San Diego Padres

The Great Ballpark Chase: Brotherly Love in the Land of Padres

timothynrussell2 Comments
Petco Park
The San Diego skyline is visible beyond centerfield at Petco Park.

Today, it’s time to do a little remembering.

During these ballpark adventure stories, I try to introduce you to people on the tour, putting you into the seat next to me as we travel the country via bus.

Time for a little detour.

I had waited for this tour stop both anxiously and with apprehension or uneasiness. The next stop on the west coast swing tour with Coast 2 Coast Sports Tours was San Diego’s Petco Park. It was a park that I had already been to, but also one of my favorites.

It was also the last Major League ballpark I was able to visit with my brother, Todd, who passed away suddenly in November 2017. I never got to do a bus tour with him. All of our travels were done with our own planning.

Our travels started in 2015 when we visited Detroit Tigers’ spring training in Lakeland, FL. The next year, we saw the Tigers were going to be in Washington D.C. and Baltimore for a week, so we made a trip there. Finally, in 2017, we spent a long weekend in San Diego.

There were other non-baseball trips during that time, especially Garth Brooks concerts (we went to six) as well as Eastern Michigan University football games.

But the trips I will remember most are the baseball ones.

Todd Russell
The author’s brother, Todd, aboard the USS Midway in San Diego.

Todd lived in Nashville, TN, while I lived in Michigan, so it was also a chance to spend time together. It also helped that since Todd worked in the hotel industry, he was able to get highly discounted employee rates for the hotels.

Even though we were seven years apart in age, we were still pretty close. From playing baseball in the front yard to chasing ballparks or concerts, he was a joy to be around and I miss him every day.

A few times during the baseball chase, my emotions have gotten to me. The first time was walking into Coors Field, being the first stadium visited since he passed. Walking through Fenway Park last year affected me some. And standing outside Petco last month was a little tough.

But it helped that my mother was able to take my brother’s place. She’s not as a big of a baseball fan as me, but enjoys the travel and meeting the people on these trips.

Given the circumstances, it could be why Petco Park is one of my favorites. But even without the sentimental feelings, there is plenty to like about it.

The Wiffle ball diamond sits in Gallagher Square (also seen top right) and the former Western Metal Supply Co. building factors into the architecture of Petco Park.

Two eye-catching parts of the stadium are the Western Metal Supply Co. building. It’s an historic warehouse that serves as the left field foul pole. The 100-year-old building had been scheduled for demolition to make room for Petco, before architects decided to save it. The building houses the team store, private suites, a restaurant, and rooftop seating.

Gallagher Square is located beyond the outfield wall. It includes a community park and viewing area. It also has areas that is open to the public during stadium off-hours.

It is a grassy area of about 2.8 acres, and contains a Wiffle ball infield, a statue of Tony Gwynn, and lots of grass to spread out. A game ticket is needed to access the area during game days, but it is open to the public on non-game days.

The Padres highlight two of their Baseball Hall of Famers with statues at Petco Park.

The Padres also have one of the nicer halls of fame areas, commemorating past players. In addition to the Gwynn statue, there is one of former pitching great Trevor Hoffman.

Inside the museum, which is located just inside the left field gates in the Western Metal Supply building, you will see Padres’ memorabilia along with recognition of its former greats.

Plaques of Baseball Hall of Famers with past-connections to the San Diego Padres.

Of note to Tiger fans, former Tigers shortstop Alan Trammell is inducted into the Padre Hall of Fame along with former manager Sparky Anderson. Trammell was the first base coach from 2000-2002. Trammell also is a San Diego native. Anderson was the third base coach for the Padres in 1969, their first season in the National League.

Petco Park has a seating capacity of 39,860. The dimensions of the park are: 334 feet down the left field line, 357 feet to left field, 390 feet to left center, 396 feet to center field, 391 feet to right center, 382 feet to right field and 322 feet down the right field line.

There are plenty of places to eat and drink around the park, especially in the Gaslamp Quarter. It is also known as the “Historic Heart of San Diego.” Some non-baseball sites around the city are the USS Midway Museum on the waterfront, SeaWorld, and La Jolla Cove. The cove is about a 20-minute drive from San Diego.

Inside the park, the barrio dog, carnitas snack shack, and elote street corn would be my choices to eat.

  • The Game: The Arizona Diamondbacks scored eight runs in the last three innings to take the 9-1 victory. Eugenio Suarez hit a three-run home run in the seventh and Gabriel Moreno added an RBI single in the eighth. Arizona pitching gave up just four hits, including three by starter Ryne Nelson. Padres’ starter Dylan Cease gave up three runs on five hits, before the Padre bullpen gave up six runs.
Petco Park
The author’s view during the Diamondbacks at Padres’ game in July.

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The MLB Postseason: Rant & Reflection

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I probably enjoyed far too much of baseball’s post-season action over the weekend, but as I reflected on the four major American sports post-seasons, the one that I’ve been able to engage in person the most frequently has been Major League Baseball. So, it’s really not shocking that I found myself hopelessly distracted by the Rays-Guardians’ 15-inning marathon Saturday afternoon or the Mariners’ stunning comeback against he Blue Jays that followed the Cleveland game in short-order.

Nationals Park
Tim, Brett, and I at the Cubs-Nationals’ 2017 NLDS, my most-recent MLB post-season game (Photo by Random Fella)

I’ll begrudgingly give MLB credit for the additional Wild Card teams and the decision to make the Wild Card round a best-of-3 at the higher seeded site. That said, I’m mystified why a reseed would not occur following the Wild Card round. Shouldn’t Philadelphia, the final National League qualifier, get the No.1 overall seed Los Angeles Dodgers and all the perils accompanying cross-country travel, extreme changes in climate, etc.? Instead, the Dodgers will see the Padres for the 20th, 21st, and 22nd times this season (at minimum). Los Angeles won the season-series, 14-5, if you’re scoring at home.

Of course, MLB couldn’t get out of its own way with the Divisional Series, granting the ALDS a random day off following Game 1. If there was a desire to keep baseball on the airwaves every day from now until the conclusion of the Divisional Series round, why not start the ALDS on Wednesday rather than Tuesday? Regardless of when it starts, there is going to be one day early in the series where all four games are played on the same day. Rather than cutting the AL teams a break by having an off-day immediately following Game 1 and then another for travel following Game 2 (creating a T-Th-Sa schedule), just have it play Wednesday and Thursday and again on Saturday?

Enough with the ranting, here’s a look back at my in-person experiences with the MLB playoffs. Unsurprisingly, it tracks closely with my hometown Detroit Tigers’ post-season appearances but the most-recent playoff appearance I made was, of all places, Nationals Park in Washington, DC.

2006 Tigers Celebration
Detroit Tigers Joel Zumaya and Brandon Inge celebrate with the fans down the rightfield line following their elimination of the New York Yankees in 2006. Somewhere above Zumaya’s Champagne bottle are my wife and I. (Photo by Getty Images)
  • 1984 World Series, Games 3 & 4, October 12th & October 13th, Tiger Stadium: In this simpler time, I recall sending away a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope with a check inside for World Series tickets. My envelope apparently got pulled and I was fortunate enough to secure lower deck bleacher seats for both Games 3 and 4 of the Tigers’ first World Series appearance in 16 years. My father deferred the opportunity to attend to his younger brother so my uncle Paul traveled up from Indiana to accompany me to the Friday night and Saturday afternoon Tiger victories. Both games were great, but Game 4 was especially fun as future Hall of Famer Alan Trammell belted a pair of 2-run homers to provide all the offense fellow future Hall of Famer Jack Morris needed in the 4-2 win. I then sat in the comfort of my childhood living room in nearby St. Clair Shores the next night and watched Kirk Gibson‘s monster blast against a stubborn Goose Gossage (seen here) that sealed the World Series Championship over the San Diego Padres.
  • 1987 AL Championship, Game 5, October 12th, Tiger Stadium: The details surrounding this game are a bit fuzzy, but I seem to recall going with a couple of buddies from college and just walking up and buying bleacher tickets at the box office the afternoon of this game, which is the only winner-take-all baseball playoff game I’ve ever attended. It ended with a colossal thud, as trade deadline acquisition Doyle Alexander (who was as responsible as anyone for Detroit even reaching the post-season (9-0 with a 1.53 ERA over 11 starts) couldn’t get out of the second inning and Minnesota’s improbable run to a World Series Championship continued with a 9-5 win. Adding insult to injury, of course, was that the Tigers traded some minor leaguer named John Smoltz to the Atlanta Braves for Alexander. Ouch!
  • 2006 AL Division Series, Game 4, October 7th, Comerica Park: This was during the era our family had a mini-season ticket plan to Tigers’ games. As such, we had access to purchase post-season games for this season that came out of left field for Detroit. My wife, Carol, and I chose this one – a Saturday afternoon game – because a Friday night, 8 p.m. start, would have presented several logistical challenges. Also, fearing the worst (a shellacking at Yankee Stadium in the first two games) we figured Game 4 might not even be played and we’d save a bit of money. Wrong! And boy were glad. Pitcher Jeremy Bonderman was unreal and Magglio Ordonez and Craig Monroe each homered during this 8-3 Tigers’ rout. The biggest highlight of that afternoon, however, came following the game when the lockerroom celebration occurred on the field. The champagne came out and players ran around the field spraying the fans. Truly a magical moment.
  • 2012 World Series, Game 3, October 27th, Comerica Park: The Tigers came into Game 3, down 2-0 having been swept by the Giants in San Francisco. The Giants beat up on Justin Verlander in Game 1 and rode a strong Madison Bumgarner performance to the victory in Game 2. I worked a connection I had with a friend who was a member of the Baseball Writers Association of America and had access to World Series tickets to secure the seats in the upper deck behind homeplate for me and my father, Jerry (heard in Episode 2 of our podcast, “Conversations with Sports Fans”). It was my father’s first trip to a World Series Game. That wound up being the overwhelming highlight of the night. It was a raw 47 degrees with a stiff breeze that made it feel much colder. The Tigers’ offense, despite the fact that Frank Robinson presented Miguel Cabrera with a Triple Crown Award prior to the start, remained in hibernation, getting beat 2-0 and running its scoreless streak to 18 innings.
  • 2017 NL Division Series, Game 1, October 6th, Nationals Park: The Chicago Cubs were beginning defense of their 2016 World Championship in our nation’s capital and it so happened I was in town for a NEA Board of Director’s Meeting. My friend Tim Parker (heard in Episode 3 of our podcast) secured Standing Room Only tickets for me, him, and our fellow education leader, Brett Smith. It was a delightful night and we took in the game from as many vantage points as we could access. It turned out to be a pitcher’s duel between the Cubs’ Kyle Hendricks and Nationals’ Stephen Strasburg and the Cubbies came out on top, 3-0. Chicago went on to win this NLDS, 3-2.
Nationals Park
Nationals Park
Nationals Park
Some of our many vantage points of the Cubs-Nationals’ 2017 NLDS Game 1 at Nationals Park. (Photos by Doug Hill)