Baseball's Best Address

So we took a little trip up to the Bay Area and I decided to squeeze in a tour of AT&T Park. In my opinion, it is the second nicest ballpark in the majors that I have visited. (The first being Busch Stadium in STL). It was pretty cool going into the locker room, press boxes, dugouts, etc... There were a group of minor leaguers practicing while we we there. 

The best part was seeing the huge orange banner outside the front of the park in Willie Mays Plaza congratulating Tim Lincecum for being the 2008 NL Cy Young Award winner. Tim is only the second Giant ever to win the prestigious award.

After the tour, I had some SF traditional garlic fries at 

Gordon Biersch about half a mile from the stadium...who can 

go to AT&T Park and not have the garlic fries? And since the concession stands weren't open due to the off season, I had to get my fix somewhere!

After a belly full of delicious garlic fries, I treated myself to a clearance priced authentic BP jersey from the Giants Dugout Store, that I have been wanting since spring training 2004! Speaking of shopping, Gina got a sweet new coat & scarf at the Gap and trust me, she looks super hot in them. I love giving gifts to myself and the wifey, especially since I can be confident that it is truly appreciated. Nothing worse than giving gifts to people that don't express any gratitude or even acknowledge it at all. We also did the tourist thing and went sight seeing to the newly renovated California Academy of Sciences, Fisherman's Wharf, and the world famous prison known as "the Rock" on Alcatraz island. We ate at some really good places: we had crab and corn chowder in sourdough bread bowls at fisherman's wharf, hot fudge sundaes at Ghiradelli square, and we ate a very pricey but delicious meal at Morton's in Union Square. We even had a chance to go ice skating in the outdoor rink next to our hotel, the Hyatt, at the Embarcadero Center. That was a lot of fun, since it as the first time that I strapped on the the ice skates since I stopped playing hockey 4 years ago. Needless to say, we had a blast in SF...we pretty much always do have a great time when we go up there, it's one of my favorite vacations places in the world, especially when you put all of their politics aside. 

This was my best trip to SF, since I was 15 when my parents took me there to see a Giants game at the Stick as a junior high school graduation gift. It was a very cold Sunday on July 29th in 1990, where my parents bought me a sweet Giants hoodie at the game so I wouldn't freeze to death, while I watched Scotty Garrelts pitch a one hitter versus Chris Sabo's Reds. The Giants won the game 4-0. My friends, I am sharing with you one of my most treasured childhood memories. I will always remember that weekend of continuos MC Hammer playing in the car, my dad getting lost in Oak town, eating a Giant dog, wearing split Giants/A's caps, seeing one of my childhood heroes, Will "the Thrill" Clark, play in person, and going to an A's game to see the juiced up bash brothers in action. Glad that the Giants have a more climate friendly stadium for the fans now, playing their home games at "baseball's best address."