Champs Come Home: The San Francisco Giants’ 2011 Home Opener

Major League Baseball’s opening day may be my favorite day of the year. Every team thinks they can win it all, the fans are 1000% into the game and excitement is at an all time high. Add in the reigning World Series Champions, the San Francisco Giants, and you’ve got the makings of an epic game.

The American Flag is spread out across the entire outfield while fighter jets fly over AT&T Park during the San Francisco Giants home opener on April 8, 2011.

During the game, I spent a few innings wandering around AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants since 2000, taking photos from all areas of the upper deck. My favorite shot was taken from the very last row in right field, which is generally the best place to take a fisheye photo of a baseball stadium. You can clearly see the San Francisco skyline and the Bay Bridge in the distance.

AT&T Park, the home of the San Francisco Giants, from the last row of right field during the 2011 home opener.

The game was a wild one and went back and forth until the bottom of the 12th inning, when Aaron Rowand finally hit a game-winning shot off the left field wall. Needless to say, the remaining fans went absolutely nuts in celebration of the Giants’ win after nearly 4.5 hours of baseball.

Aaron Rowan gets the game winning hit in the bottom of the 12th inning during the San Francisco Giants' 2011 home opener.

Raising the San Francisco Giants’ 2010 World Series Flag

By far the highlight of the pregame ceremony was when Brian Wilson, the Giants’ eclectic closer, raised the 2010 World Series flag. It started when the entire team, lined up between home plate and third base, passed the flag from player to player until it would up in Brian Wilson’s hand.

Wilson then proceeded to sprint across the outfield and enter the centerfield bleacher section, hi-fiving everyone as he proceeded up into the standing room only section. From there he made his way through a sea of orange and black route to the flagpole where he would attach and raise the flag. All the while, the 42,000 fans in attendance screamed on top of their lungs and that glee didn’t abate for the rest of the game. Take a look at the video I shot from the second to last row of left field.

A Photo Tour of Opening Day

Click on the first image and scroll through the below gallery to see more photographic highlights of the San Francisco Giants’ 2011 MLB home opener. These are not edited in any way.