Oracle Park

Team: San Francisco Giants

Address: 24 Willie Mays Plaza

Location: San Francisco, California

Opened: April 11, 2000

Capacity: 41,915 + 1,500 standing room

Visited: April 30, 2017

Rating: 10/10

Oracle Park* is a beautiful ballpark located right next to the water. Home to the 3x World Series Champion San Francisco Giants, it's famous for its garlic fries, seagulls and the Coca Cola slide. It is a green leader in the sports community, both energy-efficient and eco-friendly. Putting my Bay Area pride aside for a second, I happen to think that Oracle Park is one of the best places to watch a baseball game.

The ballpark is in a prime location for watching boats pass by in the bay. Many fans take the ferry to the game or sail in on their own. The famous McCovey Cove is located on the right field side. During every home game, it's bound to be filled with fans trying to catch a Splash Hit or foul ball.

Oracle Park has a large variety of dining options. As a vegetarian and healthy food advocate, I love the fact that there's an edible garden located in center field; and might I add that they have the best zucchini pizza. In addition, the ballpark has good veggie burgers, garlic fries, hot chocolate, boba, The Organic Coup (the first all-organic fast food chain) and organic IPA. They recently opened a CREAM in the ballpark that I will definitely need to try next time.

The atmosphere at Oracle Park is incredible and the fans are great. I always find myself chatting with the person sitting next to me, smiling at the young Giants fans nearby, and enjoying the views. While the playoff atmosphere is astronomical, fans fill up the stands during the regular season as well. Towards the end of the game, seagulls join in and take over the sky. In the 8th inning, Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" or "Lights" is sung by all the fans. After every win, Tony Bennett's "I Left My Heart In San Francisco" is played. There's nothing else quite like it.

Overall, Oracle Park boasts incredible views, fans, and a great atmosphere — oh yeah, and the team is pretty entertaining to watch too. If you're ever in San Francisco, I highly recommend catching a game. Walk along McCovey Cove, visit the garden, and head upstairs to section 315 for the view of a lifetime.

All pictures were taken by me except the picture of the edible garden.

*Review was updated in early January to reflect the ballpark’s name change from AT&T Park to Oracle Park. The content itself was not edited.