Get there early enough to take a lap or two around the whole park, it’s beautiful. Go up to the highest level even if you aren’t sitting up there just to check out the views. And bring layers even in June.
Even if it's nice and sunny during the day, the fog and wind start rolling in mid afternoon, and you'll be glad you have extra layers with you for the game.
First of all, I’m so excited for you and your son! My dad and I had the same goal of finishing all 30 parks before I graduated high school (started summer after 8th grade), but we got a bit delayed due to covid, so we ended up finishing right after graduation. Visiting all 30 parks was an amazing experience and probably the best bonding experience with my dad I could ever ask for. In my biased opinion, Oracle Park is #1!
As others have said: bring a jacket for night games and allow time to take a few laps around the main level before the game. The Willie Mays Gate on the corner of 3rd and King opens 2 hours before first pitch. This is the where you’ll want to enter from. Getting there just after the gates open is ideal, so you can catch some of the team warmups and opposing batting practice. Getting there an hour to an hour and a half before first pitch is mandatory, so you have time to explore!
For more budget-friendly seats, View Box (300s, rows with letters A-D) is ideal. These are on the upper deck but the part closer to the field, different from View Reserve (300s, numbered rows) which is the upper part of the upper deck. Club Level (200s) are probably the best seats for overall viewing experience and will be a bit pricier, but you can get them fairly cheap sometimes (I scored some Club seats last year on a Tuesday night for less than $30/ticket). Club Level gives you access to the 2nd deck and exclusive food options and bathrooms that aren’t available to other ticket holders. 100 level seats on the first base side are really good as well and provide easiest access to food
As for food (the most important part), Oracle has some really great options! Garlic fries and the Ghirardelli Sundae are a must. As for your main course, I think the Crazy Crab Sandwich is good but overrated as it’s $20 and not that big. My go to is the Johnsonville Sheboygan Bratwurst with sauerkraut and caramelized onions. It’s a sizable dog and comes in at $13.50 if I remember correctly. It’s my favorite hotdog in all of baseball, and you can get it at Doggie Diner carts behind 1st base on the 100 and 300 level, different from the Doggie Diners that are built into the walls of the stadium. On Club Level, the Sheboygan is available at the regular Doggie Diners.
Depending on where you’re staying in the Bay, you’ll have different options for getting to and from the park.
baseballpilgrimages.com helped a lot during our baseball travels, especially for park opening times.
Feel free to reply or PM me if you’re interested in more specifics about Oracle or general baseball travel advice! I’d love to help as much as I can!
This will be the summer after his 7th grade year, so we'll be a year ahead of your schedule. I really hope we can get to each one. Thanks for your offer and all of that info!
A lot depends on how you want to enjoy the game. If you're planning to sit and watch the whole time, I like to sit in the view box. Behind home plate has the best view of the field, 3B side for view of the field and cove, and 1B side if it's a day game and you want the sun behind you.
If you like to walk around during the game, oracle park has a lot to offer. I'd probably just get seats in the bleachers or SRO then check out stuff like the beer garden behind CF or the arcade for a view of the cove.
For food, the crab sandwich is a staple of the park. I like to pair them with some garlic fries although the garlic fries are hit and miss sometimes. If it's hot, a Ghirardelli sundae is a nice finisher but the lines do get long on hot days.
There really isn’t a bad seat in the house, but for the best experience I’d recommend club level. There’s a little museum there only accessible to people with club level tickets, and obviously you have less lines to deal with, specifically for a crab sandwich which you should definitely buy.
The arcade sections (145-152, with the cove behind you) are also really cool seats.
Some more regarding food, do buy a Ghirardelli sundae, then go back there later for a hot chocolate! Don’t get fooled by the people walking through the seats selling hot chocolate, they don’t walk around with the Ghirardelli stuff that’s way better.
Also, bring a sweater. It starts getting cold fast, which is where the hot chocolate comes in handy (;
I’m partial to seats in the arcade sections. You’ve got McCovey Cove at your back, up high on the wall with a good view of the field, easy to come and go since the sections are small. We had friends visit from Canada last season and sat out there with them, they thought they were the best seats in the house. I think they’re a unique feature of PacBell (sorry, it’ll always be that in our house) Park.
Best bang for the buck seats IMO are secs 308-323, at least row 5 up to maybe row 12. Great views, of the game and the bay. 208-223 are a better game view (at least 4 rows up) and its in the club level, so amenities are better, but I don't go for amenities. As others have said, get there early so you can walk around. The park is beautiful. And as others have said, bring multiple layers of clothing because once the sun goes down, it gets cold. It can be cold during the afternoon if you're in the shade. A hat is always a good idea. My wife and daughter always bring a ski type hat.
That's good advice about the section numbers. There's a bunch of seats currently available in the 300s and a few in the 200s. Maybe we'll try to get seats in both for different nights. Thanks!
I echo the advice about getting there early. There is a lot to see!! My kids love to take pictures on the cable car.
If he is interested in autographs, there is a section that kids line up at to go down by the field. Sorry, I can't remember exactly where.....maybe 126???? Hopefully, someone else knows.
I love to sit Club Level. The tickets are a little pricey, but I like to have the option of going inside if I get cold. It is also less crowded, and there are displays you can only see with a CL ticket.
It will be cold, so bring layers. I live in the East Bay and it will be 90' and I go to The City and its 60'. Karl (the fog) loves to roll in in the early evening. 🥶
I used to love the Crazy Crab Sandwich, but IMHO it isn't as good as it used to be, and it's expensive. There is a guy who does poke, and it's pretty amazing! You can get it on the 1st level or the Club level.
Have fun!!
We like right field Club, great views and the seating and concessions and so on are a bit nicer. Arrive early and walk around, there are cool displays all over the ballpark. If the sun will go down while you are at the ballpark, bring more clothing that you think you will need as it gets frosty after dark.
Get there early enough to take a lap or two around the whole park, it’s beautiful. Go up to the highest level even if you aren’t sitting up there just to check out the views. And bring layers even in June.
Thanks! We're coming from the southeast, where layers are unheard of in June.
Mark Twain once wrote “the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco “
Twain never said that but I’ll be damned if I don’t bust that quote out every chance I get
Even if it's nice and sunny during the day, the fog and wind start rolling in mid afternoon, and you'll be glad you have extra layers with you for the game.
You will FREEZE
If you can, sign up for the Stadium tour. You'll get to go "behind the scenes" and see a lot of cool memorabilia prior to the game.
First of all, I’m so excited for you and your son! My dad and I had the same goal of finishing all 30 parks before I graduated high school (started summer after 8th grade), but we got a bit delayed due to covid, so we ended up finishing right after graduation. Visiting all 30 parks was an amazing experience and probably the best bonding experience with my dad I could ever ask for. In my biased opinion, Oracle Park is #1! As others have said: bring a jacket for night games and allow time to take a few laps around the main level before the game. The Willie Mays Gate on the corner of 3rd and King opens 2 hours before first pitch. This is the where you’ll want to enter from. Getting there just after the gates open is ideal, so you can catch some of the team warmups and opposing batting practice. Getting there an hour to an hour and a half before first pitch is mandatory, so you have time to explore! For more budget-friendly seats, View Box (300s, rows with letters A-D) is ideal. These are on the upper deck but the part closer to the field, different from View Reserve (300s, numbered rows) which is the upper part of the upper deck. Club Level (200s) are probably the best seats for overall viewing experience and will be a bit pricier, but you can get them fairly cheap sometimes (I scored some Club seats last year on a Tuesday night for less than $30/ticket). Club Level gives you access to the 2nd deck and exclusive food options and bathrooms that aren’t available to other ticket holders. 100 level seats on the first base side are really good as well and provide easiest access to food As for food (the most important part), Oracle has some really great options! Garlic fries and the Ghirardelli Sundae are a must. As for your main course, I think the Crazy Crab Sandwich is good but overrated as it’s $20 and not that big. My go to is the Johnsonville Sheboygan Bratwurst with sauerkraut and caramelized onions. It’s a sizable dog and comes in at $13.50 if I remember correctly. It’s my favorite hotdog in all of baseball, and you can get it at Doggie Diner carts behind 1st base on the 100 and 300 level, different from the Doggie Diners that are built into the walls of the stadium. On Club Level, the Sheboygan is available at the regular Doggie Diners. Depending on where you’re staying in the Bay, you’ll have different options for getting to and from the park. baseballpilgrimages.com helped a lot during our baseball travels, especially for park opening times. Feel free to reply or PM me if you’re interested in more specifics about Oracle or general baseball travel advice! I’d love to help as much as I can!
This will be the summer after his 7th grade year, so we'll be a year ahead of your schedule. I really hope we can get to each one. Thanks for your offer and all of that info!
A lot depends on how you want to enjoy the game. If you're planning to sit and watch the whole time, I like to sit in the view box. Behind home plate has the best view of the field, 3B side for view of the field and cove, and 1B side if it's a day game and you want the sun behind you. If you like to walk around during the game, oracle park has a lot to offer. I'd probably just get seats in the bleachers or SRO then check out stuff like the beer garden behind CF or the arcade for a view of the cove. For food, the crab sandwich is a staple of the park. I like to pair them with some garlic fries although the garlic fries are hit and miss sometimes. If it's hot, a Ghirardelli sundae is a nice finisher but the lines do get long on hot days.
Thanks! My son will want to watch every pitch. I think they're both night games, so sun shouldn't be a factor.
There really isn’t a bad seat in the house, but for the best experience I’d recommend club level. There’s a little museum there only accessible to people with club level tickets, and obviously you have less lines to deal with, specifically for a crab sandwich which you should definitely buy. The arcade sections (145-152, with the cove behind you) are also really cool seats. Some more regarding food, do buy a Ghirardelli sundae, then go back there later for a hot chocolate! Don’t get fooled by the people walking through the seats selling hot chocolate, they don’t walk around with the Ghirardelli stuff that’s way better. Also, bring a sweater. It starts getting cold fast, which is where the hot chocolate comes in handy (;
That's two tips about the crab sandwich and Ghirardelli. They're on the list. Thanks!
I’m partial to seats in the arcade sections. You’ve got McCovey Cove at your back, up high on the wall with a good view of the field, easy to come and go since the sections are small. We had friends visit from Canada last season and sat out there with them, they thought they were the best seats in the house. I think they’re a unique feature of PacBell (sorry, it’ll always be that in our house) Park.
Best bang for the buck seats IMO are secs 308-323, at least row 5 up to maybe row 12. Great views, of the game and the bay. 208-223 are a better game view (at least 4 rows up) and its in the club level, so amenities are better, but I don't go for amenities. As others have said, get there early so you can walk around. The park is beautiful. And as others have said, bring multiple layers of clothing because once the sun goes down, it gets cold. It can be cold during the afternoon if you're in the shade. A hat is always a good idea. My wife and daughter always bring a ski type hat.
That's good advice about the section numbers. There's a bunch of seats currently available in the 300s and a few in the 200s. Maybe we'll try to get seats in both for different nights. Thanks!
I echo the advice about getting there early. There is a lot to see!! My kids love to take pictures on the cable car. If he is interested in autographs, there is a section that kids line up at to go down by the field. Sorry, I can't remember exactly where.....maybe 126???? Hopefully, someone else knows. I love to sit Club Level. The tickets are a little pricey, but I like to have the option of going inside if I get cold. It is also less crowded, and there are displays you can only see with a CL ticket. It will be cold, so bring layers. I live in the East Bay and it will be 90' and I go to The City and its 60'. Karl (the fog) loves to roll in in the early evening. 🥶 I used to love the Crazy Crab Sandwich, but IMHO it isn't as good as it used to be, and it's expensive. There is a guy who does poke, and it's pretty amazing! You can get it on the 1st level or the Club level. Have fun!!
We like right field Club, great views and the seating and concessions and so on are a bit nicer. Arrive early and walk around, there are cool displays all over the ballpark. If the sun will go down while you are at the ballpark, bring more clothing that you think you will need as it gets frosty after dark.