As I alluded to briefly in my Yankee Stadium post, I realized before the 2006 baseball season that there were only 9 MLB teams I hadn’t yet seen in person. Living in a city with both an American League and National League team, it wasn’t particularly difficult to put those 9 teams on my calendar and knock them all out in one six-month season. It conveniently happened that 2006 was also my first full summer at a job in which I had free nights, weekends and vacation days. All told, I ended up going to 30 baseball games at 5 different ballparks that year (which was certainly helped by the fact that my Mets came within one game of going to the World Series). The excitement (unquestionably the best baseball year of my life) led me to officially state my quest to get to every ballpark in baseball within the next decade. After all, I’d now seen every team play on the road (except the Mets, which I did the next season). It was now time to try and see each of them at home.
The touring aspect really began in a roundabout way. A close friend of my family was getting married in Montana that summer, and my sister and I (at the stellar advice of our dad) decided that we’d fly into Jackson Hole and drive through the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone en route to the wedding in Pray, MT. As we began planning this trip, I started thinking about other destinations I could add on, seeing as how I had the aforementioned vacation days to spare. My sister, Miranda, had moved to San Diego in the fall of 2003, and while my family had already gone out to visit for 3 Christmases, I’d never been to California in any months other than December or January. So I looked at the baseball schedules in Southern California for the days leading up to our trip, as the Padres and Dodgers were 2 of the 9 teams I had left on my baseball bucket list. Wouldn’t you know it, they were both on homestands! So, I decided to fly out west a few days early and drag my kid sister to a couple ballparks in addition to our pair of National Parks (a tradition that future posts will continue to explore: we’ve now seen 4 of both kinds of “parks” together).
The first game of our night/day SoCal Doubleheader was at the ballpark in my sister’s transplanted home. Having only seen stadiums on the east coast up until now, I marveled at what a different feel Petco Park had. To say that its sandstone and stucco façade is reminiscent of the architecture of the nearby Spanish missions that inspired the Padres name might be a bit of a stretch, but it certainly has its own unique feel. At the very least, it felt like it belonged just a stone’s throw from the beach. The palm trees all over the grounds might have had something to do with that, too.
Just beyond the outfield wall is a sandbox, where kids can dig in the dirt while their parents watch the game. Beyond that is a “Park at the Park”-a wide open hill with a wiffleball field that conducts games while the Big League game is going on- and it serves as a city park open to the public at times when games are not going on. (I’ve since spent more than one December afternoon reading a book in the endless sunshine while sitting under the shadow of Tony Gwynn’s statue and feeling so at home just beyond the outfield fence).
But the piece de resistance of the park is the Western Metal Supply Company building. While the trend of using existing architecture to supplement the stadium experience began with the B. & O. warehouse in Baltimore, the Western Metal Supply Co. warehouse, which was originally earmarked for demolition in Petco’s construction plans, was incorporated directly into the physical structure of the stadium out near left field. The interior of the building was gutted and turned into a team store and luxury suites. But the exterior maintains the feel of the surrounding Gaslamp District, and is as unique a structural feature as any I’ve seen at a baseball stadium so far.Our game at Petco was an Interleague matchup between the Padres and the Seattle Mariners. Like Shea, Petco is a notorious pitcher’s park, with deep outfield walls. Yet, surprisingly, this game was a slugfest. The 2 teams combined for 8 home runs (all of them solo shots). Seattle also managed to score some runs in a more old-fashioned method, and thus took the contest by a score of 9-5. Jamie Moyer pitched for the Mariners, during the last season of his 10-year stint with Seattle (and the season he became the oldest active American Leaguer and the oldest MLB player to record a win).
This game also marked the last time I ever saw Mike Piazza swing a bat in person. After seeing my favorite Met of all time in Orange and Blue 15 times, it was strange for me to see him in “Midnight Blue” and “Sand.” But the Home Run he put over the outfield fence in the bottom of the 2nd left no doubt that it was the same guy.
Also playing for the Padres that night was former Met Mike Cameron, who suffered a gruesome facial fracture the season before (in the very same ballpark while wearing a different uniform). For me, it was nice to see Cammy back out on the field, especially against one of his old teams (If you haven’t yet figured out, I’m a geek for that kind of stuff). Since my sister had worked at the hospital where he was treated, she was excited that she was able to identify a ballplayer!
The fans weren't complacent by any means, but as a guy who had become used to New York baseball, the feel of the crowd was definitely a bit more laid back than what I’m accustomed to. There was a real family-friendly attitude. The Swinging Friar mascot spent a lot of time near our section and there were lots of kids around us eager to get an autograph or catch a foul ball. I’m not sure I heard a single obscenity all night, and most people didn’t seem to care whether the team won or lost. They were just enjoying yet another beautiful San Diego evening. One person in our row (who may or may not have come to the game with us) even spent about 4 innings reading a book. Try that in New York and you’ll understand the true meaning of “Bronx Cheer.”As my first “official” stop on the Stadium Tour, Petco was where I started a few traditions that have followed me along the way since: It was the first game I ever brought my camera to. Since I’d been sightseeing in SD all day, that was more of an accident. But I now have hard drives full of sporting photography and a real passion was all but discovered that night. (Shameless plug, all the photos you'll see on this blog and many more can be seen on my Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattbritt00/).
Petco was also the first stadium where I bought a hat of the home team (which I initially did more because my sister was now a San Diegan and I wanted to support her than for any greater significance). Years later, I take some heat from some of my friends, since my hat collection takes up more than half of my closet-but for a bald guy, that’s just self preservation during the summer months anyway. And it helps bring back great memories every time I look at it. (Even if it does mean that I eventually had to spend hard-earned money on a Phillies hat).
While it’s very different from where I grew up, and worlds away from where I live, in many ways, San Diego has become a second home to me. And if the Friars and I ever find ourselves in town at the same time, you’d better bet I’ll happily find my way back to Petco Park.
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