By land or by sea, AT&T; is one great park to see

If you don't have World Series tickets (and with asking prices for tickets ranging from several hundred dollars to more than $10,000 online, who can blame you?) you can still feed off the ballpark energy and share in the phenomenon, outdoors-style.

Arrive at AT&T; Park by land or sea, by foot or by boat, or by train, BART or ferry, and you'll feel the electricity like everybody has 110 volts buzzing through them. Here are some inexpensive ways to plug into the sensation.

McCovey Cove

The McCovey Cove-by-boat experience - while listening to Jon Miller on the radio, of course - is nearly as good as being inside the park. From the water, the view of the park and the towering wall of people and their amplified roars projected bayward make this like nothing else. The traffic jam of kayaks, powerboats and sailboats starts hours before the game, the biggest flotilla since the Bonds Navy inundated McCovey Cove at the All-Star game in 2007. A half dozen balls or so are usually hit into the cove during batting practice to get you warmed up for the real thing.

Those who own their own kayaks often launch at the rocks near the Willie McCovey statue (good luck on parking). City Kayak at nearby South Beach Harbor rents kayaks for $44, but just like a ticket, you better have one wired. If you own your own boat, the closest boat launch is the ramp at Pier 52, with parking for 40 vehicles and trailers. Other boat ramps in the outer vicinity are at Oyster Point in South San Francisco and Berkeley Marina.

In the cove, no motors are permitted inside a marked area and a marine patrol enforces the rules. One concern is that the high number of boats could block the route and docking area for the China Basin Ferry, so if you're on the water, stay clear of the dock. Spot checks for BUI (Boating Under the Influence) and PFDs (Personal Flotation Devices) are possible.

The biggest problems for kayakers who spend the day at McCovey Cove often turns out be how to go to the bathroom and keep their radios dry. If you see a kayaker in a wetsuit suddenly jump in the water for no apparent reason, well, you can figure out what's going on.

Info: City Kayak, (415) 357-1010, citykayak.com; Harbormaster, South Beach, (415) 495-4911; Pier 52 launch ramp, Port of San Francisco, (415) 274-0400, sfport.com.

Arrive by ferry

Ferry boats run both to China Basin and the Port of San Francisco. If you ferry to China Basin, walk from South Beach to Willie Mays Plaza and work your way through the crowd around to the McCovey statue. You'll feel the sizzle in the air. Though packed, the Giants Promenade, the pier along the back wall of the park, provides the yearned glimpses of the field through the grated archways. It's well known that people up front at the archways with field views get rotated so nobody can monopolize a great free spot. If you ride in to the Port of San Francisco, the walk along the bay along the Embarcadero, both the boat trip and the walk provides a series of gorgeous bay views.

Info: Ferries to San Francisco: Sausalito/Larkspur, goldengateferry.com; Tiburon, blueandgoldfleet.com; Oakland/Alameda, eastbayferry.com; Vallejo, baylinkferry.com.

Arrive by train

From the Peninsula, it's an easy trip with a lot of stops up to San Francisco. The train station is a block from AT&T; Park. You get easy access to all the baseball landmarks, like McCovey Cove, Giants Promenade and the Lefty O'Doul Bridge. One option is to ride up on the train and then camp out on a seat in one of the sports bars near the park.

Info: caltrain.com.

Arrive by BART

The closest BART station to AT&T; Park is the Montgomery Street Station (598 Market), where it's a 1-mile walk to the ballpark. From the BART station, walk southwest (away from the bay) a short distance on Market to Third Street, then turn south (left) and walk to the ballpark. You get walking access to all the sports bars.

Info: www.bart.gov.

Tom Stienstra's Outdoor Report can be heard Saturdays on KCBS (740 and 106.9) at 7:35 a.m., 9:35 a.m. and 12:35 p.m. E-mail at tstienstra@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page B - 14 of the San Francisco Chronicle