Ballpark Information

History

Oracle Park History

Oracle Park, with its breathtaking views and classic design, received rave reviews throughout the country as one of the smash hits of 2000.

The first privately financed ballpark in Major League Baseball since Dodger Stadium (1962), the Giants' new home features an inspiring nine-foot statue of America's greatest living ballplayer, Willie Mays, at the public entrance; Portuguese water dogs who fetch home runs that splash into McCovey Cove (named after another Hall of Fame Willie); an 80-foot Coca-Cola bottle with playground slides and miniature Oracle Park behind left field that has become a magnet for kids of all of ages; and mass public transit that rivals any sports complex in the world.

Columnist Peter Gammons wrote: "It's hard to say what's best about [SBC] Park, except that it is San Francisco. The view from the worst seats in the house still gives you a view of the Bay Bridge and the marina. As great as Camden Yards, Turner Field, The Jake and Coors Field are, this is the best fan's ballpark because it was conceived, built and paid for by Giants owner Peter Magowan, a legitimate baseball fan."

Magowan, who led a group of San Francisco business leaders in saving the Giants from moving to Florida in an 11th-hour effort in 1992, always knew the Giants franchise was not secure in San Francisco until a new ballpark was built to replace much-maligned Candlestick Park.

With an ambitious financing plan in place, the Giants' president joined club Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Larry Baer in orchestrating a marketing campaign that reaped 29,500 season ticket holders, including 15,000 Charter Seat members. To put those figures in perspective, only three previous times in franchise history had the Giants sold more than even 10,000 season tickets, with an all-time high of 13,200 in 1994. What's more, the Charter Seat total more than tripled the previous record for a Major League Baseball team.

For his vision and leadership, Magowan was "2000 Executive of the Year" by Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal. While certainly a prestigious honor to receive, perhaps the greatest reward for Magowan that year was merely watching endless capacity crowds jam into the city's sparkling new jewel by the bay, and simply knowing that Giants baseball is alive and well in San Francisco -- today and for many generations to come.

Opening Date:?April 11, 2000

Original Cost: $357 million

How Named: Corporate Sponsorship

Former Name:

Pacific Bell Park, 2000-2003
SBC Park, 2004-2006
AT&T Park 2007-2018

Surface:?Kentucky Bluegrass Blend with crushed volcanic rock infield and rubberized tartan-surface warning track.

Outfield Fences:?8 feet high from left field to center with 19-foot span that reaches 11 feet high at its peak in left field; 25 feet high in right field.

Distance from Stands to Home Plate:?At a distance of just 48 feet from the first row of seats to homeplate, these lucky fans are actually 12 feet closer to the batter than is the pitcher.

Design:?Classic urban ballpark with an old-time feel and all the amenities of modern ballparks. Inspired by Wrigley Field and Fenway Park and modeled after Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Jacobs Field and Coors Field.

Field Dimensions

Right field foul line: 309 feet
Left field foul line: 339 feet
Right-center: 421 feet
Center field: 404 feet
Foul line to front row seats: 46 feet
Home plate to front row seats: 48 feet
Height of Outfield Fence: 8 to 25 feet

Location

12.7-acre sight bound by King, Second and Third streets, and the China Basin Channel in downtown San Francisco

Financing

Private
$100 million from naming rights and sponsorships
$170 million bank loan
$72 million from sale of 16,000 charter seats
$15 million in tax increment financing from the City's Redevelopment Agency

Seating Capacity: Approximately 42,300

Luxury Suites: 67

Amenities

Wait service in Virgin America Club Seats and Oracle Luxury Suites
Specialty food and beverage stands
Business/conference center
Concierge service
Coca-Cola Fan Lot

Oracle Park hosts multiple non-baseball events every year. If you would like more information, please visit oraclepark.com.

Historical Ballpark Comparisons

Polo Grounds

First Game: June 28, 1911

When Used:

National League Giants: June 28, 1911-Sept. 29, 1957.
American League Yankees: May 30, 1912 (morning game), April 17, 1913-Oct. 8, 1922.
National League Mets: April 13-Sept. 18, 1962

Original Cost: NA

How Named: Polo was played in the 1870s on a site just north of Central Park. The site became known as the Polo Grounds. By 1883, baseball had taken over the site. The New Yorks (later called the Giants) of the National League played in the southeast corner of the park and the Metropolitans of the American Association played in the southwest corner. In 1889, when the Giants were evicted from the original Polo Grounds, they moved uptown to a stadium on the southern parcel of Coogan's Hollow. Also known as Manhattan Field, from the beginning it was called the new Polo Grounds (Polo Grounds II).

Design Style: Major League Classic

Field Dimensions: the dimensions changed numerous times, but the
most recognized are as follows:

Left Field: 279 feet
Left Center Field left of bullpen: 447 feet
Left Center Field right of bullpen: 455 feet
Center Field: 483 feet
Right Center Field left of bullpen: 475 feet
Right Center Field right of bullpen: 440 feet
Right Field: 258 feet
Height of Outfield Fence: 1911-1922
Left Field to Center Field: 10 feet (concrete)
Center Field: 20 feet (tarp)
Right Center Field: 10 feet (concrete)
Right Field: 12 feet sloping to 11 feet at the pole (concrete)
Height of Outfield Fence: 1923-1963
Left Field: 16.81 feet (concrete)
Left Center Field: 18 feet (concrete)
Point where Left Field wall ended at bleachers: 12 feet (concrete)
Center Field bleachers wall: 8.5 feet (4.25 feet wire on top of 4.25 feet concrete) on both sides of clubhouse runway
Center Field hitters background: 16.5 feet on both sides of clubhouse runway
Center Field clubhouse: 60 feet high and 60 feet wide (50 feet high in 1963)
Center Field top of Longines clock: 80 feet
Center Field top of scoreboard: 64 feet
Center Field top of Eddie Grant Memorial: 5 feet
Center Field width of little office on top of lower clubhouse: 10 feet
Right Center Field: 12 feet (concrete)
Right Field: 10.64 feet (concrete)

Location: New York City

Center Field (SE), Eighth Avenue, then IRT elevated tracks, Harlem River, and Harlem River Drive;
3rd Base (NE), West 159th St. and IRT Rail Yards;
Home plate (NW), Bridge Park, the Harlem River Speedway, Cogan's Bluff, and Croton Aqueduct;
1st Base (SW), West 157th St. trace
Same site as Polo Grounds III in the northern half of Coogan's Hollow, 115 feet below Coogan's Bluff.

Financing: NA

Seating Capacity

1911: 34,000
1923: 55,000

Luxury Suites: 0

Seals Stadium

Originally built for minor league San Francisco Seals and Missions. Seals became sole tenants in 1938, when the Missions moved to Hollywood and became the Stars. Seals continued to play in stadium until Giants relocated in 1958.

First Game: April 15, 1958

When Used: NL Giants, April 15, 1958-Sept. 20, 1959

Original Cost: $600,000

How Named: Named after team

Design Style: Minor league, Art Deco

1958 Field Dimensions

Left Field: 365 feet
Left Center Field: 375 feet
Just left of straightaway Center Field in the corner: 404 feet
Center Field: 410 feet
Just right of straightaway Center Field in the corner: 415 feet
Mark where seats jutted out: 397 feet
Right Field: 355 feet

1959 Field Dimensions

Left Field: 361 feet
Left Center Field: 364 feet
Center Field: 400 feet
Right Field: 350 feet

Height of Outfield Fence

Left Field: 15 (5 feet concrete below 10 feet wire)
Center Field Scoreboard: 30.5
Right Field: 16 (5 feet concrete below 11 feet wire)

Location: San Francisco

Left Field (East): Potrero Avenue
3rd Base (North): Alameda Street
1st Base (West): Bryant Street
Right Field (South): 16th Street & Franklin Square Park

Financing: Paid for by Seals owners George Putnam, Dr. Charles Street
and Charles Braham.

Seating Capacity

1931: 16,000
1946: 18,500
1958: 22,900

Luxury Suites: 0

Candlestick Park

First Game: April 12, 1960

Original Cost: $24.6 million

How Named: Fan balloting

Design Style

Open-end, concrete
Enclosed in 1972

Field Dimensions (1960)

Foul lines: 335 feet
Power Alleys: 375 feet (left-center) and 385 feet (right-center)
Center field: 420 feet

Field Dimensions (1961)

Foul lines shortened to 330 feet
Power alleys to 365 feet in left-center and 375 feet in right-center
Center field moved in to 410 feet.

Field Dimensions (1968): Foul lines extended to 335 feet

Field Dimensions (1982)

Center field moved in to 400 feet
Right-center moved in to 365 feet

Field Dimensions (1983):??Right foul line moved in to 328 feet

Height of Outfield Fence

1960: 10 feet
1974: 8 feet
1975: 12 feet
1982: 9 feet
1993: 8 feet

Location: Candlestick Point, San Francisco

Financing: City of San Francisco

Seating Capacity

Originally: 42,500
1972: 58,000
1989: 62,000
1994: 63,000

Luxury Suites: 85

Amenities

Wait service in MVP suites
Specialty food and beverage stands
Picnic area

Scottsdale Stadium

Nestled in the heart of historic Old Town Scottsdale and surrounded by art galleries, restaurants and boutique shops, Scottsdale Stadium has become the home of not only the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Fall League, but also of numerous special events, festivals, concerts, and parties. Designed by the architects of Camden Yards in Baltimore, the stadium is adorned with turn-of-the-century lamps, framed antique baseball gloves, and sidewalk bricks in the shape of home plate.

When Built:

Construction began in April 1991
Opened on March 12, 1992

Field Dimensions:

Right field foul line: 340 feet
Left field foul line: 360 feet
Center field: 430 feet
Height of Outfield Fence: 10 feet

Location:

11 total acres.
There are over 200 trees on the stadium grounds with Shamel Ash, Jacaranda, and Palo Verde being the dominant species.

Address:?7408 East Osborn Road, Scottsdale, AZ, 85251

Seating Capacity:

11,200 Total
3,688 Stadium Seats
4,500 Bleacher Seats
3,012 Berm Seats

Amenities:

State-of-the-art press facilities with pre-wiring for radio and television broadcasts
Office space
3 Concession stands
3 Novelty stands
Multiple ticket booths
Private and free parking

All-Star Games

San Francisco has hosted the All-Star Game three times-in 1961 and 1984 at Candlestick Park, and in 2007 at AT&T Park. The games were held in San Francisco exactly 23 years apart. Both games at Candlestick Park were won by the National League, 5-4 in extra innings in 1961, and 3-1 in 1984. The American League won 5-4, in the 2007 game at Oracle Park.