Beat LA! Beat LA (We didn't)

The Giants and Dodgers have an intense rivalry in the National League West Division. Simply put, we hate the Dodgers. Well, not really - because we love people.. but you understand. Kinda like Michigan hates Notre Dame! The Dodgers came into town last night for the first of three games that will help decide who makes it to the playoffs. The Giants are desperately trying to make it into the playoffs as a wild card. The Dodgers are trying to hang on the the NL West lead.

A good friend of mine invited Julie and I to go to the game with him - and it was with excitement that we accepted the invitation. Patrick, we love you and appreciate your generosity!

We arrived early so that we could do some walking and enjoy SF on a gorgeous Friday afternoon. AT&T Park resides on the edge of San Francisco Bay. There is a major street called The Embarcadero that runs for miles along the bay; more or less between the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge (connecting SF and Oakland). That's part of the Bay Bridge below.















Just past the stadium is a Marina with a number of sailboats biding time until they get a chance to sail the Bay!















Further down The Embarcadero is this interesting sculpture. I'm not sure exactly what the artist is trying to 'say'. Perhaps this is the perfect spot?















Sadly, San Francisco is also home to many homeless people. Homelessness is a difficult problem and it breaks your heart to see so many people that lack a stable home to live in. But, it is a reality in our beautiful city. At least this gentleman seems to have a well crafted way of maintaining his stuff.



















As our walk concluded we were back at AT&T Park. One of the interesting features of the park are it's 'arches' in the right field wall. These arches provide a place where passer-byes can stop and watch the happenings at field level. Here's a picture I took during the pre-game warm-ups. However, the arches are open throughout the entire game. A cool feature when you aren't able to get a ticket.















Then, we met up with Patrick and went into the stadium. We were excited when we entered the stadium through the 'Club Level' entrance. It's not a place we had ever been before. You should know that the food at AT&T Park is consistently rated among the very best in baseball. Well, the food at the club level is even more amazing. I had a delicious brisket sandwich while Julie had a beef and broccoli rice bowl. It was delicious and we'll miss it!

Once we grabbed the food we were off to our seats. And they were simply impressive. The netting behind us is actually the net right behind the home plate! Yes, our seats were in the second row behind home plate! How good is that? Way to go Patrick!















Check out the TV camera that captures the images of the batters in the box right in front of our seats!



















There's a couple of things you realize when you sit in these seats. First, you realize there is no chance that you won't be on TV. So, you need to tend to personal grooming and such between innings. And, you've got to try to eat in a half way civilized manner ;D

You also get a very up close view of the players while they are batting. It's interesting to watch the pitches come and understand how little time the batter has to decide if the pitch is worth swinging at and to do so. It's just a tiny fraction of a second! But, I will say that when you are that close to the play - you feel totally justified in yelling at the umpire when they make a bad call! Here's Manny Ramirez who was soundly BOO'ed every time he came to bat! (Dodgers SUCK).



















The other thing you realize is that the players can probably hear you - since you are so close to the field. So, OF COURSE, Julie just had to stand up and scream 'Bengie, I love you!', when Bengie Molina (our catcher) came into the on-deck circle. Bengie is the player we named our tortoise after!










































Okay - so it's time to fess up that the actual game SUCKED. Yeah, the Dodgers had our number early and often. They whooped us 10-3. However, that did afford us the opportunity to witness a special event. The Giants have a prospect by the name of Buster Posey. He is viewed as a n0-brainer for massive success at the major league level. Buster was called up a couple weeks ago and had yet to enter a game for the Giants. So, it was a nice moment when late in the game he entered the game and got a chance for his very first major league at bat. Here he is in the on-deck circle and coming to the plate for the first time in his career. Alas, in accordance with the mood of the night - he struck out. But, if some time 30 years from now he enters the Hall of Fame.. we can say we were there at the beginning!