Back at AT&T: Giants vs. Twins Round Two

The crew headed back to AT&T Park for another game of the Giants vs. Twins. We had already discussed how different this ballpark felt from the others. Sitting in the bleachers the night before, we felt that the fans were there for the social aspect, not necessarily for the baseball. At our afternoon game, we got a much different feeling from the third tier.

It was a beautiful day in San Francisco and our seats had a gorgeous look out on the water. We were surrounded by lots of families (although they left by the seventh or eighth inning). These were some of my favorite seats simply because I had such a nice view of the field (I really like the more arial perspective). 

For another sold out crowd (supposedly 42,590 in attendance), the Giants had a strong showing. With a quick top of the first, they got the bats going in the bottom with three hits scoring two runs. While the Twins answered with a run in the second, the Giant's right fielder Hunter Pence delivered a home run in the third to increase the lead to two. From there, the Twins were unable to score again, while the Giants put five more runs on the board (one in the fourth, three more in the fifth, and one in the eighth). 

The star of the game was definitely Giant's pitcher Madison Bumgarner who pitched for seven innings, struck out 10 batters, and only allowed three hits. For the Giant's offense, Michael Morse had three doubles and four RBIs. 

What was the most interesting was the announcement of Dodger's pitcher Josh Beckett who had just pitched a no hitter at Coors Field during the middle of the game. While I clapped (because come on, a no hitter is a big deal), all the Giants fans around me booed. It was incredible to hear over 40,000 fans boo a player who most definitely deserved applause. But a little bit different spin on Giants fans (at least for me). 

Photos from Giants v. Twins

Photos by Rachel!

...

...

Photos from Twins vs. Red Sox

Photographs from our group photographer, Rachel, from our first MLB game of the trip.

...

Stretch Time! - Target Field

The seventh-inning stretch is a practice that dates back to the very earliest days of baseball, though it did not receive it's "official" title until 1920. Taking place between the two halves of the seventh inning, the stretch allows fans to stand up, stretch, and maybe buy a few last minute snacks. "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is traditionally sung in this break, making it one of the few times in American culture where it is okay and even encouraged to spontaneously break into song. Many parks have other, unique rituals as well. I'm excited to see what happens during the stretch at each ballpark that we visit!

The first seventh inning stretch we experienced was at Target Field. True to MLB form, we sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game." It was led by Christina Sparks and friends, who were there as part of the celebration for Mayo Clinic's 150th birthday. The organist played, and Christina sang into a microphone. She was quite deliberate with the tempo, which I suppose I should have expected after hearing her rendition of the Victory Song early that night. The live organist was able to follow Christina as she slowed down, though the fans through out the ballpark had a much harder time. The music major part of me didn't much care for this version of the song, but the baseball fan was just excited to experience it in a new ballpark.

After "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," the Twins played a video of some of their players wishing the Mayo Clinic a happy sesquicentennial. I think they had probably never heard that word pronounced before, as most of them stumbled over it quite a bit before switching to just saying one hundred fiftieth. Then the game resumed as the Red Sox soundly beat the Twins. What a great first game to see!