SF Giants: Three reasons Oracle Park is the best in baseball

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The Willie McCovey statue at the SF Giants' Oracle Park

A view at twilight with moon above of the statue of former San Francisco Giants Willie McCovey on the waterfront near Oracle Park. (Photo by David Madison/Getty Images) /

Why Oracle Park is the best park: the history

Although Giants legends like Willie McCovey and Willie Mays never got to play in Oracle Park, they are still a huge part of the park’s ethos. There are statues of both of them outside the park and their presence is felt with the park’s address (24 Willie Mays Plaza) and the name of the beautiful body of water beyond the right-field wall, McCovey Cove.

The park also does not brush over the previous homes of the Giants with the sign in the outfield that has a marker pointing in the direction of the Polo Grounds which is where the team played in New York, Candlestick Park which is where the team played for nearly forty years from 1960 to 1999, and even Seals stadium which is where the minor league Pacific Coast League San Francisco Seals played until the late 1950s.

But beyond the nods to the team’s history before the park was built, just think of all the history that has occurred on Oracle Park itself. Barry Bonds broke Hank Aaron’s home run record there in 2007.

Matt Cain pitched one of the only 23 perfect games in MLB history on that field in 2012.

And Travis Ishikawa hit one of the most memorable home runs in Giants history in 2014.

That’s not even to mention the no-hitters thrown by Jonathan Sanchez and Tim Lincecum on that field as well as the fact that is has fielded three World Series championship teams in its 20-year history. The history of the park easily qualifies it as one of the best in baseball.