San Jose Municipal Stadium was built from 1941 to 1942 as a WPA project at a cost of US$80,000. It was one of the first stadiums to be built entirely of reinforced concrete. It opened in 1942 with a game that featured the San Francisco Seals as the home team. Fans sit very close to the field in four distinct seating areas. The first seven rows of the main grandstand are numbered box seats. General admission seating is available in the upper rows of the main grandstand on straight-backed benches. Down the left and right field lines are several bleachers that are accessible for general admission use. There is table seating down the third base line as part of "Turkey Mike's BBQ Area". The stadium has remained largely unchanged from its original configuration. However, renovations to the bathroom facilities and clubhouse were done in 1994 and three extra rows of box seating were added in 1996. In 1999, the dugouts were expanded toward the field. The outfield walls are lined with advertisements, much like the stadiums of the 1920s and 1930s. Over the scoreboard in right field is a Diamond Vision video screen. The out of town scoreboard provides scores for other California League games. Fans are treated to a variety of games and entertainment in-between innings. Such activities include a tire toss, a child footrace around the bases and a fan favorite, "Smash 4 Cash", a competition where players attempt to smash the headlights of an old delivery truck to split a $50 prize with a fan. Each year's Independence Day celebration, complete with fireworks, draws some of the stadium's largest crowds and sees the foul line seating turned into standing room only. In 1997, the bullpens moved from along the foul lines to the outfield. The visitor and home bullpens create artificial home run porches in left and right field respectively. In 2007, the outfield fence was replaced and moved in in some areas and bullpens moved once again. Many major league players over the years have called San Jose Municipal Stadium home including, George Brett, Rod Beck, Joe Nathan, Chad Zerbe, Ron Hassey, Shawn Estes, Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Buster Posey, and Brandon Crawford. Stadium features include: the San Jose Giants Dugout Store, group spaces such as the Martinelli's VIP Deck, City National Futures Club and First Base Party Patio, the Astro Jump Family Fun Zone, Turkey Mike's BBQ, and a HD video board. The San Jose Giants mascot, Gigante, is often found having fun with fans at the ballpark and throughout the community. In 2019, the San Jose Giants entered into a three-year naming rights agreement with Excite Credit Union to rename the facility Excite Ballpark.
