From Bat Boy to the Major League: Mario Alioto '82

As Mario Alioto drives around San Francisco and back and forth to the East Bay suburb of Alamo where he lives, he sees the fruits of his labor all around. Men and women, boys and girls, decked out in San Francisco Giants gear, marking their loyalty to the beloved World Series champion franchise that he’s devoted his life to promoting.

“It’s pretty incredible,” Alioto said. “I feel like San Francisco has become a baseball town.” And Alioto has been one of the chief architects.

Alioto, with the Giants’ front office since 1983, oversees the club’s ticket sales and services, including luxury suites and premium seats, sponsorships, promotions, media sales and special events. He is also the liaison for the team’s media partners on television and radio.

Alioto was primarily responsible for marketing the team’s new ballpark, now AT&T Park, when the Giants moved from Candlestick in 2000.

In 1999, he oversaw a promotional lineup that included the first-ever “bobblehead,” which has since become a staple souvenir item in profes- sional sports.

He has played an integral role in making AT&T Park one of the most appealing fan experiences in sports, as well as fostering the intense, some- times quirky connections between fans and play- ers. He knows the landscape well, having been a Giants die-hard since serving as a team bat-boy in 1973.

“We have a beautiful park, the kind of park you would come to even if you weren’t a fanatic fan,” Alioto said. “Our marketing position has been, over the years, that even a casual fan is going to have a great time at AT&T. And we’ve grown our audience quite a bit.”

Alioto has presided over two straight sell-out seasons for the Giants — including a record- breaking 3.3 million fans in 2011. He supervised the explosion of merchandise sales that have fans all over the Bay Area wearing their black and orange. Not to mention their panda hats in honor of third baseman Pablo Sandoval, the kind of only-in-San Francisco tribute that Alioto embraces and fosters.

“I feel like our job is to really keep our finger on the pulse of the fans,” Alioto said. “Certain things mark the character of the team and the fans feed off that. I think it’s that emotional connection that drives the energy of the ballpark.”