Cultural Essay

Pac Bell Park is truly a fan's stadium. The park encourages participation from people of all ages, classes, backgrounds, and interests. It is extremely accessible in both the physical and monetary senses. The stadium has the best public transportation accessibility of any other ballpark and is walking distance from downtown San Francisco and other city neighborhoods. Additionally, not only are tickets are relatively cheap, ranging from $10 for the worst seats to $26 for the closest seats, but fans are also able to watch the game for free through "knotholes" in the right field wall. The five knotholes are barred openings which allow a maximum of 125 people to watch the game at a given time. Every three innings the crowd rotates so that everyone gets a chance to watch the game. This permits people who can't get tickets, can't afford tickets, just come on a whim, or simply want to see a glimpse of what a game is like, to watch the game live.
To encourage participation of younger fans, Pac Bell Park has an area called the Coca Cola Fan Lot located behind left field. The lot has four super slides, a speed pitch, a base race, a huge glove that stands 26 feet tall and 32 feet wide, autographed plagues, and a replica of Pac Bell Park called Little Giants Park where kids can hit balls and run the bases just like the Giants. The Fan Lot also has a viewing platform where kids and adults can watch the game from left field. The Coca Cola Fan Lot is open year round and is free to ticket holders on game days and everyone on other days.
So where does Pac Bell Park make it's profit? Well, although tickets are cheap, the stadium holds 41,059 people, and the park does an excellent job of making sure these seats fill up. In addition to easy accessibility and the Coca Cola Fan Lot, Pac Bell Park has other attractive qualities about it to add to it's appeal. The nine foot statue of Willie Mays at the front entrance provides fans with a nostalgic image, the Portuguese water dogs who fetch home runs that fall into McCovey Cove add to the park's unique dimension, and the worst seats in the stadium give fans an amazing view of the bay bridge and the marina.
Once inside the stadium, fan's interests are catered to with the wide variety of specialty food services, retail outlets, and wide concourses that keep fans from missing anything while they are in line for food or walking to the bathroom. Food options include Krispy Creme, three Derby Grill locations, Asian Cuisine, gourmet sandwiches, pizza, hot dogs, salads, nachos, sausage, burritos, burgers, and sushi. Pac Bell Park is not just a stadium which provides people with seats in which to watch a game. The way Pac Bell Park caters to the interests of its fans through the variety of consumption options and services, unique crowd pleasing techniques, and aesthetically pleasing atmosphere makes the stadium a place of fan participation.
Contributing to this theme of participation is the stadium's record of community service. The park is the location of many community reach out events. On education night, ten scholarships are given to eighth graders where they receive $2,500 upon graduation of high school and acceptance to college. Until There's a Cure Day is a benefit game that raises money and awareness about A.I.D.s. On Girls Day, hundreds of girls from the area get to participate in a sports clinic right before a game. They then get two tickets to that game, lunch, a t-shirt, a hat, and an autographed baseball card. The stadium also hosts events for the Make a Wish Foundation. In addition to hosting individual kids and donating tickets, there is also a reception which over a hundred kids attend. J.T. Snow, the Giants first baseman is involved in many programs held at the stadium. Every Sunday home game, Snow invites kids with cancer to the dugout. They can bring up to three guest with them to meet Snow and then watch the game from a special section. Snow also donates 25 tickets each home game to underprivileged youth, veterans, shelters, and other non-profit organizations.
Pac Bell Park's community service programs encourage even more participation and add to the sense of pride and community felt for it's team. Aspects of the park such as these community service events, the Coca Cola Fan Lot, pleasing aesthetics, and unique extras explain the expanding mass fan base of the San Francisco Giants.
Giants fans take so much pride in their team that the day after the Giants lost the World Series, a huge crowd gathered at Pac Bell Park to welcome them home and offer their support. The orange and black crowd started at Willie Mays Gate and snaked around the park to Lefty O'Doul Bridge. The Fairfield High School Band played as the buses pulled up at 1 pm on Monday and 5,000 fans  cheered.
A Young Fan Cries After the Giant's Opening Day Loss to the Dodgers
  
Pac Bell Park is not just a ballpark.The stadium encourages participation from people of all classes, races, ages, genders, interests, and backgrounds by being extremely accessible in all aspects of the word. The stadium's location, prices, food and shopping options, aesthetics, and activities both during games and on all other days make it extremely popular with residents of San Francisco. The Giants are on the verge of having one of the most devoted fan bases in major league baseball. One thing is certain; Pac Bell Park definitely encourages one of the most diverse groups of fans in the league.