MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com -SAN FRANCISCO, CA— The San Francisco Giants announced their 2010 Cactus League schedule today, which features a new Cactus League team, the Cincinnati Reds, whom San Francisco will play twice.  Although there may be some more games added to the schedule, the Giants so far are slated to play 31 games this spring.

 

            San Francisco’s spring schedule will kick off on Wednesday, March 3 with a road game against the Mariners, followed by their first home contest on Thursday, March 4 against the Brewers. San Francisco will play eight of their first 14 games at home before going on their longest road trip of the year in mid-March with games at San Diego, Texas, Cleveland and Oakland. The team has five dates on the schedule that will be split squad games: Friday, March 5, Saturday, March 6, Saturday, March 13, Monday, March 15 and Friday, March 19. San Francisco’s lone off day of the spring is Thursday, March 18.

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            The Giants, who have trained in Scottsdale since 1982, will hold their 28th Spring Training at Scottsdale Stadium. In 2009, San Francisco ranked third in Cactus League and fifth in all of baseball with an average of 10,485 fans per game at Scottsdale Stadium (21 dates), trailing only the Yankees (14,790), Dodgers (12,796), Phillies (11,747) and Cubs (10,931).

 

            Of the 31 games on the Giants spring schedule (including split squad games), 15 will be played at its Arizona home of Scottsdale Stadium.  The home portion of the schedule is highlighted by the Los Angeles’ Dodgers lone appearance in Scottsdale on Monday, March 8, the Giants’ first-ever Cactus League contest against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, March 20, and San Francisco’s only night game of the spring, a 7:00 p.m. start time against the Oakland A’s on Thursday, March 25.

 

            Manager Bruce Bochy and his Giants will host each of the Cactus League clubs at least once, except for Kansas City, who they’ll play just one time on the spring slate. San Francisco will play four games against Milwaukee (two at home and two on road), three against Oakland (two at home, one on road) and three games against Seattle (one at home, two on road).

 

            The Giants will break camp in Arizona Wednesday, March 31 and will play four games in the Bay Area, with three of the four games against the rival Oakland Athletics (April 1-3). The spring schedule will conclude Sunday, April 4 with a 12:05 p.m. home contest against the Mariners.

 

            As was the case in 2009, an earlier switch to Daylight Savings Time in 2010 means that only the Giants’ first 11 exhibition games in Arizona will feature earlier Pacific Standard Time starts (1:05 p.m. Mountain Standard Time first pitch; 12:05 p.m. PST).  Beginning with the advent of Daylight Savings Time on Sunday, March 14, the start times will correspond in the two time zones.

 

            Season ticket packages and suites for San Francisco’s home games at Scottsdale Stadium are available now by calling the Giants Ticket Office at (415) 972-2209. Group tickets will go on-sale December 1st at 10:00 am.

 

            Single game tickets for contests at Scottsdale Stadium will go on-sale Tuesday, January 12, 2010 at 10 a.m. PST (11 a.m. MST).  Tickets may be purchased via phone at 1-877-4SFGTIX, online at www.sfgiants.com, or in person at either the Giants box office at AT&T Park or all Giants Dugout Stores.  In the greater Phoenix area, tickets will be sold at the Scottsdale Stadium box office.  Tickets are also available through all participating tickets.com outlets and www.tickets.com.  Individual game tickets for games at Scottsdale Stadium are priced from $8 to $25 for all contests Monday through Thursday and from $13 to $28 for Friday through Sunday games.

 

            The Giants also offer the only officially endorsed travel packages to Spring Training in Scottsdale.  Packages include spring game tickets, lodging and ground transportation.  For further information on such packages, call 1-800-8WARMUP or visit www.sfgiants.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The San Francisco Giants’ 2010 Cactus League schedule follows:

 

GIANTS’ 2010 SPRING TRAINING SCHEDULE

 

DATE                DAY                 OPPONENT                     SITE                          LOCAL TIME      PACIFIC TIME           

March, 3            Wednesday       Seattle                             Peoria                        1:05                    12:05

March 4            Thursday         Milwaukee                       Scottsdale                 1:05                    12:05

March 5            Friday              Colorado (SS)                  Scottsdale                 1:05                    12:05

 

March 6            Saturday          Arizona (SS)                    Scottsdale                 1:05                    12:05

                                                Milwaukee (SS)                 Maryvale                    1:05                    12:05

March 7             Sunday             Kansas City                      Surprise                     1:05                    12:05

March 8            Monday           Los Angeles                    Scottsdale                 1:05                    12:05

March 9            Tuesday           Chicago-AL                     Scottsdale                 1:05                    12:05

March 10           Wednesday       Chicago-NL                       Mesa                         1:05                    12:05

March 11          Thursday         Seattle                             Scottsdale                 1:05                    12:05

March 12           Friday               Colorado                           Tucson                      1:05                    12:05

March 13          Saturday          Oakland                           Scottsdale                 1:05                    12:05

                                                Seattle (SS)                      Peoria                        1:05                    12:05

March 14          Sunday            Milwaukee                       Scottsdale                 1:05                    1:05

March 15           Monday            San Diego (SS)                 Peoria                        TBD                   

                                                Texas (SS)                       Surprise                     TBD

March 16           Tuesday           Cleveland                         Goodyear                   1:05                    1:05

March 17           Wednesday       Oakland                           Phoenix                     1:05                    1:05

March 18           Thursday          Off Day

March 19          Friday              Cleveland (SS)                 Scottsdale                 1:05                    1:05

 

March 20          Saturday          Cincinnati                        Scottsdale                 1:05                    1:05

March 21           Sunday             Arizona                            Tucson                      1:05                    1:05

March 22          Monday           Texas                              Scottsdale                 1:05                    1:05

March 23           Tuesday           Chicago-AL                       Glendale                    1:05                    1:05

March 24           Wednesday       Cincinnati                         Goodyear                   1:05                    1:05

March 25          Thursday         Oakland                           Scottsdale                 7:00                    7:00

March 26          Friday              Los Angeles-AL               Scottsdale                 1:05                    1:05

March 27           Saturday           Los Angeles-AL                Temp                         1:05                    1:05

March 28          Sunday            San Diego                       Scottsdale                 1:05                    1:05

March 29           Monday            Milwaukee                        Maryvale                    1:05                    1:05

March 30          Tuesday           Chicago-NL                     Scottsdale                 TBD

March 31           Wednesday       Los Angeles                     Glendale                    1:05                    1:05

 

                       

home games in bold; ss=split squads

 

all times subject to change

 

 

Commissioner Bud Selig shaved drug suspensions of players and broke the rules of MLB. Will Manny Ramirez and three others do a year? What will happen to dozens of minor league players whose records, teams, and leagues are affected? Read the whole story at SZ ( www.mlnsports.com).