AT&T Park
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The stadium was officially renamed AT&T Park on March 1, 2006, just two years after it adopted the SBC Park name. SBC Communications, the flagship sponsor of the park, rebranded itself as AT&T Inc. when it merged with AT&T Corp. in late 2005. This marks the second renaming for the park since its opening in 2000.
History
Groundbreaking on the ballpark began on December 11, 1997 in the industrial waterfront area of San Francisco known as China Basin. The stadium cost $319 million to build and supplanted the Giants' former home, Candlestick Park, a multi-use stadium in southern San Francisco. Fans had shivered through 40 seasons at "The Stick." In contrast, this new ballpark was built in a sheltered and relatively warm area of the city's topography.
When it opened on March 31, 2000, the ballpark was the first Major League Baseball stadium built in the U.S. without public funds since the completion of Dodger Stadium in 1962 (though the Giants did receive a $10 million tax abatement from the city, which also paid for upgrades to the local infrastructure, including a connection to the Muni Metro). The park opened with a seating capacity of 40,800, but this has increased over time as seats have been added. The opening series took place between April 11, 2000 and April 13, 2000 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, where the Giants were swept in 3 games.
In just its first few years of existence, the ballpark has seen its share of historic events primarily due to veteran Giants outfielder Barry Bonds. On April 17, 2001, Bonds hit his 500th career home run at then Pacific Bell Park. Later that year, he set the single season home run record when he hit home runs number 71, 72, and 73 over the weekend of October 5th to close the season. On August 9, 2002, Bonds hit his 600th career home run at the park. On April 12, 2004, Bonds hit career home run 660 at SBC Park to tie Willie Mays on the all-time list and on the next night, he hit number 661 to move into sole possession of third place. On September 17, 2004, Bonds hit his 700th career home run at the park to become just the third member of baseball's 700 club. On May 28 2006 Bonds hit his 715th homerun at the park to pass Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time homerun list. The stadium has also hosted the 2002 World Series against the Anaheim Angels, which the Giants lost 4 games to 3, and will host the 2007 MLB All-Star Game.
On the facing of the upper deck near left field are the retired numbers (or "NY" designation for players of the pre-number era) of Christy Mathewson, John McGraw, Bill Terry, Mel Ott, Carl Hubbell, Willie Mays, Juan Marichal, Orlando Cepeda, Jackie Robinson, Willie McCovey, and Gaylord Perry.
Pacific Bell, a local telephone company in the San Francisco Bay Area, purchased the naming rights for the park for $50 million over 24 years when the park opened. Pacific Bell's parent SBC Communications eventually dropped the Pacific Bell name and reached an agreement with the Giants to change the park's name on January 1, 2004. The name change upset some fans, leaving them in the awkward position of desiring the park's former corporate name.
After SBC merged with AT&T on November 18, 2005, the name of the merged company became AT&T, Inc. As a result, the stadium was given its third name in six years: "AT&T Park." Many fans still refer to the stadium as "Pac Bell Park", due to Pacific Bell's San Francisco roots and general coolness to corporate named stadiums, especially ones with as many name changes as AT&T Park. Others have named the stadium Telephone Park due to the constant name changes since its opening.
A grass-roots fan [campaign] is promoting the alternative name "Mays Field" to honor the former Giants' star Willie Mays.
Giants Enterprises, a wholly owned subsidiary of the San Francisco Giants created and headed by longtime team executive and marketing legend Pat Gallagher, brings non-baseball events to the stadium on days when the Giants do not play. The stadium was home to the XFL San Francisco Demons in 2001, was the home of the Shrine Bowl (until 2006) and is the current home of college football's Emerald Bowl (since 2002). Numerous concerts are also held at the park.
Features
The stadium contains 68 luxury suites, 5,200 club seats on the club level and an additional 1,500 club seats at the field level behind home plate.
The most prominent feature of the ballpark is the right field wall, which is 24 feet (7 m) high in honor of former Giant Willie Mays who wore number 24. Because of the proximity to San Francisco Bay, it is only 309 feet (94 m) to the right field foul pole. The fence angles quickly away from home plate; right-center field extends out to 421 feet (128 m) from home plate. Atop the fence are four pillars with fountains atop. These four pillars will burst jets of water when a Giant hits a home run. To some old-timers, the right field area vaguely suggests the layout at the Polo Grounds. This deep corner of the ballpark has been dubbed "death valley," "triples alley," and most recently, "Finley's Alley" after center fielder Steve Finley. Like its Polo Grounds counterpart, it is very difficult to hit a home run to this area, and a batted ball that finds its way into this corner often results in a triple.
Beyond right field is a section of the bay, dubbed McCovey Cove after famed Giants first baseman Willie McCovey, into which a number of home runs have been hit on the fly. As of September 18, 2005, 40 "Splash Hits" [link] have been knocked into the Bay by Giants players since the park opened; 32 of those were by Barry Bonds. Opponents had hit the Cove on the fly 12 times, Luis Gonzalez of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Cliff Floyd of the New York Mets are the only visiting players to do so twice. On game days, fans take to the water of McCovey Cove in boats and even in kayaks, often with fishing nets in the hope of collecting a home-run ball (this echoes what used to happen during McCovey's playing days. Before Candlestick Park's upper deck was extended, the area behind right field was occupied by three small bleacher sections and a lot of open space. Kids in those bleachers would gather behind the right field fence when "Stretch" would come to the plate). Just beyond the wall is a public waterfront promenade, where fans can watch three innings of a game through the wall's archways, free of charge, albeit with a somewhat obstructed view. Across the cove from the ballpark is McCovey Point and China Basin Park, featuring monuments to past Giants legends.
The ballpark also features an 80 foot (24 m) Coca-Cola bottle with playground slides that will blow bubbles and light up with every Giants home run and miniature version of the stadium behind the left field bleachers. Next to the Coke bottle is a giant baseball mitt, a replica of a vintage 1927 glove. Right-center field features a small cable car, with a label that states "No Dodgers Fans Allowed", and a fog horn - a feature transferred from Candlestick Park - that blows when a Giants player hits a home run.
In addition to automated scoreboards, the park also has enormous, manually operated boards in right-center field, which display the scores of MLB games played elsewhere. These manual scoreboards are operated by three employees, whose work on gamedays starts at least two hours prior to the first pitch.
Outside the ballpark are three statues dedicated to San Francisco Giants all-time greats. The Willie Mays Statue is located in front of the ballpark entrance at Willie Mays Plaza and is surrounded with 24 palm trees, in honor of his jersey #24, retired by the Giants. Another statue is located at McCovey Point across McCovey Cove, and is dedicated to Willie McCovey. A third statue, dedicated in 2005, honors former Giants pitcher Juan Marichal, and is located outside the ballpark at its Lefty O'Doul gate entrance.
Starting in 2004, the Giants installed one hundred and twenty-one 802.11b wireless internet access points, covering all concourses and seating areas, creating one of the largest public "hotspots" in the world. The stadium could thus be said to be one of the largest "Internet Cafes."
See also
49-Mile Scenic DriveExternal links
- * Satellite image from [WikiMapia], [Google Maps] or [Windows Live Local]
- * Street map from [MapQuest] or [Google Maps]
- * Topographic map from [TopoZone]
- * Aerial image from [TerraServer-USA]
- * WikiSatellite view at [WikiMapia]
- * Close-up color aerial from [TerraServer-USA] or [Google Local]
- *[Surrounding area map from the United States Census Bureau]
- [AT&T Park]
- [AT&T Park splash hits]
- [Recent USGS aerial showing ballpark]
- [PETA's 2005 Top 10 Vegetarian-Friendly Ballparks]
- [Momo's Restaurant across from ATT park]
| Preceded by: Candlestick Park/3Com Park 1960–1999 | Home of the San Francisco Giants 2000–present | Followed by: Current |
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