AT&T Park (formerly SBC Park and Pacific Bell Park) is an open-air baseball stadium, home to the San Francisco Giants of the National League. The park is located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, at the corner of 3rd Street and King Street in the South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California.

The stadium was officially renamed AT&T Park on March 1, 2006, just two years after it adopted the SBC Park name. SBC Communications, the flagship sponsor of the park, rebranded itself as AT&T Inc. when it merged with AT&T Corp. in late 2005. This marks the second renaming for the park since its opening in 2000.

Groundbreaking on the ballpark began on December 11, 1997 in the industrial waterfront area of San Francisco known as China Basin. The stadium cost $319 million to build and supplanted the Giants' former home, Candlestick Park, a multi-use stadium in southern San Francisco. A team of engineers from UC Davis was consulted in the design process of the park resulting in wind levels that are approximately half those at Candlestick. Fans had shivered through 40 seasons at "The Stick," and they experienced slightly warmer temperatures at the new ballpark. However, cold summer fog and winter jackets in July are also not unusual at AT&T Park.

When it opened on March 31, 2000, the ballpark was the first Major League Baseball stadium built in the U.S. without public funds since the completion of Dodger Stadium in 1962 (though the Giants did receive a $10 million tax abatement from the city, which also paid for upgrades to the local infrastructure, including a connection to the Muni Metro). The park opened with a seating capacity of 40,800, but this has increased over time as seats have been added. The opening series took place between April 11, 2000 and April 13, 2000 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, where the Giants were swept in 3 games.

In just its first few years of existence, the ballpark has seen its share of historic events primarily due to veteran Giants outfielder Barry Bonds. On April 17, 2001, Bonds hit his 500th career home run at then Pacific Bell Park. Later that year, he set the single season home run record when he hit home runs number 71, 72, and 73 over the weekend of October 5th to close the season. On August 9, 2002, Bonds hit his 600th career home run at the park. On April 12, 2004, Bonds hit career home run 660 at SBC Park to tie Willie Mays on the all-time list and on the next night, he hit number 661 to move into sole possession of third place. On September 17, 2004, Bonds hit his 700th career home run at the park to become just the third member of baseball's 700 club. On May 28, 2006 Bonds hit his 715th homerun at the park to pass Babe Ruth for second place on the all-time homerun list. The stadium has also hosted the 2002 World Series against the Anaheim Angels, which the Giants lost 4 games to 3, and will host the 2007 MLB All-Star Game.

On the facing of the upper deck near left field are the retired numbers (or "NY" designation for players of the pre-number era) of Christy Mathewson, John McGraw, Bill Terry, Mel Ott, Carl Hubbell, Willie Mays, Juan Marichal, Orlando Cepeda, Jackie Robinson, Willie McCovey, and Gaylord Perry.

Pacific Bell, a local telephone company in the San Francisco Bay Area, purchased the naming rights for the park for $50 million over 24 years when the park opened. Pacific Bell's parent SBC Communications eventually dropped the Pacific Bell name and reached an agreement with the Giants to change the park's name on January 1, 2004. The name change upset some fans, leaving them in the awkward position of desiring the park's former corporate name.

After SBC merged with AT&T on November 18, 2005, the name of the merged company became AT&T, Inc. As a result, the stadium was given its third name in six years: "AT&T Park." Many fans still refer to the stadium as "Pac Bell Park", due to Pacific Bell's San Francisco roots and tendency to have corporate named stadiums, especially ones with as many name changes as AT&T Park. Others have named the stadium "Telephone Park" due to the constant name changes since its opening.

A grass-roots fan campaign is promoting the alternative name "Mays Field" to honor the former Giants' star Willie Mays.

Giants Enterprises, a wholly owned subsidiary of the San Francisco Giants created and headed by longtime team executive and marketing legend Pat Gallagher, brings non-baseball events to the stadium on days when the Giants do not play. The stadium was home to the XFL San Francisco Demons in 2001, was the home of the Shrine Bowl (until 2006) and is the current home of college football's Emerald Bowl (since 2002). Numerous concerts are also held at the park.

[Source: Wikipedia]

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