La Casa de los Gigantes

I went to the Giants' game last Saturday with a couple of friends, also old retired meteorologists. A bunch of us got together for lunch in San Francisco; such events are scheduled several times a year. It occurred to me that I have never blogged the Giants' fine home, AT&T Park. Here it is, before the game. No other major league park is so close to the water. Almost every seat is good; the food and drink is excellent, if a bit pricey; and the downtown location is convenient to Caltrain, Muni, and BART. It's a great place to watch a ballgame! You can watch ships and boats move around in the bay as pelicans cruise and Mount Diablo looms in the background.

As dusk goes down, the ballpark becomes an oasis of light. As for the game, the Giants lost, as usual. They're lousy this year. In one way it's almost easier going to a game when your team is not in contention. You can relax! If they win, fine; if they don't, well, darn, but it's not really important. Still, I'd rather be barracking for a team with something on the line. On this occasion the Giants' young phenom, Tim Lincecum (is 24, looks 17) struck out 13 Arizona Diamondbacks in seven innings, only to see his bullpen fritter the game away. That sort of thing happens a lot to losing teams.

This massive glove looms in left field beyond the bleachers. I don't know what the glove is made of but it's not leather. It is supposedly 501 feet from home plate; nobody has ever hit a ball there in a game. I think the distance is close to that, but it may not be precise; notice the Levis advertising sign (501 jeans).