Win or Lose, Giants' Fans Always Have the Ferry

by Alan S. Miller

Marin County, California
April 2005

[Also published in Another Voice]

Much to the dismay of those of us who are rabid fans of the San Francisco Giants, our favorite team once again didn't quite make it to baseball's World Series last season.

“But we have something else that no team has — not Boston or New York or St. Louis or Houston ...”

But we have something else that no team has — not Boston or New York or St. Louis or Houston (especially Houston). We have the Golden Gate ferry that takes fans directly from Larkspur Landing in Marin county to the SBC ballpark in San Francisco.

Many of us have struggled over the years in different cities to get to the ballpark closest to where we were living. When Willie Mays spent part of the summer in Minneapolis in 1951 playing for the Minneapolis Millers (then the New York Giants triple A farm club), we just hopped on the street car to get to the park. That was a breeze. And we were young.

Willie wasn't playing for the Millers very long, however, because he received a phone call in mid-summer to join the Giants at their home field at the Polo Grounds in New York City and quickly became that season's “rookie of the year.” While Barbara and I could take the El in Chicago to get to Wrigley Field to see the Cubs play, we later had to drive sixty miles a time or two to see the Cardinals play in Sportsman's Park in St. Louis from our home in Southern Illinois.

It was, of course, always worth it. Baseball is something like a virus that never leaves the body. Once you get it, there's almost nothing to be done to get rid of it. Not even decade after decade of failure and frustration (as the Cubs and Red Sox and so many other teams have proven over and over again) can quench the thirst for home-town victories. There's always next year, baby.

But easy and gracious transportation makes a trip to the ballpark a great adventure, win or lose. As always this season, the ferry from Larkspur will leave a bit more than an hour before the game begins. After arrival, there is no waiting around before the action begins on the field.

The trip on the Bay to the park is wonderful. We've all taken the ferries to downtown San Francisco but the ride to SBC is far more entertaining. Passengers can see both the skyline and the older industrial sections of the city as well as some of the newer bay-shore developments. The mood on the boat is celebratory.

A few minutes after passing under the Bay bridge, the ship pulls up to the ferry dock adjacent to McCovey Cove where a cluster of small boats often wait for splash hits from Giants' (mainly Barry Bond's) bats.

It takes us no more than a few minutes to walk to our usual seats in the less expensive areas along the first base line. The ambience at the ballpark is something everyone should experience. There is always a sense of anticipation as we wait for the game to begin. People have fun at the ballpark!

The amenities (food and beverages) at SBC are a bit better than was true at our old Candlestick Park although a long way from meeting even the default standard for less than gourmet San Francisco cuisine. And while the bathrooms are not great, they are an enormous improvement over Candlestick.

The prices of food items are almost too depressing to discuss. The multimillion dollar annual salaries of the players are partially paid for by every $8.00 glass of beer one buys. That's more than the price for a one-way ferry ticket! The ferry itself, however, is a study in gracious and enjoyable public transportation. The food is limited to the routine snacks — chips and pretzels and the occasional sandwich. But the bar opens early and is usually the busiest place on the ferry.

Had Robert Frost been a baseball fan, I suspect he would at some time have waxed rhapsodic over the joys of a beautiful boat trip on the Bay on a summer afternoon or evening in Marin and San Francisco.

The ferry, of course, is only one of the gracious aspects of life in Marin. We are a long way from being perfect. A dozen years ago, I noted in an IJ column the negative symbol of some of our urban residential architecture where the front of the house is closed to the outside world while the backs open up to our private and lovely hillside views.

I noted then that with so many of our houses closed off to the street, about the only time we saw our neighbors was when we took the garbage out on Friday mornings.

We are, too often, a bit smug about who we are. Our problems — Nimbyism, an inability to adequately absorb and care for the newer members of our community, health problems directly related to our more or less affluent lifestyles, the conflicts over land use and urban development and transportation — will be with us for a long time.

We are, I think, dealing in good faith on these concerns. Many fine people are working on solutions and, with our resources, we can expect reasonable responses to these dilemmas as the years slide by.

I am grateful for so many other options so readily available to the citizenry. Consider the possibilities: entertainment of every kind, a highly regarded regional symphony, an exciting theatre complex beginning with Marin Theatre and including a dozen high quality smaller houses, art galleries, dance and music and jazz and clubs of every kind. And a world class city just a half hour away.

We are lucky to live where we do. And one of the very nicest things one can do is to take one of the Golden Gate ferries to SBC park to see the Giants play.

This baseball season the ferries will be even more crowded when the Giants win the Western Division of the National league and move on to victory in the World Series. Make your plans now.

One thing is for certain. There's always this year!

Copyright © 2005 Alan S. Miller
Last updated: April 01, 2005