|
 |
|
ballparksofbaseball.com |
|
|
|
AT&T Park
San
Francisco, CA
Since its opening,
in 2000, AT&T Park has become one of the greatest ballparks
in baseball, but planning and building it took quite some time.
The idea and plans for new ballpark to replace Candlestick Park
dates back 1976 when Bob Lurie bought the Giants. Lurie wanted to
build a new downtown stadium for the Giants because of the financial
losses they were suffering at Candlestick Park. Interest in a
ballpark peaked in 1984 when Lurie nearly sold the team. Instead of
building a downtown ballpark, city officials proposed placing a dome
over Candlestick Park. That plan failed and in 1987 and 1989 San
Francisco voters rejected plans to build a ballpark. Both plans were
barely defeated and Lurie began threatening to move the Giants.
Lurie looked to Santa Clara in 1990 and San Jose in 1992 for public
funding, but citizens rejected both referendums. With the threatened
move to Florida, Peter Magowan bought the Giants in 1992, keeping
the team in the Bay City. In 1995, the Giants announced plans to
build the first privately financed Major League ballpark since
Dodger Stadium. It would be located in downtown San Francisco in the
China Basin area. Construction of the steel, concrete and brick
ballpark began on December 11, 1997. Naming rights were sold to
Pacific Bell for $50 million over 24 years, thus the ballpark was
named Pacific Bell Park. After the 2003 season, Pacific Bell Park
was renamed SBC Park after SBC Communications Inc. acquisition of
Pacific Bell. In February 2006, the ballpark was renamed AT&T Park
after SBC Communications changed its named after its acquisition of
AT&T.
On April 11, 2000, the Giants played their
first regular season baseball game at AT&T Park. Nestled
in the China Basin area on the outskirts of downtown San
Francisco, as fans approach the ballpark they see a magnificent
steel and brick structure. At the main entrance gate, is a statue of
Willie Mays. Making up part of the exterior
architecture of AT&T Park is the The King Street clock
towers. The two towers are 122 feet tall and feature pyramid-shaped
roofs topped by 45-foot tall flagpoles. Once inside, the main
three tier grandstand consist of 41,600 green seats that extend
from behind homeplate to both the foul poles. Bleachers are located
behind the left field fence. There are no seats behind the right
field wall because of McCovey Cove, part of the San Francisco Bay.
However, there is enough room that fans can walk behind the right
field wall and see through the screened and brick right field
fence. The main scoreboard is located
behind the centerfield fence. There are plenty of entertainment to
keep fans entertained at AT&T Park. The Coca Cola Fan Lot
is an interactive play area for children and
adults. Fans of all ages can enjoy a slide into home plate from one
of
the
four slides inside the 80-foot wooden Coca-Cola contour bottle,
stroll up to the world's largest baseball glove, or check out the
views of the San
Francisco Bay area. When a Giant player hits
a homerun, strobes flash inside the Coca Cola bottle, bubbles appear
to float from the bottle's mouth, and green and white lights flash
up and down the neon tubes running along its ribs. Prior to the
start of the 2007 the Giants installed 103 foot wide high definition
scoreboard. AT&T Park has become an excellent place to watch a
baseball game because of the of the beautiful views of the San
Francisco Bay and the surrounding area.

|
|
|
|
|
|
AT&T PARK
FACTS AND FIGURES |
2008 GIANTS SCHEDULE |
- Tenant:
San Francisco Giants
- Capacity:
41,600
- Surface:
Grass
- Cost:
$255 Million
- Opened:
April 11, 2000
- Dimensions:
339-L, 364-LC, 399-C,
421-RC, 309-R
- Architect:
HOK
- Owner:
China Basin Baseball Corporation
- Former Name(s):
Pacific Bell Park (2000-03), SBC Park (2004-06)
-
Naming Rights:
AT&T Communications, $2.1 million/year through 2024
|
|
|
|
|
|
AT&T PARK
PICTURES |
|
|
|
PLANNING YOUR TRIP TO SAN FRANCISCO AND AT&T PARK |
|
|
| |
AT&T PARK AND THE SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS BY THE NUMBERS |
|
  |
| |
Total Attendance |
MLB
Rank |
Average Attendance per Game |
MLB
Rank |
Team Wins |
Average Ticket Price |
MLB
Rank |
|
2007 |
3,365,632 |
8 |
41,551 |
5 |
71 |
25.11 |
10 |
|
2006 |
3,406,790 |
4 |
42,059 |
4 |
76 |
24.53 |
9 |
|
2005 |
3,404,686 |
4 |
42,033 |
4 |
75 |
23.22 |
10 |
|
2004 |
3,375,677 |
3 |
41,675 |
3 |
91 |
21.60 |
14 |
|
2003 |
3,061,094 |
5 |
37,791 |
5 |
100 |
21.64 |
9 |
|
|
|
|
|
ballparksofcom |
|
|

Great Car Donation Services: If you are in the San Fransisco area for the game you might want to look into
San
Fransisco car donation. It's the easy way to do
car donation without any of the hassles that often come up when giving a
car to charity. You can also
donate RVs. So look into a
donation service today!
|