Saturday’s game was preceded by one of the most popular promotions each year, on-field photo day. The first 3,000 fans with cameras get let onto the AT&T Park outfield, penned in by a rope, and the players circle the group to pose for photos.

Fans line up hours ahead of time for this — I passed by the ballpark seven hours before gametime and saw folks already staking out spots in line on the Portwalk. It’s worth it to get some great shots and interaction with your favorite players.

It’s understandable that some players, concerned about getting sick, either don’t shake hands or choose to wear batting gloves. What’s interesting is that for years, the player who is usually the last or one of the last to leave the field, sometimes up to 30 minutes after the scheduled end of the event, is Barry Bonds. He seems to really enjoy the interaction, probably in part because all he has to do is smile and shake hands (autographs are strictly forbidden at photo day).

Here’s a photo gallery of photo day.

During batting practice Sunday, one person taking his hacks didn’t seem to fit in — he was wearing jeans and a Giants home jersey instead of the new BP jersey. Then I saw the name on the back: Cheechoo. As in Jonathan Cheechoo of the San Jose Sharks, and last season’s top goal scorer in the NHL.

While Cheech was the only Shark to participate in batting practice, he was later joined by several of his teammates, each wearing a personalized jersey except for Ryane Clowe, whose jersey was blank. Marc-Edouard Vlasic took some ribbing because his jersey had "Edouard" on the back instead of Vlasic. Personally, I think they should have gone with his nickname, Pickles.

Here’s the entire group, minus reigning NHL MVP Joe Thornton, who didn’t make it down to the field but watched the game with his teammates from a luxury suite.

(L to R) Joe Pavelski, Mark Smith, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Ryane Clowe, Mark Bell, Scott Hannan, Patrick Rissmiller, Jonathan Cheechoo and Matt Carle. Good luck vs. Nashville!

The Giants got swept at AT&T Park this past weekend, continuing an unsettling trend where the Blue Crew has won eight straight in San Francisco. But on a chilly Friday night, fans could at least try to forget some of the pain of losing with another nifty fireworks show. There’s only one other fireworks night currently scheduled for this season, on May 25, so get tickets now if you want to catch it along with a contest against the Colorado Rockies.

The weather cleared up in time for Saturday’s game, which coincided with Kids Opening Day. The pregame concert by The Sippy Cups seemed to go over well with their target audience — which is The Wiggles-age crowd — but the non-kids had a mixed reaction to them, especially after their offbeat rendition of the national anthem.

Here’s my first attempt at a Canon Powershot video clip, an idea I totally hijacked from MLB.com’s Mark Newman, who did it during last year’s playoffs. Yes, it’s The Sippy Cups. But check out the folks getting their groove on to them.

Tonight is Game 2 of the 2007 season for the Giants, and the club knows that not everyone could get a ticket (or the day off) for Opening Day, so they try to make the first night game special as well with Opening Night. In fact, the whole homestand is designated as Opening Week, with special events and giveaways for each game.

Tonight there will be fireworks, then a cool Barry Zito poster giveaway on Thursday night, the first poster in a series of six this year. There’s even a special ticket package, the Poster Pack, just for those games.

On Friday night, when the Dodgers come to town for the first time this season and the first Orange Friday of the year, the first 40,000 fans will get orange foam fingers. Saturday is Kids Opening Day, with a pregame concert by the Sippy Cups and the first 6,000 kids getting a really neat Beary Limited Edition Bear from Build-a-Bear, complete with a Giants cap, orange ribbon and Giants logo on the foot.

The homestand wraps up Sunday with Barry Zito’s second start and the ever-popular magnet schedule giveaway.

Except for the final score, Tuesday’s Opening Day, the 50th in San Francisco, was a grand celebration, and even folks who left disappointed by the game’s outcome will never forget the pageantry.

For those with a deep appreciation of baseball history and especially the rich history of the Giants, the pregame ceremonies were a special treat, with 27 of the 44 players who have represented the San Francisco Giants in the All-Star Game in attendance. I think the players enjoyed it as much as the fans, as evidenced by Will Clark’s enthusiastic fist pump at the grand ovation he received, Juan Marichal’s two-armed wave to the crowd and Mike Krukow’s great big grin as each was introduced.

As most already know, AT&T Park will host the 2007 All-Star Game and its related festivities. While more people than can possibly be accommodated obviously want tickets to the Midsummer Classic itself on July 10, tickets are already on sale right now for two other All-Star events: the DHL All-Star FanFest at Moscone Center and All-Star Sunday, which includes the Futures Game and the Legends and Celebrity softball game. The Futures Game is particularly cool, since it features some of the top prospects in the game, many of whom you’ll see in the Majors very soon.

Though there won’t be any postseason baseball at AT&T Park this year, this week’s final homestand will have several cool events for fans coming to the yard.

The Diamondbacks arrive Monday, which is the second College Night of the year. On Tuesday, fans with special tickets can celebrate Oktoberfest at the BallPark; the ticket package includes a pregame party, a seat in the official Oktoberfest section and a 22-ounce San Francisco Giants
Oktoberfest Stein with one free pour of beer.

Fittingly, the final weekday game of the season Wednesday is PG&E Giants Solar Day, and the first 15,000 fans get a special Giants cap with a sun-themed logo.

Of course, the hated Dodgers will be in town this weekend, and the Giants would love to knock them out of playoff contention. Friday’s series opener, the final Orange Friday of the season, features Rally Rags for the first 40,000 fans. On Saturday, as part of Strike Out Violence Day, fans can buy $1 tickets in hopes of winning autographed jerseys in the Jerseys Off Our Giants raffle to benefit Casa de las Madres.

Sunday’s the traditional Fan Appreciation Day, with tons of prizes to be given away. The grand prize is a 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser. Hope it’s orange :-p

Outfielders were fighting some wicked shadows Sunday thanks to the 5:05 p.m. ESPN start time. If you want to get a first-hand taste of just how rough that early-evening sun at AT&T Park is for catching fly balls, sign up for the "Swing Like a Giant" event slated for after Thursday’s day game.

Participants will take eight swings from home plate off a pitching machine, with prizes for the five farthest hits, but those who aren’t batting will get to shag flies in the outfield. Bring your flipdown shades.

Proceeds benefit the Giants Community Fund.

Omar Vizquel makes the price of admission worth every penny whenever he’s playing shortstop, but on Friday, he showed off some of his non-baseball talents for free in Lefty O’Doul Plaza at the second annual Fiesta Gigante, a festival featuring Latin music, food, crafts and other entertainment.

Vizquel showed up with catcher Eliezer Alfonzo and infielder Tomas De La Rosa to say hi to the crowd, but the Venezuelan couldn’t resist the chance to show off his impressive percussion and singing skills as well. He even sang a duet with Spanish-language broadcaster and former Giant Tito Fuentes, crafting lyrics that said "The Giants will win tonight" (which they did, by the way, with Matt Cain again flirting with a no-hitter).

Vizquel is also an amazing dancer, which comes as no surprise to those who’ve seen his fancy footwork on the field.

Take a look at some photos from the event.

The Giants come home Friday night to kick off a series with the Wild Card-leading Padres, and fans coming out for the pivotal series opener will definitely get their money’s worth. It’s Orange Friday, of course, and the lines should start forming at the gates quite early since it’s Randy Winn Bobblehead Night.

Luckily, those arriving early to queue up for bobbleheads can enjoy the annual Fiesta Gigante, featuring Latin music, food and crafts at Lefty O’Doul Plaza starting at 3:30 p.m.

It’s also the third and final Singles Night, where those with special tickets get to attend a pregame party and then sit in a specially designated seating area with an equal number of men and women. At an earlier game this year, the Giants honored a recently married couple who met at a Giants Singles Night a couple of years ago.

On Saturday, the first 5,000 kids will receive a Giants lunch pack, and pregame ceremonies will honor Roberto Clemente Award nominee Omar Vizquel and the Junior Giants Willie Mac Award winners. During the game, fans can make silent bids in the Sports Memorabilia Auction to benefit the Giants Community Fund with the live auction happening postgame atop the Giants dugout.

The Giants will remember Sept. 11 on Sunday (since they’re off Monday) with a tripleheader of community service-oriented events. The annual Traffic Safety Festival takes place starting at 2 p.m. on Terry Francois Boulevard across the cove from AT&T Park. It’s a cool event that in the past has included fire engines, police cars, even a CHP helicopter, as well as the crash test dummies Vince and Larry and CHP mascot Chipper. The Giants will honor emergency service agencies and people working to keep the community safe in an on-field presentation.

It’s also the annual toy drive to help out the San Francisco Fire Fighters Toy Program, so bring a toy or $5 and get a Matt Morris pin in thanks. What’s really nice is that the Toy Program is housed just one block south of the ballpark, and the firefighters bring toys to the Giants’ annual holiday party for families from homeless shelters.

By the way, if you haven’t heard, Sunday’s game time has been pushed back to 5:05 p.m. thanks to being picked as the ESPN Sunday Night Game.

Giants mascot Lou Seal has a lot of friends in the mascot world. He usually travels to visit some of his buddies at their home ballparks each season, and some of his pals drop by AT&T Park from time to time.

Today, Lou played host to Gapper, the mascot of the Cincinnati Reds, who was kind enough to take time off from chasing Lou around the field to greet some of the Junior Giants gathered on the field for Junior Giants Day festivities.

The kids, nearly 5,000 of them, clearly enjoyed the day. They got to parade around the field before the game, holding signs proudly declaring their league — from Oregon to Las Vegas to San Luis Obispo. They loved seeing themselves on the Astrovision screen, and a few even got a special surprise treat as Moises Alou stopped to sign some autographs on his way off the field after working out with trainer Stan Conte. It did bring the parade to a screeching halt, of course.

Junior Giants were involved in all of the game presentation, from the national anthem to the first pitch to the seventh-inning stretch. Each kid got some sort of Giants souvenir, and they got to enjoy a Giants victory on top of everything.