When the Giants Come to Town, It's Bye-Bye Baby

02.12.2008
Cirque Des Geants

Park

The S.F. Business Times reports this week that the Giants lead the bidding to develop the parking lot across the creek from Mays Field. It’s technically known as “Seawall Lot 337,” it’s just out of view to the right of the frame of the lovely photo above, and it’s owned by the Port of San Francisco, which desperately needs cash.

Hence the development plan. Thursday is the deadline for interested parties to submit their proposals, but the Biz Times says the Giants’ plan has the inside track. Giants president Larry Baer tells the paper the team envisions a mixed-use area akin to Chicago’s Millennium Park, with a permanent home for Cirque du Soleil — which currently plants a big tent in the parking lot every couple of years for an extended run — or something similar.

Keep an eye on this project, whether or not the Giants win a piece of the development action. With hotels planned for China Basin, and the new UCSF biotech campus growing a few blocks away, the neighborhood is going to get a lot busier.

The more visitors to the neighborhood, the more opportunity for the Giants to sell walk-up tickets. Mays Field could become a Wrigley or Fenway-type destination. Even if you’re not a Giants fan or your favorite team isn’t playing the Giants, why not catch a game at the world’s most beautiful ballpark if your hotel room is a short walk from the ticket window? 

And more revenues means more money plowed into salaries and farm systems, right? Right? Unfortunately, the past few years of Bondscentric strategy, in which money was not spread around in proper fashion, gives us pause. But I’ll take an optimistic view and say the front office has seen the error of its draft-pick-punting, expensive-but-mediocre-veteran ways.

Another caveat: if the Giants win the development contest, how much money and energy will be diverted away from running a baseball organization? Remember, this is San Francisco, where even the most reasonable planning projects face a howling mass of opposition. The last thing I want to see is the team embroiled in years of civic disputes and legal challenges. 

***

P.M. UPDATE: BP’s Will Carroll has posted his pre-season Team Health Report for the Giants. The good news: Stan Conte’s successor Dave Groeschner and his staff are among the best. Last year the Giants led the league with fewest days on the disabled list.

But the best thing that could happen in 2008 to the Giants, as cynical as this sounds, is to have several aging veterans spend plenty of time of the DL so the young guys are assured their reps.

(Photo by stevendamron, used under Creative Commons license.) 
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[February 12, 2008 3:25 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Jefferson said

The only important question:

Can anyone in the Cirque play third base?

[February 12, 2008 8:45 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Boof replied to Jefferson

Anyone can play third. What we really need find out is if they have someone to play CF. God knows, you can never have enough of those.

[February 12, 2008 6:20 PM]  |  link  |  reply
metzgers_saw said

>But I’ll take an optimistic view and say the
>front office has seen the error of its
>draft-pick-punting, expensive-but
>mediocre-veteran ways.

Oh ho ho, my child. Your naive ways are most refreshing. :) Are you familiar with Mr. Magowan and Mr. Baer? Simply plot the route that maximizes the Giants' cash flow and/or profit, and that will be the route that they follow.

Color me skeptical, but the successful development of a tourist-destination with some kinda baseball thing going on diminishes the incentive for the Giants' owners to put a winner on the field. Why build a winner -- and spend money -- when they will still come?

[February 12, 2008 8:27 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Lars said

Just great. Clowns on and off the field.

[February 12, 2008 11:20 PM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM said

Right -- call it the "Wrigley strategy." Why bother improving the team when the park sells out every day and the bleacher creatures faithfully buy plenty of beer?

I keep thinking that Magowan and Baer won't succumb to that, because they both grew up GIants fans.

[February 13, 2008 1:49 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Jonathan Bass said

What scares me about the park development is that Magowan and Baer have already demonstrated that they will take the surest route to filling the seats, via one circus or another, amid the accompanying sideshows. But that basically makes them no different than any other baseball owners.

Fortunately, I think it will be hard to fill the park in SF without a baseball attraction--e.g. a winner on the field or superstar, and since the Giants won't be able to afford a superstar for another couple of years, I think they'll try to put a winner on the field. 2/3 of the home games are still played in weenie shrinking San Francisco evenings--not for the faint of heart or the average out of towner.

[February 13, 2008 9:25 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Lyle said

Jonathan, I think you make a great point. I have a question along that same line, given the shrinkage problem during night games at Corportate Telephone Company Park: what would you think of a retractable dome, to be used only at night? Perhaps dome technology improves so that the bleacher covering remains transparent to maintain the cool view from behind home plate?
Or am I crazy?

[February 13, 2008 10:20 AM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM replied to Lyle

>Or am I crazy?

You're crazy. But we still love you.

First of all, the cost of retrofitting a retractable dome onto the park would be prohibitive, and second, the godawful thing would kill the beauty of the park, which the Giants rely upon for some amount of ticket sales.

[February 13, 2008 10:23 AM]  |  link  |  reply
ELM replied to ELM

Which makes me wonder: has anyone seen a survey that asks fans why they come to Mays Field? I'm curious to know how many say the park/setting is a main reason. I'm sure the giants marketing folks have done this type of survey.

[February 13, 2008 10:00 AM]  |  link  |  reply
Jonathan Bass said

The cold nights are a good thing--meaning there will always be seats for die hards, and one of things that stands between ATT turning into Dodger Stadium. A retractable roof is a terrible idea.

[February 13, 2008 4:46 PM]  |  link  |  reply
Zo said

A lot of people thought that the Giants wouldn't bother to field a winner as soon as the new park opened in 2000 (3 mil guaranteed seats a year, hip new thing to do, etc). But they did. If the Giants do win the development rights, they will use a corporate entity (such as Giants Enterprises LLC, China Basin Ballpark Company LLC, or Giants Development Services LLC. See sfgiants.com, under roster/front office). That means they will hire more people to do the work, finance the projects separately, keep separate books and send Pete and Larry separate checks. Impact on the club, probably nada, maybe positive, simply because owners with more money can do more with their ballclubs (see Yankees).