The area of The City south of The San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge to China Basin and bordered on the west and east by Interstate 280 and San Francisco Bay is known as South Beach.
 The San Francisco Giants' ballpark construction sparked a real estate boom in South Beach that still continues as older buildings are renovated for new uses and many new structures provide businesses and condo's in this vibrant area of The City.
|
click images to enlarge
The photos above and left were taken from the 2nd floor at AT&T Park.
|
|
Pictures &
Willie Mays statue
in Willie Mays Plaza
Giants retired numbers on display in the Ball Park
|
Follow the links in the left column to view pictures and panoramas of the Navy Pier near the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge, AT&T Park, AT&T Park Marina and Willie Mays Plaza.
Links in the blue column to the right will take you to other San Francisco neighborhoods or the California Wine Country, Yosemite National Park or New Orleans.
The Embarcadero begins at China Basin and wraps around the waterfront past Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf to Aquatic Park. The renovation of the South Beach area over the last few years makes this an ideal place to find your San Francisco apartment.
The San Francisco Giants new home, formerly Pacific Bell Park and now AT&T Park, is undoubtedly one of the most recognized additions to the whole South Beach—SOMA urban renewal of the last few years.
Willie Mays Plaza, with its very lifelike statue, anchors the southwest corner of AT&T Park while entrance to the opposite side is from the marina where fans can anchor their sailboats or arrive at the baseball park by ferry boat after a cruise on San Francisco Bay.
Willie Mays played in San Francisco from 1958 when the Giants moved to San Francisco from New York until 1971 and was among the smartest and best-disciplined players in baseball history.
 A statue of Juan Marichal — the first Dominican inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame — is on the southeast corner of the ball park just outside the entrance closest to the main parking area.
|
Aerial photo of At&T Park
|
Marichal's uniform number 27 was retired by the San Francisco Giants. You can see Juan Marichal's number along with those of other Giants Retired Numbers displayed inside the ballpark in the photo above.
 China Basin Park directly across McCovey Cove from SBC Park is a public open space where you can view the ball park, enjoy a picnic and play America's favorite game on a small baseball diamond – Barry Bonds Junior Giants Field.
There's a statue of Willie McCovey in action at McCovey Point — the northeastern corner of China Basin Park.
You can stroll through San Francisco Giants history on a walkway around China Basin Park that features a number of historic markers representing San Francisco Giants teams from 1958 through 1999.
 Tours of AT&T Park are scheduled at 10:30 and 12:30 every day that no game is scheduled. See places only the players and staff go including the dugouts, field warning track, indoor batting cages and visitors' clubhouse. Other highlights of the tour are the press box and luxury suite.
Free admittance to the AT&T Park tour and many other San Francisco attractions and tours are included with the Go San Francisco Card.
 I enjoyed a SBC Park tour on a Friday morning in January with just one other visitor. The tour began at the Giant's store and our guide was very knowledgeable and while there was a considerable amount of maintenance and cleanup from a party the night before and the recent motocross event we were able see and learn about most of the backstage areas of the park.
 The field — seen here from the visitors dugout — will be completly re-sodded this year and the CocaCola sign is getting a fresh coat of paint.
Other highlights of the tour included a look into one of the private suites — something I'm not likely to see during a game — the batting practice area under the bleachers and the visitors dugout. Photos were being taken of one of the players in the Giants dugout so we missed going there.
The stadium has re-energized many of the Bay Area’s baseball fans. Visit the McCovey Cove website to learn more about the San Francisco Giants ball park.
After you've taken a virtual tour of San Francisco on iNeTours.com you might want to take a real San Francisco Tour.
|
One of the private suites at SBC Park
Visitors indoor batting practice area
Pretending to answer the phone
in the visitors dugout
|
