San Francisco, CA
Pride Day at the Ballpark – San Francisco Bay Times
By John Chen–
During Pride month, our local Major League Baseball (MLB) teams, the Oakland Athletics (A’s) and the San Francisco Giants, hosted their Pride Day at their respective ballparks in celebration of LGBTQ+ visibility and equality for all marginalized peoples. Since the A’s have a foot out of the Bay Area, I thought it would be sentimental to attend the more likely than not final Pride Day for the last remaining professional sports team based in Oakland. It is very unfortunate and disappointing that, despite all the rich history as an integral part of Oakland, winning pedigree, and tremendous fan support, the A’s organization felt they needed to move to Las Vegas just like the Raiders.
Like many Bay Area baseball fans, I am thankful we will still have the Giants for years to come. So, I did a true daily double (for you Jeopardy! fans) and also partook in the Pride Day across the bridge at Oracle Park. Despite a challenging start to the 2024 season, the Giants are in strong contention for a coveted playoff spot so every game counts. The team needs our unwavering support more than ever!
Over the years, I’ve attended many professional and college baseball, football, and basketball games. In my opinion, there is a certain rarified air beaming with excitement and anticipation the moment we entered the gates on Pride Day. The sky looks clearer and bluer. The smell and sight of hot dogs entice your tastebuds like no other. Everywhere you look, there are signs, billboards, and flags offering and symbolizing positive and supportive messages of love, pride, acceptance, inclusion and equality.
On Pride Day, milling about the stands, the walkways, and the aisles, there is gay, lesbian, bisexual, straight, non-binary, trans, queer, and any and all self-identification proudly sporting a plethora of rainbow colors and expressive patterns. But beyond the differences, there’s us: a collective of human beings cheering together, clutching our pearls together, eating, drinking, and laughing together, cursing together, and most importantly, celebrating together.
Although Pride Day 2024 at the ballpark took place last month, you can always plan ahead for 2025 or partake in the many upcoming themed or special giveaway events celebrating our multi-cultural heritage, catering to our superhero (Marvel) and childhood (Mickey Mouse) obsessions, and honoring true heroes such as those serving in the military, those who protect us (police officers and firefighters), and those who nurture and care for us (teachers and nurses). And just maybe, in a few years, another MLB team will want to call Oakland or even San Jose home. Then, we will once again have two Pride Days at the ballpark.
Oakland A’s Glenn Burke Pride Day
At the entry gate, we received an authentic Oakland A’s Pride Jersey and a rainbow belt fanny pack. Although they were a tad tight and nearly cut off our life-supporting blood flow, the jerseys we received were proudly worn throughout the unfortunate losing effort from the home team. It was a relief to see a handful of fans also nearly popping a few jersey buttons as they breathed out. We are not alone!
The A’s honored and paid tribute to one of their own, Glenn Burke, a former player in the late 70s who was the first professional baseball player to come out, but only after he retired. Burke was famously credited with the invention of the high five with teammate Dusty Baker in 1977 when he was a Los Angeles Dodger. After being traded to the A’s, unfortunately, at the time, the team and its management did little to welcome and support a player who was known to be gay. In fact, the A’s leadership systematically discriminated against Burke until he retired at the young age of 27 due to emotional and psychological stress. One of the most memorable quotes from Burke was, “They can’t ever say now a gay man can’t play in the majors, because I am gay, and I made it.”
Burke continued to compete in different sports as an amateur after his retirement and was a proud member of the San Francisco Gay Softball League (SFGSL) for many years. In 2013, Burke was inducted as one of the first members into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame.
After the tribute, the Oakland Gay Men’s Chorus sang harmoniously both the Canadian (because the A’s opponent was the Toronto Blue Jays) and the American
Anthems. Then, it was time to play ball!
San Francisco Giants Pride Day
Upon entering the gate, we received a Giants long-sleeved Pride Hoodie, which was even tighter than the A’s Pride Jersey, if that’s even possible. The mostly rainbow-wearing and supporting crowd of 40,000+ buzzed with excitement in celebrating the city’s tireless trailblazing and championing efforts on LGBTQ+ issues, rights, and equality. We sat with members of SFGSL who were not just invested in the festivities but are also die-hard Giants fans.
Giants Pride Day began with a historical video montage on the Jumbotron of San Francisco and the LGBTQ+ community, followed by representatives of various queer community groups carrying and displaying a giant Giants LGBTQ+ flag on the field honoring the fight for acceptance, inclusion, love, and equality.
Then, in celebrating the 20th year anniversary of the monumental decision by then Mayor Gavin Newsom to issue gay marriage licenses in the City of San Francisco, eight LGBTQ+ couples either renewed their vows or actually got married for the first time next to home plate. The pre-game Pride celebration ended with Jason Brock, an X Factor finalist, belting out the national anthem putting extra emphasis on the word “proudly.” After a standing ovation, it was time to play ball!
We had a great time at both games. Standing tall and proud. Cheering extra loudly and booing with added gusto. And eating way more than we should, stretching the jersey and hoodie to their absolute limits. Although both of the home teams lost on Pride Day, my good friend Abel Reyna summed up the celebrations perfectly: “We lost the games, but won the day!”
John Chen, a UCLA alumnus and an avid sports fan, has competed as well as coached tennis, volleyball, softball, and football teams.
Published on July 11, 2024
After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.
The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.
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So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.
Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.
The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.
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They just didn’t get the job done.
Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.
With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.
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Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.
The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.
All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.
Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.
That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.
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Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.
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The 4,140-sq-km bay is the largest estuary on the west coast of the US. Before 2018, this species of whales wasn’t known to stop seasonally or consistently in the bay, bypassing it on their migration route down to Baja California and back up the Arctic, said Josephine Slaathaug, who led a recent study on gray whale mortality in the bay.
One of San Francisco’s busiest freeways remained shut down Saturday, creating major traffic delays and dampening business for some local restaurants and shops.
All eastbound lanes of Interstate 80 just before the Bay Bridge are closed as crews work around the clock to rehabilitate the roadway. The 55-hour shutdown, which began on Friday night, is scheduled to last until Monday morning in time for the commute.
The closure has forced drivers onto detour routes, leading to heavy congestion for those trying to reach the East Bay, including Oakland and Berkeley.
The impact is being felt beyond the roadways.
At MoMo’s, a restaurant across from Oracle Park, staff found business noticeably slower.
“A little bit more mellow than usual. We usually see a little bit more foot traffic, a little bit more people on Saturdays,” said Daniel Bermudez, executive chef at MoMo’s.
Bermudez believes the freeway closure may be discouraging visitors from coming into the city this weekend, despite favorable weather.
“The weather is beautiful today. It’s nice and sunny. So we have plenty of tables outside,” he said.
With the San Francisco Giants playing an away game, the restaurant had hoped fans would still gather to watch, but turnout during game time remained light.
“This is kind of like our off-season Saturday. A lot slower than our baseball weekend,” said Casandra Alarcon, general manager at MoMo’s.
Other small businesses in the Mission Bay and South of Market neighborhoods reported similar trends, saying most of their customers are regulars who live nearby rather than visitors.
“A little bit slower for sure. Before, we had tourists come and walk to the baseball park,” said Ajaree Safron, manager at Brickhouse Cafe & Bar.
Caltrans has shut down eastbound lanes between 17th and 4th streets to repave the 71-year-old roadway. The goal is to extend the life of the Bayshore Freeway by another decade.
City and transportation officials said the timing of the closure was intentional, noting fewer major events scheduled in San Francisco this weekend, aside from the Cherry Blossom Festival.
Westbound lanes remain open, and officials said traffic heading into San Francisco from the East Bay has not been significantly affected.
“Getting into the city, it wasn’t too bad. Regular [traffic], what we expect on a Saturday morning,” said visitor Andrea Inouye.
While the closure has posed challenges for businesses, some workers said they are taking it in stride.
“Hopefully, it’s not for too long and we get past it, and get back to our normal routine,” Bermudez said.
Despite early concerns about widespread gridlock, transportation officials said the region has avoided the worst-case scenario. Traffic remains heavy in areas near detours, but the anticipated “carmageddon” has not materialized, in part because many drivers chose to avoid the area or take public transit.
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