fans arriving on Opening Day for the match against the Milwaukee Brewers - see previous blogs - braved the rain and the uncertainty of the game going ahead as they set out early this morning.

Disembarking from Caltrain, the roads were still wet for this group pictured below. But the scene, when they arrived at the Willie Mays Plaza was business as usual, except for the protest they had to pass.

A small, orderly but vocal demonstration of AT & T workers were circling with placards and chanting, and handing out orange info sheets headlined 'You are out!'

AT & T sponsor the Giants' ballpark at China Basin which is known as the AT & T Park. The protestors say that while the corporation made $12.9 billion in profits last year it is 'on the brink of a strike with its employees, insisting that it needs huge concessions from its workforce.'

Issues of executive pay and

shareholder dividends are part of the argument. Top executives, they say, were paid $33.5 million last year, and investors $9.8 billion in dividends, aside from money spent on campaigns, lobbying and gifts.

It is 'at the bargaining table with over 100,000 employees in 22 states - including about 25,000 right here in California. Can AT & T afford to provide decent, middle class jobs to its employees?...Yes, AT & T can,' say the workers.

On the other side of the Willie Mays Plaza at the rows of ticket windows people were queuing to collect pre-ordered tickets or standing in the hope of picking up some of the very few remaining tickets that were coming in slowly as returns.

With the clock ticking at 12.30 pm, one ticket seller said she thought all the tickets had gone, but she would check again.

'Two have just come in,' she said, 'they're $135 and $71 dollars.' The last-minute purchaser took the cheaper that came with good views at Club Level. Passing through the gates, the ticket collector said the capacity of the park at ballgames was 40,100 - and the house was almost full!

SF Giants Opening Day May be Rained Off

The skies have opened and the rain is pouring down over the San Francisco Giants ballpark on what was the much-heralded 2009 Opening Day with the possibility that the game will be cancelled.

'You don't want to say they won't play...' said the broadcaster, not wanting to be too definite at this early stage.

By 10 am as fans were beginning a gentle stream towards the Willie Mays Plaza at the front of the park at China Basin, the voice of a KNBR sports presenter broadcasting over the park queried the possibility of the match going ahead and instead there being a 'double hitter' tomorrow.

At 1.05 pm Captain Sully Sullenberger, hero of the Hudson river, is due to cast the ceremonial pitch before the match with the Milwaukee Brewers - see earlier blogs

Fans will be gutted if the game does not go ahead.

First in line by 7 am was Ermelita, closely followed by her friend, Nicole. It wasn't raining at the start of the interview just after 9 am, but by the end ominous drops were falling.

Ermelita, dressed in a white zipper Giants top, was up at 5 am and took about an hour to travel there.

What did The Day mean to her and who is her favourite player?

'It's a very special day, it's the Opening Day for the Giants,' she said enthusiastically. 'And Tim Lincecum is my favourite player - he's all worth it, he's worth everything - rain or shine!'

Nicole had left home at 7 am and arrived outside the main gates at around 8.30 am.

'It's Opening Day and I'm a die-hard Giants fan,' she said, wearing her black Giants top with orange lettering. 'I'm so happy the baseball season is back, it's going to be so much fun. And Tim Lincecum is awesome, he's electrifying, he's good stuff, man!'

How often will the girls be supporting their team? As often as they could get there, they said.

Prospects for the season?

'I think they'll do really well. You've just got to have faith and believe in the Giants,' said Ermelita. Nicole agreed. 'They're going to do really good!

The girls were joined by James under a green umbrella. His expectations for the 2009 season?

'I'm hoping the Giants will make the World Series and will win the Division. Tim Lincecum will get the Cy Young Award,' he said. 'No doubt!' chipped in Ermelita.

Tim is already a Cy Young Award winner for last season and will be presented with the award tomorrow evening.

'I hope Matt Cain will pitch better this season than last season,' added James.

What did he think of the ballpark going green?

'Great idea!' he said.

Around the corner a small queue had formed at the ticket booth, fans hoping to get late tickets as they become available from others cancelling.

more interviews in next blog
pics show: Nicole, James, Ermelita; banner of Tim Lincecum and the bunting above the main gates at the Willie Mays Plaza; Nicole and Ermelita first in the queue!

San Francisco Giants Ready for 2009!

The finishing touches of a giant makeover are being applied prior to one of the city's biggest celebrations of the year...the opening of the San Francisco Giants' 2009 baseball season.


Down at the AT & T Park, home of the Giants at China Basin, staff can be seen working both inside and outside the stadium.

At the grand entrance at Willie Mays Plaza, people have been on their knees this week polishing the thousands of bricks inscribed with the names of donors that sweep in seven arcs across the front.

And with the help of a cherry-picker today, men were standing on the heavy glass and steel frames that overhang the entrance, brushing and washing down.

Already, new turf has been laid and stands are being readied.

All this for the Giants' party on Opening Day on Tuesday, April 7, when the area around King Street and McCovey Cove will turn into a bobbing sea of orange and black .

In the opening game, currently scheduled for *1.05 pm, fans will watch their beloved team pitch against Milwaukee Brewers. The match continues on Wednesday at 7.15 pm and Thursday at 4.05 pm.

Prior to the home game, the team can be see in action in a series of exhibition games after returning from their Spring Training in Scottsdale, Arizona. They will be in Oakland on Thursday, April 2, and Friday, April 3, and then in Los Angeles on Sunday, April 5.

Games throughout the season are broadcast on TV and radio and this info, along with downloadable and printable match schedules, directions, videos and all up-to-date commentaries and info about the Giants community - along with a countdown to the minute to Opening Day! - is on their website: www.sfgiants.com

*** The Giants advise: 'Game times do change and fans should check the online schedule for the most up-to-date game information.'

pics show the gleaming bricks and, just visible, men cleaning the glass and steel frames above the entrance

9/11 Giants Ballpark Memorial 2008

'I heard the first one (plane) hit, and I saw the second plane hit,' said Tony, reliving the terrible disaster at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.

Visibly distressed, he was standing outside the Giants' ballpark this morning searching for the name of his friend and friend's brother on the enormous banners that list every person who died.

'It's very upsetting. I'm looking for my friend who died, Sean,' he said. 'He and his brother died in the World Trade Centre.'

A young New Yorker, Tony is visiting San Francisco and had stopped from a jog to reflect at the Giants' memorial. It didn't take long to find the names of Sean Patrick Lynch and his brother, Farrell Peter Lynch.

When you love somebody they (the terrorists) can't take that memory away. He was so funny, so funny,' he said, his voice petering out.

At the time of the attack, Tony was living in downtown New York. He remembered hearing the first plane hit.

'You don't hear that sound in New York city, so I said, "That's not right,"' he said. 'In fact, I heard the plane flying over. It was so low, I said "That's not right."

'So I walked down and all of a sudden I saw a giant fireball.' At that moment he knew America was under attack and the rest of the day was unreal.

'The whole day was like you were living outside of your body. Where are your loved ones? Where is everybody? How can we help?' he said. 'We don't do a lot right as Americans, we're bullies. But the taking of life forcibly is not the answer.'

HIs thoughts led momentarily to reflections on the the Iraq war. 'You know we hurt so many people in the war. You feel guilty.'

But then he returned to Sean and his brother. 'They were Irish guys. Sean and I went to school together.'

In a brief, final tribute to Sean, he said, 'He was a funny guy. A good dad.'

And then he continued on to the bay front to grieve in private.

Only minutes earlier I had left the vicinity of the Giants' offices where Shana Daum, Public Affairs officer, had talked to me about the memorial.

'We designed them,' she said of the banners that are strung between palm trees on the plaza by the entrance to the ballpark. They were first hung as a very visible, public tribute on the first anniversary of the tragedy in 2002.

Several Giants' fans died on 9/11 and the Giants pride themselves justifiably on their family ethos.

"We all know someone, or someone had a friend who knew someone, who died. Lots of people from the Bay Area were killed that day. A number of people who were killed on the airplanes were Giants' fans,' said Shana.

The Giants, she said, chose to honour the memories of those who died in this way because 'It was the right thing to do. It was a national tragedy that affected all of us and we believe it's something you can't forget, and that's why we continue to do it every year whether our baseball team are playing at home or not.'

The plaza borders the main street that runs along the bay front up to the tourist centre of Fisherman's Wharf and was chosen as the memorial site for that reason. As such a public place, the Giants saw it as a focal point for tourists and fans.

'We have a place where they can come, it's such a beautiful spot with the palm trees and the statue of Willie Mays,' she said.

The Giants have honoured the memories of the fans who died in various ways. On that first anniversary, their families were invited to stand on the field before the start of the baseball game, and they have been invited to other games and functions as guests.

***I found a tribute to Sean and Farrell's family, and especially to Farrell online. Click here.

***The blue banner names the crew and passengers on the four aircraft.