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The Chronicles of Fuji |
Wednesday, May, 29, 2024
My memory isn't what it used to be. That's why it's important to document anything sports related on this blog... including going to ball games.
2019 Topps #616
My cousin from Hawaii was in town over the weekend. She bought some tickets to the San Francisco Giants vs. Philadelphia Phillies game on Monday. We got up early, hopped on Caltrain, and arrived in the city about three hours before the game. With time to kill, we hopped in an Uber and went to Japantown where we grabbed a small lunch and walked around.
We grabbed another Uber and were dropped off at Oracle a little over an hour before the game. I knew heading into the game that I wanted to grab a few wallet card photos. Here's the best one:
It's a shot of Tony and Juan outside of Oracle Park as we were walking up to the gate. With time to kill, we walked around the entire park to give my cousin and her son a chance to take in the full ballpark experience.
Here's a photo of the view behind home plate that semi-resembles the above 2019 Topps card:
And here's a panoramic view from our seats:
These were the best seats I've ever had at Oracle Park. We were behind the Phillies dugout and were low enough to get a great view of the players... and high enough to see the entire field. With clear skies and mild temperatures... it was a perfect day for baseball.
One of the highlights came before the game when two fighter planes flew over us right after the National Anthem. It was really, really cool. Unfortunately... I didn't capture it on film. But if you're interested, you can watch it here.
I was really impressed with the San Francisco Giants organization and their efforts to honor those who died while serving our country. Throughout the game there were tributes to special visitors and members of the United States Armed Forces.
As for the game... I wore my San Jose Giants hoodie to try and fit in. I'm not a San Francisco Giants fan, but I do support the local farm team. It was cool to see Matt Chapman back in the Bay Area. And I was excited to see Blake Snell pitch in person:
There were a lot of Phillies fans sitting in our section, but I didn't see any tension among the fans. Sure Giants fans booed Harper... while Phillies fans cheered him on. But from my view... everyone seemed to be having a great time.
Normally I like to highlight the food, but honestly my hot dog was tiny and the garlic fries were mediocre at best.
Having taken Caltrain up to the game, we knew we had to beat the crowd back to the train. So we left during the top of the eighth... with the Giants leading 8 to 4. A lot of fans had the same idea, but the three of us were able to grab seats for the 90 minute ride back down to the South Bay.
It ended up being almost a twelve hour experience that was exhausting... but memorable. I already have one more game lined up this season as I've already bought my tickets for the final A's game. Hoping to hit up at least one other A's game during the summer... and probably a San Jose Giants game too.
If that happens... I'll be sure to document it here. Otherwise... I'm likely to forget it happened in a few years.
Thank you Jamie for the ticket to the game and for motivating me to get my butt back to Oracle.
Everyone else... thank you for taking the time to read this post.
Happy Wednesday and sayonara!
