The Bay Bridge Series, between Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants, is just around the corner. In the wake of pandemic restrictions, there’s but one question on fans’ minds. Will Oracle Park reopen in time for the series of games to begin? The short answer is yes.
On Wednesday, Larry Baer and the San Francisco Giants announced that they had clearance to open the venue at full capacity as of June 25. The date marks the start of the Battle of the Bay; the three-game series played against the Oakland Athletics. It is also a mere 10 days after California’s official reopening and will coincide with other teams opening their doors across the entire state.
This news comes after the state officials’ announcement that large sporting venues may return to full capacity after June 15. What’s more, attendees will no longer have to adhere to social distancing rules when the venues begin to reopen.
For Giants fans, that means that season ticket holders can come back to their original seats. The team can also sell single-game tickets to people. Before this landmark change, Oracle Park was able to welcome a limited number of fans, due to restrictions. Last week, in a game against the Dodgers, the stadium saw its highest numbers all year, with more than 13,000 fans in attendance.
“California’s reopening on June 15 is an important milestone in our state’s recovery from the challenging and, for many, life-changing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. We have been working closely with the San Francisco Department of Health to safely implement these reopening guidelines at Oracle Park and we are excited to welcome even more fans back to Oracle Park next month,” said Larry Baer, San Francisco Giants team president and CEO in a recent statement.
Ahead of the Bay Bridge Series and moving to full capacity, the San Francisco Giants will play two more homestands, featuring one with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies in mid June. Since restrictions will still be in place at that point, these games will go ahead following the existing rules.
When the Battle of the Bay begins, there’s yet more positive news for fans. The lack of restrictions mean that the San Francisco Giants will be able to bring back their promotion and giveaway activities. That means that staff members will be giving away the much-awaited Mike Yastrzemski bobblehead. The team was originally supposed to release this new line of merchandise back in June 2020.
