2021 California League Tour -- San Jose Giants

    On September 12, I was at Excite Ballpark in San Jose to see the Giants against the Stockton Ports.  Formerly named San Jose Municipal Stadium, the park was built in 1941 as a WPA project.  

    This is the outside of the ballpark as you approach the entrance -- it is a busy hodge-podge of pictures and signs everywhere.  And it is all just a glimpse of what awaits you inside.  Walk inside the park and it is part carnival, part museum, history, humor and outstanding baseball.  Not to take a thing away from the other California League teams -- I truly enjoyed all the stadiums and games -- but San Jose is on another level.  Excite Ballpark is, far and away, the best experience in the California League.  

    As you enter the stadium, you are greeted by a long concourse wall which, like about every wall in the stadium, is covered with signs, sayings, and hand -written notes. As with other stadiums, there are the line-ups for the night's game and league standings all hand-written.  The starting pitchers are listed under the title "On the Bump."   

    An opposing batter is chosen each game as the "Beer Batter" and his name is written on the concourse wall.  When the Beer Batter is up at bat, "Beer Barrel Polka" blares over the PA system and the crowd yells "Beer Batter."  If the Giants pitcher strikes out the Beer Batter, then for the next 15 minutes, Beer is half priced.  I did not see a Beer Batter strike out, but I did see one go to two strikes, which caused fans to get out of their seats and edge toward the aisles hoping to race to the beer line.

    I felt closer to the game than at other stadiums.  Maybe that is because it is an older stadium.  This is the view I had from my seats in the upper level behind home plate. Very pleasant place to see a game. And I do like the advertising on the outfield walls.  

    

    Gigante, the San Jose Giants was on hand to give us a fist bump.

    The BBQ at Turkey Mike's was outstanding for baseball park fare.  I don't know if it is world famous, but it is good.  I got some BBQ right off the grill and then enjoyed it in a seating area along the third base line.  Really good food has a way of elevating the whole experience.

    They don't let any walls go untouched.  Quotes from baseball greats and celebrities on most every otherwise empty wall. There's a Yogi Berra quote: "You better cut the pizza into four pieces because I'm not hungry enough to eat six."  There is a floor to ceiling poster with all the words from "Casey at the Bat, A Ballad of the Republic sung in the Year 1888" by Ernest Lawrence Thayer. There's a Tallulah Bankhead quote comparing Willie Shakespeare to Willie Mays, and on and on. Like other minor league parks, there is a long list of former San Jose players who made it to the major leagues.  San Jose goes a bit extra with this in listing all former San Jose players who are World Series champions. Just walking the stadium concourse was fun in itself.  

    I am sure San Jose has plenty to see. But, I was coming up from LA for the game and driving through the Central Valley, which is John Steinbeck country. So, instead of seeing what San Jose had to offer, I stopped at Salinas to take in the National Steinbeck Center. Revisiting Steinbeck's writing and historic downtown Salinas was the perfect warm up for farm league baseball at a quirky San Jose ballpark built in 1941 as a public works project.