Grateful Giant Fans Find Baseball Isn’t Dead by Bay

The home opener San Francisco almost never saw became a home opener unlike any baseball has ever seen here Monday.

Three members of the Grateful Dead, who rehearsed the lyrics to make sure they got it right, sang the national anthem without a hitch. Tony Bennett belted out “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” and he got it right, too.

Then Barry Bonds, in his first home at-bat since getting a $43.75-million contract from the ownership group that kept the Giants in San Francisco, made the whole day right for the crowd of 56,689 by driving a 2-and-1 pitch by Chris Hammond of the Florida Marlins over the newly constructed wall at Candlestick Park for a home run during the second inning.

The Giants won the game, 4-3, in 11 innings, on a run-scoring single by Darren Lewis.

Before the game, Bonds was presented his most valuable player trophy by Hall of Fame outfielder Willie Mays and non-Hall of Fame singer Michael Bolton.

As he rounded first base after his homer, Bonds slapped hands with his father, new hitting coach Bobby Bonds, then pumped his fist as he crossed home plate.

But during the sixth inning, Bonds suffered a leg injury while running out a grounder to second as he beat the throw for a single. The Giants said Bonds’ status is day to day.

All this, plus the debut of Sherry Davis, the first female public-address announcer in major league history, marked the first home Giant game since the team was bought and an imminent move to St. Petersburg, Fla., was avoided.

The performance by the Grateful Dead, an icon of the 1960s counterculture and a Bay Area institution, symbolized the off-beat rhythm of the day.

Guitarists Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir and keyboard player Vince Welnick wailed out an unaccompanied “Star-Spangled Banner” to the roars of the crowd.

“I wouldn’t say I was a huge Giants’ fan,” Garcia said. “When the season warms up and it looks like they’re doing well, then I’m a Giants’ fan. I’m a San Franciscan. That’s why I’m doing this.”

In August, Bob Lurie agreed in principle to sell the team for more than $111 million to a group of Florida investors, who planned to move the team to the Suncoast Dome in St. Petersburg.

But baseball owners voted down the move, and Lurie negotiated an estimated $100-million sale to a group led by developer Walter Shorenstein and Safeway stores chairman Peter Magowan.