Well, sometimes you just get surprised. As we travelled around the country on this trip we kept hearing that PETCO park was a real gem. It is located downtown and the San Diego trolley takes you right to the gate. The area around the park which was until a few years ago dilapidated warehouses is now really upscale. The renovation of the gas lamp district is not subtle. Great restaurants, music clubs, shops, business, etc. The natives really praise the renovation downtown. You walk into the park and you are greeted by the statue of the most famous Padre, Tony Gwynn. All seems well with the world. Then you enter the park. Money was spent on many things, but the park was not one of them. The first indication is the bull pens. The home bull pen is beyond the left field wall (the home dug out is behind first base. The vising bull pen is on the field down the right field line. It looks like they forgot that two bull pens were required. Then there is the stands. This is not the place to be during a California earthquake. The lower deck stands shake when spectators go up and down the stairs. Who knows what would happen if the ground shook. Unlike most new ball parks, and some of the new ones, the seats are not canted towards home plate so you are frequently looking through your neighbor to see the pitch. If you are looking for information on the batter, the pitcher, or the last pitch, you can probably find it, but it won't be in one concise place like many other parks. Finally, the park is fairly sterile. It is similar to Cellular Field in this respect. Remember the trolley that I mentioned earlier. Great for getting to the park. Not so good for getting home. The trolley is only two cars long and the capacity is very limited. Not to down play what the stadium has done for downtown (the make over is dramatic) but the urban renovation is the highlight and the pall park appears to be an after thought.
We were at Petco Park for to games against the Giants. Thankfully, we have many good friends in San Diego as well that took our minds off of the park. The Padres do not have the best team--far from it, but having the chance to visit with friends was one of the big highlights of San Diego.
I you look down the line here, you can see the Padres Bull Pen Behind the Left Field wall. The opposing teams relievers live life on the field for the duration of the game.
But, in San Diego, there are always other things to do--primarily the beach. We spent a day at Fiesta Island catching the rays and watching the surf gliders. This display was quite spectacular.
For the second game at Petco, we got to watch Tim Lincecum pitch the first shut out of his career. This guy is a dominant pitch. A real Cy Young candidate. Obviously that means that the Giants will trade him soon.
As you may be able to tell from my rant above, this is certainly not a 1st division team, thus the 2nd division is now:
- Baltimore
- Milwaukee
- Texas
- Houston
- Cincinnati
- Toronto
- Tampa Bay
- Philadelphia
- New York Yankees
- New York Mets
- Cleveland
- Colorado
- Washington
- Kansas City
- Chicago White Sox
- Los Angeles Angels
- Boston
- San Diego
- Florida Marlins
- Minnesota
