A visit to the new home of the Formerly New York Giants

And now, as the Formerly’s get ready for another World Series, I offer you this rerun from April 2011.

I’m not where to start so I will just start at the beginning.  I went to visit the New York Giants, and I was amazed at how much they care about New York Giants history.  Click on any of the photos below for a bigger view.  First up, I LOVE this sign.

Next, someone named Mel Ott apparently played baseball in New York City.  You’d never know about his 22 year career, his 511 home runs pre-steroids or his three World Series appearances unless you flew out west.   Then again, he never played for Brooklyn did he?

Next we have Bill Terry.  I bet you’ve never heard of Bill.  That’s because the Giants aren’t allowed to be spoken of in NYC but let’s all go ON AND ON AND ON about the Dodgers and their one dopey World Series.  Bill played fourteen seasons in New York, all at first, none in Brooklyn.  So let’s not talk about him.  Even though he’s in the Hall of Fame and you have never heard of him.

Before we move on, maybe you are thinking “Who cares about the Giants?”  Fair point.  But why not have things like this for Mets of the past?  It’s a great design.  Yeah yeah there’s a museum and yeah they hung some stuff on the walls but they could do so much more.  They being the Mets.  I’m half asleep – redeye and all.

Moving on..

There’s Luther Taylor.

Who?

This is why it is important that someone sticks up for the history.  I had to look up Mr. Taylor myself, and I am glad I did…

Taylor was profoundly deaf and performed on-field communications with his teammates in sign language. He is credited with helping to expand and make universal the use of sign language throughout the modern baseball infield, including but not limited to the use of pitching signs. He played baseball at the same time as another deaf player, William Ellsworth Hoy, more commonly known as Dummy Hoy.

See what sticking a picture of someone above a concession stand can do?

Here’s Hoyt Wilhelm…he played for several teams including the 1954 Giants.  You know what the 1954 Giants did?  No, you don’t because we’re not allowed to speak of them.  THEY WON THE WORLD SERIES.  Yep, one year before the dopey Dodgers but let’s all act like the Giants never happened.

I have some other photos but they are on my other camera and that’s enough history for today anyway.  AT&T Park also has statue technology and is obsessed with someone named Willie Mays who wore #24 just like Kelvin Torve and Rickey Henderson.

Let’s take a look at the Promenade.  As you know, Promenade comes from the French word for overpriced.  Well in San Francisco it connotes taking a walk along the water.  Let’s head up this escalator to see what a Promenade brings us..

OK, we’ve taken the escalator, we’re probably way up high…oh wait, what’s this?

And to our right?

Dudes, it’s awesome having a baseball game on one site of you and the water behind you.  Granted it was a day game and 75 and sunny.  And the view of the game…

Not bad at all my friends.  Not bad at all.  Click on that one for a better feel of what you’re looking at.

To be fair to Dave from Flushing, the upper deck has the exact same plexiglass problem Citi has.  I took a picture that will make you think it’s from Flushing…but it’s on the other camera and all that.  I was shocked, but it’s there and it’s just as bad.

Downstairs, AT&T is a dream.  Clearly nobody from the Yankees visited before building the awfulness in the Bronx, and I’m pretty sure that either nobody from the Mets did or the Giants heard I was coming and hung up a ton of crap.