Friday August 10th

The morning was a little more restful, until all the cars on the Interstate suddenly braked, causing a near miss accident on the way in. We drove up through Oakland on the eastern side of the SF Bay, then across the Bay Bridge into downtown SF, and down the Embarcadero to Fisherman’s Wharf. In the sea of expensive parking, I found a garage for $11.00. Ceil and Will had chowder and sourdough bread at Boidin’s, and Matthew had his beloved McNuggets. We saw the seals near Pier 39, and the kids enjoyed the Spy Shop and ice cream at Ghirardelli Square.

When we booked the trip, I picked the Friday Giants game because it was the only night game while we were there...they played day games on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday. I knew there was a slim chance Bonds wouldn't break the record until we got there, though he cut it close. Nice touch for Hank to deliver a message, and funny that the AJC ran his explanation of why he did it. Funny Dale Murphy came out with his diatribe to same day Bonds broke the record.

AT&T Park doesn’t have much parking, and being unfamiliar with the area, I stumbled across a $10.00 lot with a few fans hiking out for the stadium, in a hip restaurant area. Will headed straight to the crowed left field stands for BP. Ceil wandered into the customer service office…at aisle 119, just like at old Fulton County Stadium. They gave her SF “Summer of Love” 40th anniversary T-shirts for the kids.

Anna and Matthew slid down the big Coke bottle slide, and we walked over to RF stands before the game to look out over McCovey Cove and the Bay. Adam LaRoche hit a BP pitch into the water. During BP Ceil struck up a conversation with a Wilford Bremley look-alike and his wife. Their hats were covered with buttons given out every time Bonds homered this year, with the number HR it was. The 756 pin was special.

The SF leadoff hitter singled, doubled, & tripled his first 3 times up. Bonds homered onto the RF catwalk, and Ceil was excited, knowing she’d get a 758 pin. LaRoche homered toward us in LCF. As the sun set the breeze picked up and it got cold. We left in the 8th inning, drove the short 15 miles to the Courtyard Richmond just north of Berkeley.

Later I discovered there was a public memorial service Friday for 49er coach Bill Walsh, where both Joe Montana and Steve Young spoke.