NOTE: this sister entry to this post was supposed to have been finished weeks ago. Turns out completing this post was more time-consuming than I thought it would be. I had to select which of the hundreds of pics I took should be posted, plus all the pics you see here had to be resized, then I have to write up my shit, then edit the shit I wrote, and there were those other things I had called a job and pursuing other interests that kept me from finishing this entry. It’s late as hell, but it’s here.
**Originally written May 11th**
I’m fighting off seasonal allergies and listening to the Giants post-game wrap as I type. Costco’s version of Claritin must be finally kicking in since I’m no longer the sneeze machine I was an hour ago (yuck). My team won another game and series today, and, being the needy ho that I am, I still wonder, “why didn’t the Giants win when I was there?!”
Going to a ballpark that’s only a 30-minute drive from home (when traffic is fine on the Bay Bridge) may not be the same as a trip to Santa Cruz. But it’s still a trip for me and it counts as returning to living! Especially when I haven’t been to PacBell AT&T Oracle Park in almost five (!) years. The place, at least from the outside, hasn’t changed.
Bask in the ballpark’s magnificence and proud Dodger haters!
The inside hasn’t changed much, but some things were altered due to the pandemic. I had Club Level seats, and many of the displays found at the Club Level got downsized. For instance, here’s how one display looked like five years ago…
All that memorabilia, now swapped out for quirky simplicity.
Maybe it could be how I captured this, or my contacts need to be cleaned because that thing looks like a mutated orange wart, not a crab!
This display was something I didn’t see in my last visit, however…
Ah, the Preciouseseses. Ya know, I stood in a long-ass line for hours to see those trophies in person when the team did those trophy tours years ago.
I walked around the place before getting to my seats. You think I’d be tired from the near-mile I walked from the parking lot to the ballpark. But nope!
View from the Bleachers–one of the few sections I’ve yet to sit in.
Even if the outcome of the game wasn’t pretty, that day sure was.
This dude has all the flairs!
These flags denotes the rankings of the team’s division at the moment, from first to worst. It has never been a personal thing, otherwise the Bums flag would always be at the bottom looking tattered and shit. **Updated 6/6: Giants are still up top and the Bums slipped to third!!**
A lovely view of the park from the Arcade/Promenade. It’s prettier in person!
The seating: I could’ve chosen one of the “fully vaccinated” sections, but that would mean sitting next to a bunch of strangers who are supposedly fully vaccinated, and, pandemic or not, it’s the sitting-next-to-a-bunch-of-strangers part that I have an issue with. So, the socially-distanced section it is! I can finally stretch my arms out and kick up my legs without worrying about others around me! Did I mention the view I had?
Such a beauty. It pays to have Club Level seating!
And when they say “socially-distanced seating”, they meant it, as apparent from the ties holding down the nearby seats. No one sitting next to you, and it feels like you have the section all to yourself. Love.
With my trusty Sony Cybershot camera on me, I also got nice views of some of the players (via the zoom lens).
It’s three-time World Series champion, former NL MVP, and team hottie/legend Buster Posey! (right) With one of the hitting (?) coaches, I think.
My man, Brandon Crawford. *swoons*
One of the Rockies, whose last name sounded like tilapia, so that’s what I called him during the game. It’s Tilapia with the catch!
Not pictured: the $8 Ghirardelli’s hot cocoa I had when I needed some warm-warm. (Night games during the spring can get cooooold.) Yes, their hot cocoa IS worth $8 and you’d understand if you had one of those!
Sadly, Tilapia and his team decided to ruin my return to the ballpark by scoring more runs than the Giants in the 10th inning (yep, we got bonus baseball). If only the seagulls came my way to pick out my eyes when I witnessed the collapse of the Giants defense during that top of the 10th.
Those birds chose to pester the Bleacher seat people instead. Maybe I should sit there next time I go to a Giants game so if they lose in a crappy fashion, I’ll put food on my face and let those seagulls take the pain away. Or maybe I shouldn’t attend another game this season; they would win the next day. Of course they would!
