San Francisco Giants vs. Saint Louis Cardinals
In 2000, after 40 years at Candlestick Park, the Giants bid a bittersweet farewell to their old home and San Francisco Giants vs. Saint Louis Cardinals tickets relocated to a new, privately financed downtown stadium, a long-advocated move. Pacific Bell Park, later San Francisco Giants vs. Saint Louis Cardinals tickets renamed SBC Park and then in February 2006 AT&T Park, sits on the shores of China Basin (often referred to as San Francisco Giants vs. Saint Louis Cardinals tickets McCovey Cove by Giants fans) at the corner of 3rd and King Streets (affectionately dubbed 24 Willie Mays Plaza). Regardless of anything that might happen on the field of play, this move represented an entirely new San Francisco Giants vs. Saint Louis Cardinals tickets era for the Giants and their fans. Whereas the team used to occupy what was widely regarded as the least baseball-friendly stadium in all of Major League Baseball, a throwback to the era of suburban, multi-purpose, San Francisco Giants vs. Saint Louis Cardinals tickets concrete "cookie-cutter" stadiums that so many teams moved to during the 1960s and 70s, their new home is regarded as one of the better venues in all of professional sports.
The Giants routinely sell out this nearly 43,000-seat, baseball-only stadium, whereas it was not uncommon for San Francisco Giants vs. Saint Louis Cardinals tickets them to have a paid attendance of less than 10,000 in Candlestick's nearly 60,000 seating capacity, although San Francisco Giants vs. Saint Louis Cardinals tickets by the 1999 season the Giants managed about 25,000 fans a game. The franchise since the move annually vies for San Francisco Giants vs. Saint Louis Cardinals tickets highest MLB season attendance, in contrast to being often threatened with having the league-low figure before. While still breezy in the summer time in comparison to other MLB parks, AT&T Park has been a consensus success San Francisco Giants vs. Saint Louis Cardinals tickets and has developed the reputation as a "pitcher's park". Its state-of-the-art design minimizes wind-chill, it San Francisco Giants vs. Saint Louis Cardinals tickets is well served by mass transit, and it has spectacular views of the bay and the city skyline (which even Candlestick had until it was redesigned in the early 1970s to accommodate the 49ers). AT&T Park is the San Francisco Giants vs. Saint Louis Cardinals tickets centerpiece of a renaissance in San Francisco's South Beach and Mission Bay neighborhoods. But most important San Francisco Giants vs. Saint Louis Cardinals tickets to Giants fans, the new ballpark means they no longer have to worry about their team moving away from San Francisco, at least not any time soon.
The inaugural season at the new ballpark resulted in a surprising division title, with the Giants having the San Francisco Giants vs. Saint Louis Cardinals tickets best record in the Major Leagues. The Giants lost the 2000 division series to the New York Mets, three games San Francisco Giants vs. Saint Louis Cardinals tickets to one despite winning the first game in the series behind a well pitched game by Liván Hernández. In 2001 the Giants were eliminated from playoff contention on the second to last day of the season, but Barry Bonds gave San Francisco Giants vs. Saint Louis Cardinals tickets fans something to cheer about as he hit 73 home runs, setting a new single-season record.
