On baseball: At San Francisco's retro AT&T Park, free knothole area offers fans unique view of players and field

The Giants' AT&T Park / A jewel of a baseball park along San Francisco Bay.

Tickets to see the San Francisco Giants play along the water's edge of San Francisco Bay in their jewel of a baseball park, AT&T Park, are both pricey and tough to obtain. Winning three World Series during a five-year span easily caused the demand to exceed the supply.

So, the Giants offer a free standing room viewing area at AT&T Park. It's one-third of the view but for none of the price.

Indeed, it's a priceless experience that not only offers a unique view of the field -- close enough to smell the grass -- but also a chance to shout out a "hello" to Giants right fielder Hunter Pence.

The knothole area provides a viewing portal through a
chain-link fence into the Giants' ballpark.

On a recent Sunday afternoon, my wife and I took advantage of the opportunity to stroll up and stand in the "knothole" area under one of the three arches at the base of the 24-foot high brick wall in right field that provides a viewing portal through a chain-link fence into the Giants' ballpark.

The knothole area underneath the right field arcade is one of many retro features that arrived when AT&T Park (then known as Pac Bell Park) opened in 2000. None of the other 29 Major League ballparks across the country include such a viewing section as part of a built-in feature. From what I've learned, the idea behind the knothole area was to attract passersby to drop in from the adjoining promenade who might not otherwise be inclined to watch.

The view from the knothole / The Giants'
Hunter Pence at bat with Joe Panik on base.

There are few rules for watching from this area -- no cursing, no folding chairs, no alcohol, no pets -- and it can accommodate up to about 75 fans at a time.

When necessary, such as when this is a sought-out spot during the playoffs and World Series, fans are rotated in and out every three innings. On the day we visited, we could have stayed as long as we liked. The knothole area was only about one-third full.

There aren't many amenities, so if you plan to stay a while you may wish to bring along your own snacks or purchase something from the nearby Yard at McCovey Cove, which features a variety of food and beverage options.

With our backs facing the boardwalk along McCovey Cove, we stood and watched as various Giants players -- among them, Pence and Madison Bumgarner -- warmed up for the game.

Madison Bumgarner / Everyone wanted to take his picture.

Pence ran wind sprints across the outfield while Bumgarner, the MVP of the 2014 World Series, threw to battery mate Buster Posey in the Giants' bullpen. We also saw several other Giants players -- Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Joe Panik and Mike Duffy -- come out on the field to run sprints and play catch.

At 1:05 p.m., it was "Game On." We stayed for the first inning and absorbed the view. Then, it was time to head into the breezy San Francisco afternoon in search of lunch and other adventures.

All photos by Michael Dickens © 2015.

Love thou the rose, yet leave it on its stem

"Love thou the rose, yet leave it on its stem."
~ Edward Robert Bulwer Lytton, 19th century English poet and statesman, from A Night in Italy.

A rose is a rose is a rose ...

Being a caretaker and photographer of nine rose bushes that shine brilliantly in our backyard garden, my appreciation for roses has grown exponentially over the past 13 years we have resided in the foothills above Oakland in the San Francisco Bay Area. Roses have become an everyday part of my life.

In photographing our roses and sharing them with my friends via my Facebook page, I have gained a new appreciation for their colorful beauty and their fragrance, too. It's always about how lovely a rose smells when left on its stem.

As it happened, earlier this month while on holiday in Portland, Oregon, we spent one morning visiting the International Rose Test Garden in the City of Roses. Founded in 1917, it is the oldest official, continuously operated public rose test garden in the United States.

While the primary purpose of the International Rose Test Garden is to serve as a testing ground for new rose varieties, in the beginning, hybridists sent roses from around the world to the Portland garden for testing and to keep them safe from the destruction of the bombing that was taking place in Europe during World War I.

On the day of our visit, the sun shone brightly in the Portland sky overhead. The vista looking out from the hills where the International Rose Test Garden and its companion gardens reside was very inviting to us. Walking through the various gardens gave us an up-close view of many different hybrids of roses and a chance to study their color, form, foliage and fragrance. And, simply to admire all of the beautiful nature surrounding us.

A beautiful summer day at the Portland Rose Gardens.

Operated by the Parks and Recreation Department, Portland's Rose Gardens are open in the spring, summer and fall seasons and closed in winter from December 23 to March 12. Admission is free and photographing of the hundreds of beautiful roses is highly encouraged.

Photographs by Michael Dickens, copyright 2012. All rights reserved.