You can't beat these seats; directly behind home plate. Upper level is still only 88 feet from the field (so they say) so you shouldn't frown upon the upper deck although I know it's hard to get hyped for a game when you don't have great seats. These may not be "Great Seats" but they're definitely "Good Seats".
As a newcomer, you may have a little bit of trouble navigating your way to the upper deck from the main level. First of all, you have to take an escalator at the main entrance just to get to the first level. Still, kind of cool. But the escalator is on the third base side, not sure why there isn't one of the first base side. But otherwise, you can just walk up the rotunda to get to your seats, it's a fun walk.
Have fun and definitely take part in parking downtown and walking across the Clemente bridge before the game.