My Religion is Simple: Giants' Opening Night 2011

If my quote of the week didn't tip you off (and I'm not sure it did), then I'll just come out and say it. We went to the Giants' opening night at AT & T Park. And boy was it fun. The Giants won in the bottom of the 9th, so it was a cliffhanger of a game. They were down by one run when Miguel Tejada went up to bat. With two runners on base, two outs, and a full count, Miguel Tejada hit the ball into the gap in left center field. It was floating in the air forever when the Cardinals' center fielder miraculously caught the ball... and then dropped it! Sweet victory!

But enough with the baseball talk. The games are really about food. This is AT & T Park, after all. We're talking crab sandwiches, crab sandwiches, and more crab sandwiches. So what did I have? A Cha-Cha Bowl.

I decided to try something new, and we've been hearing about the Cha-Cha Bowls. When in Rome, right? A Cha-Cha Bowl is a bowl with white rice, black beans, chicken, some veggie stuff, and Caribbean salsa. It was good, but it was no crab sandwich. That's okay, though. Next time, I'm gonna try some Cha-Cha nachos or something in the nacho family. There are so many choices, you really can't go wrong.

After we ate, we headed to our seats. If anyone wants to know how many rows make up the top level, there are 18.

We were in row 18. On the windiest, coldest day in the history of San Francisco, we were sitting in the very last row in AT & T Park. We can't complain though because we were at opening night. And we know how cold it gets in San Francisco. Even on the nicest, warmest day in San Francisco, the night can be down right chilly. Like Arctic breeze chilly. I'm talking cold. Like, cold cold.

Photos can be deceptive too. See in this picture here? Cold. You'd never know it, though, with the clear blue sky and endless beauty.

Opening night was the world series ring ceremony. The Giants organization pulled out all the stops including laying out the orange carpet. As each member of the 2010 team was announced (including managers, coaches, trainers... everyone), they walked the carpet and received their ring.

I swore when I took each picture I would remember who was on the orange carpet, but I seriously have no clue. I was like, "I'll remember this is Tim Lincecum, because he waved his hat in the air." But most of them did, so your guess is as good as mine.

I do remember who was in this next photo, though. Recognize this hand? No? Why, it's Pat Burrell. Pat the Bat. Seriously, that's his nickname. I didn't just make it up. And that's a world series championship ring right there.

After the ring ceremony, or I guess as part of it, Sammy Hagar sang the national anthem while Joe Satriani accompanied him on guitar. I think Sammy started too soon, or perhaps skipped over a few too many lyrics, because he was nearly finished with the song by the time they rolled out the flag.

Did I mention it was cold? I've been to a few too many night games to forget warm clothes, so I really came prepared this time. Underneath my SNOW JACKET I had on a t-shirt, short sleeve sweatshirt, and a long sleeve hooded sweatshirt. Oh, and, of course, my panda hat. Oh yeah, and a scarf and gloves. We also bought a blanket because even with all of that, I was still cold. Even with the blanket, I was still cold. Seriously, it was cold. When Mark Twain said, "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco," he wasn't joking around.

No game is complete without stopping at Louisiana Fried Chicken. After the game we got us from fried chicken and donuts. Actually, I had fried chicken (2 legs, if you really want to know) and a delicious cake donut with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. I am serious when I say that it was the best donut I've ever had. And I am quite the donut connoisseur. It was fresh and delicious and that is all that I have to say about that.