Want to sit next to a celebrity to watch a Giants game? Now you can - sort of

TJ Macias
·3 min read

Major League Baseball is set to look entirely different during the 2020 season. Not only has the average regular season of 162 games been slashed to a meager 60-game thanks to the coronavirus, but teams will have to learn to be able to play without the gleeful roar of the crowd.

But that shouldn’t be able to stop some fans from showing their faces at their favorite ballpark during games, making their presence known to the players,and TV cameras on site to capture the oddity of this new coronavirus-made sports world.

Over the past couple of weeks, MLB teams like the San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, Anaheim Angels and Milwaukee Brewers are offering fans a chance to bare their own likeness onto a cardboard cutout that will be seated at certain ballparks on July 23, this year’s Opening Day, and beyond.

While other teams are doing different things with the cutouts and offering a wide array of different prices, the Giants are adding a star-studded twist: Season ticket holders will be able to have their cutout placed next to their choice of a wide array of celebrity Giants fans for free, the official MLB Giants website said.

According the SFGate, fans can sit next to super-fans like Carlos Santana or Tony Bennett, or even choose for their likeness to bask in the sun next to famous Giants alumni or San Francisco 49ers greats.

It’s $99 for non-season ticket holders.

“We know this is going to be an unusual season without fans at the park so we thought how can we still provide our season ticket members with the opportunity to be present at Oracle Park even when they are home watching the game,” said Mario Alioto, Giants executive vice president for business operations to SF Gate.

Twitter reaction

While it’s a personal touch by teams that will surely miss their fans this shortened season, Twitter had mixed reaction to the cost, the curious strangeness of the idea, and how the end result will look during games.

And, of course, there were “Full House” jokes.

It also didn’t escape twitter users attention that the super-fans were only famous men.

Even though starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner left the Giants for division rivals the Arizona Diamondbacks during the offseason, fans still would appreciate his presence at the ballpark (if only to terrify the Kansas City Royals if they happen to face off in the postseason — in a repeat of 2014.)

And of course, who can forget Lou Seal, the Giants mascot?