Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Sunny Petco Park: San Diego Padres

My next stop to talk about on my personal stadium tour was my visit to Petco Park in sunny San Diego, CA.  I went to this stadium in late September 2019.  Here is a franchise that spends the money (eg. Juan Soto, Manny Machado), but is just short in reaching and winning the World Series.  They have  quality pitching, with starter Blake Snell (probable 2023 Cy Young winner for NL, has 2.38 ERA, 15-9) and starter Yu Darvish (on injured list).  Unfortunately for Padres fans, they have not yet gotten the gold ring.



Petco Park, opened in 2004, is a beautiful ballpark in downtown San Diego.   It is the home of the San Diego Padres. When I went to a game with my mom, we used light rail to make it to the game. Future hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw of the LA Dodgers threw a nice game. Dodgers beat the Padres (1-0).  The Dodgers-Padres rivalry is epic.  Both teams play in same division and (as of Sept 2023) LA Dodgers seem to be ahead in wins vs their interstate rival. 

While we watched the game, you have a view of the bay and the San Diego skyline.   The ballpark revitalized the East Village area, and is located across Harbor Dr. on Tony Gwynn Dr.  The Western Metal Supply Co. Building, which is a historic landmark, was rehabilitated and  incorporated in stadium design, rather than demolished. Petco Park differentiates itself  by moving away from traditional retro-style red brick and green seats. Instead, the park is clad in Indian sandstone and stucco. The exposed steel is painted white and 40,209 seats are dark blue.  It evokes the sandy color of San Diego cliffs and beaches, the blue representing the ocean, and the white representing the white sails of boats (often seen in San Diego bay). They have a huge left-field video board. A ship’s whistle is sounded and torches in center field are lit, when Padres hit a home run. The stadium has been described as a pitcher’s park, because of the dimensions of the outfield.



Founded in 1969, the Padres compete in the National League West division. They have won 2 NL pennants (1984 and 1998), but have not yet won the World Series. The Padres adopted their name from the Pacific Coast League team from 1936, which is Spanish for “fathers” and refers to Spanish Franciscan friars who founded the city in 1769.



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