Heat wave

Folks in the Bay Area know it’s pretty warm today, and if you’re wondering what it’s like at AT&T Park — it’s warm here, too. Weather.com says it’s 68 right now, but honestly, it feels even warmer. I’d still bring a jacket tonight, though, since you never know what the wind might do.

Over the weekend, though, the most important things to bring will be sunscreen and a hat. The forecast calls for a high of 81(!) on Saturday and 76 on Sunday. Make sure to hydrate.

Everybody loves free stuff

Well, the last two nights have shown that you really shouldn’t leave early at AT&T Park, with the Giants getting walk-off heroics from Bengie Molina and Daniel Ortmeier.

(By the way, a little editorial aside here: Another thing you shouldn’t do at AT&T Park is the wave. Do you really want to be like Dodgers fans?)

As Opening Week continues with a visit from the Cardinals, there are several giveaways that will help a proud Giants fan appropriately decorate his or her home. Tonight, get the first in a series of posters (courtesy of AT&T) that replicate the cool “Gamer” street banners adorning the streets near AT&T Park. The first will be Matt Cain: “More arm, less talk.”

cain.jpgWhat’s neat is that all the posters have that strong orange stripe across the middle, so you could put them up end to end across a wall or two. Now that’s wallpaper.

magnetschedule.jpgOn Friday night, the first Orange Friday of the season, get that refrigerator essential the magnet schedule. Another fine addition to your kitchen would be a 50th anniversary commemorative mug, which fans supporting Saturday’s CHW Food Drive to benefit the San Francisco Food Bank will receive in exchange for a donation of nonperishable food items or $5.

Sunday is one of the nicer giveaways this season, a 50th anniversary banner. When I saw it at the media open house, I made sure to ask about getting one of my own — it’s really big and colorful and full of great memories (I’ll add a photo of it soon).

A thousand Boy Scouts will parade around the field before Sunday’s game, which is also the first Autograph Sunday for kids 16 and under. And as usual, postgame, kids get to run the bases.

Torch song

Wednesday night’s game to wrap up the Giants’ series with the Padres is also Olympic Night at AT&T Park, something the Giants have done in recent years to honor the large number of Olympic athletes who call the Bay Area home.

This year, they’ll be hosting the 40 torchbearers who had the honor of carrying the Olympic torch earlier in the day from McCovey Cove to Justin Herman Plaza in the torch’s only North American stop.

Though the torch run is slated to end by 3:30, fans should note that protests related to the torch run could lead to residual traffic problems later in the day, so plan accordingly.

Blown away

If you’re coming to the game tonight, hold onto your hat — literally. Right now, it’s one of the windiest days I’ve ever seen at the yard, with the flags and palm trees taking a real beating. It’s no Candlestick, but you can hear the wind howling through the tunnels.

Here’s a video I took of the flags atop the view level whipping around:
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The batting practice screens keep getting knocked over by the wind. Check it out:

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I don’t think it’ll affect the scheduled postgame fireworks, but make sure to bundle up, because at this ballpark, the coldest times are when it’s windy.

It’s that time

Tomorrow’s Opening Day at AT&T Park, and the Giants have some neat stuff planned for their 50th anniversary home opener.

The gates will open early, at 10:35 a.m., but if you enter between noon and 12:30, you just might receive your Opening Day calendar directly from a Giants player. Two will be stationed at each gate to greet fans and hand out the free calendars.

Lineups will be introduced at 12:51, followed by a moment of silence for Kevin Shanahan (the Giants’ massage therapist who died of cancer last November) at 1:01. Jazz artist Boney James will perform the national anthem, and the traditional Opening Day flyover of two Navy FA-18s will come courtesy of Lts. Adam Smith, Andrew Pearson, Jake Huber and Jeffrey Millar from VX-9 squadron out of China Lake, Calif. Plug your ears for that around 1:04.

At 1:07, the Giants will kick off their tribute to the 1958 team, the first to play in San Francisco. Felipe Alou, John Antonelli, Ed Bressoud, Orlando Cepeda, Jim Davenport, Whitey Lockman, Willie Mays, Mike McCormick, Stu Miller, Daryl Spencer, Don Taussig, Valmy Thomas and Al Worthington will be there, driven around the warning track in 1950s convertibles.

The Giants are keeping secret who’ll be throwing out the first pitch at 1:26, saying only that it will be “a person who has been with the San Francisco Giants family for a long time. The Giants would like to honor the dedication, loyalty and commitment to the club shown by this person.”

My guess (and I have zero inside info here) is that it has to be clubhouse manager Mike Murphy, who is not only beloved but has been with the team since it came to San Francisco in 1958. He was a bat boy for the first two seasons at Seals Stadium and then became a clubhouse attendant in 1960 before being promoted to clubhouse manager in 1980.

First pitch is slated for 1:35, though pregame ceremonies almost always run over. One good omen — the Giants are 6-2 in home openers since moving to AT&T Park in 2000.

Practice run

Last Monday, 3,300 fans got to experience Opening Day without having to travel all the way to Los Angeles. They showed up at AT&T Park for Comcast SportsNet’s Authentic Opening Day celebration, which gave fans the chance to take batting practice on the field, see Willie Mays unveil the new Comcast SportsNet sign on the outfield wall, eat free dogs and watch the season opener live from L.A. on the massive high-definition video board.

Though the result of the game wasn’t what people were hoping for, it was a neat experience, and all for free. Fans even got in a nice round of “Dodgers suck!” at one brave soul who dared to wear a Dodgers jersey to the event.

Some photos from the event:

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(left) Batting practice

(right) Renel and Willie Mays

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Unveiling of the new outfield sign.

Visions of the future

missionrock.jpgI’ll have more about Monday’s Comcast Authentic Opening Day event at the ballpark soon, but I wanted to point out an article I wrote about the Giants’ proposal to develop the piece of land where Parking Lot A and Pier 48 south of AT&T Park stands. It would be called Mission Rock and is a very ambitious and exciting project. My article focuses on the elements of the project most likely to interest Giants fans, so check it out.

Note that this area WILL be developed, whether it’s the Giants doing it or not, so it’s in the team’s best interest to make sure it’s done in a way that doesn’t negatively impact the ballpark or the neighborhood.

Giants fans interested in learning more about the project can visit the Mission Bay Visitor’s Center at 255 Channel Street (near Parking Lot A) at 10 a.m. before the Giants-Cardinals game on April 12, or after the game in the lower box seats behind the third-base dugout.

Get the party started

First, a note about the new blog format — the importing of my photo galleries was done automatically and in a quick-fix method, so that’s why the embarrassing parade of giant food items appears below. I’m debating just deleting all the photos and waiting for proper photo tools to be added, but maybe I’ll leave them for now and just have it look a little stupid.

But much bigger things to discuss, namely OPENING DAY. On Monday, AT&T Park will be buzzing despite the Giants being hundreds of miles south to face the rival Dodgers in Los Angeles. That’s because FSN Bay Area is sponsoring a party at the ballpark to commemorate the channel’s relaunch as Comcast SportsNet.

fan_batting.gifThe yard opens at 11 a.m., with batting practice beginning at 11:30 a.m. Anybody who wants to wait his/her turn can take five swings from home plate, believed to be the first time BP has been offered at the ballpark for free (though a donation to the Giants Community Fund is suggested).

At noon, the special one-hour pregame show from Los Angeles will air on the scoreboard’s high-definition screen, followed by the Giants-Dodgers game. At roughly 12:03 p.m., as part of that show, Hall of Famer Willie Mays will unveil CSN-BA’s new outfield sign. The day’s festivities will be hosted by PA announcer Renel Brooks-Moon.

Oh, perhaps the best part: FREE HOT DOGS for the first 5,000 fans.