Sports stadiums are one of mankind’s most impressive feats.
Dating back to when the Roman Coliseum was built thousands of years ago and gladiators were the entertainment, stadiums across the country, for the most part, are breathtaking, creatively structured and an excellent venue to watch your favorite team compete.
AT&T Park, home to the San Francisco Giants, can feel surreal for those who haven’t had the pleasure of frequenting this waterfront-park that has views of the bay, Bay Bridge and Oakland in the distance. Nestled in downtown, AT&T Park pays homage to the classic parks built before the Great Depression. It has traces of Wrigley Field and Fenway Park along with Baltimore’s Camden Yards. It’s a remarkable sight to an adult.
But what is it like to a child, specifically a toddler?
It’s amazing, jaw-dropping and full of awe. Little did they know that something this grand and magnificent could be built without the use of computer-generated images.
Last year, my family checked off an item from the bucket list as our youngest daughter saw her first major league baseball game. The A’s were streaking toward the end of July as they took care of the Angels on a warm and sunny afternoon in Oakland. Arabella, who was 9 months at the time, was excited as was her older sister, Kyra.
But they were in for a surprise this summer as Arabella experienced her first Giants game, while this was Kyra’s second after we visited three years ago on opening weekend. Words couldn’t express both of their reactions when we approached the park while driving on Embarcadero.
As we got closer to the stadium, we could see the lights peak above before seeing the Coca-Cola bottle and baseball glove.
If we thought watching a baseball game in person was one of the best things to happen in our life, it gets only better when we see your children gasp at what they’re seeing.
The Giants’ park is one of the best in the country because of its location. Kayaks in McCovey Cove and the Bay Bridge in the background add more to the experience. For Arabella and Kyra, there was nothing comparable to what they took in last weekend when the Giants hosted the Diamondbacks.
Although our seats were in the upper deck, the views are unbeatable. Aside from the players looking like ants, it’s difficult to find a better place to watch a baseball game when the ferry’s arriving behind right field or the nice breeze coming off the bay.
The smell of the food, especially the notorious garlic fries, lingers throughout the stadium regardless of where we sit. But it wasn’t the garlic fries or ballpark hot dogs that got the girls’ attention. It was the ice cream and the popcorn. And aside from the food, the music and crowd-inviting beats prompted Arabella to show everyone in Section 334 why she was born to dance.
It’s becoming a family tradition to take a weekend off and watch either the Giants or A’s.
We were fortunate to have my father there for Kyra’s first Giants game in 2011 as well as both of the girls’ first A’s game last year. It was only fitting that he was there last weekend for Arabella’s first time watching the Giants at one of America’s most beautiful stadiums.
Thomas Ranson can be contacted at lvnsports@yahoo.com.