Ballpark in Review: Oracle Park

Oracle Park, via Bleacher Report

Written by Drew Sauer

Crab sandwiches by the water. Not a typical sentence you would hear about a baseball stadium, but it is a sentence that describes Oracle Park. Oracle Park is located in San Francisco, California, and is home to my favorite team, the San Francisco Giants. This stadium opened in 2000 when the Giants made the move from the iconic Candlestick Park. Candlestick Park was a park that my dad went to numerous times as a kid and he described it as a place that was always cloudy and gloomy but he had many memories there. Oracle Park is the complete opposite and every time I have been there it is always sunny. This review may seem a bit biased due to my favorite team playing here, but I promise this field is nothing short of incredible.

The first thing to dive into for this ballpark review is the overall park itself. I love the theme of this park as there is a consistent theme of bricks being used throughout the ballpark which I think gives the park some character. If you look closely at the picture, in right field is Levi's Landing which is brick as well and I think it has the most notable feature of the park. Right behind that wall, is the San Francisco Bay which makes it a unique feature. PNC Park in Pittsburgh has a similar feature backing up to the river, but it is not as close to the water as Oracle. In left field, there is a giant Coke bottle that features a slide in it, which I have been down. My favorite part about this stadium is how the concourse wraps around the entire stadium. My dad and I walked around the entire stadium before the game looking at the bay, going behind the scoreboard, and looking at the large glove. 

While taking a walk around the park, hidden behind the scoreboard is the stand that sells the fan-favorite crab sandwiches. Unfortunately, I was unable to get one due to the line being incredibly long, but I have heard great things about this item. It features Dungeness crab on garlic sourdough bread. When I was at the stadium, I did get the chance to try out their street tacos which I thought were pretty good. They were the traditional street tacos with carne asada, onions, cilantro, and a lime wedge on the side. The final detail that I thought was unique to the park was the vendors that sell Ghiradelli hot chocolate. When the sun set and the fog started to roll in, this was the perfect late-night drink to have while watching the end of the game.

Overall, Oracle Park is a must-visit ballpark that needs to be on everyone's list of parks to visit. Outside of the ballpark, I have walked around and gone to restaurants in the downtown area which adds to the experience. In my opinion, this park is one of the best if not the best. This park combines unique features in the ballpark such as the bay and the slide in a coke bottle and it is a nice, modern stadium. I love this stadium and it is my personal favorite and I would recommend this stadium to everyone.