Petco Park (San Diego Padres)

San Diego

  

  

  

  

Drive to San Diego

Ballpark Assessment

Category Score (0 to 10)					TOTAL (0 to 50)
Location	Atmosphere	Food	Exterior Architecture	Interior Architecture
10	8	8	9	10	45

Best MLB Ballpark.  Hands down.  Full stop.  Period.  The combination of a top notch location in downtown San Diego (Gaslamp District), great atmosphere (fans love the "wave") and some of the best amenities of any stadium makes this ballpark a must see.  You can watch the game from a grass slope about 400 yards away from home plate in right-center field (sans shoes/sandals of course).  If you are lucky enough, you can try to grab one of the roughly 100 grass-infused seats about 25 to 50 yards in front of the grass slope where your feet sit atop a grass floor.  There is a giant HD screen nearby, which caters to those sitting in these seemingly faraway seats.  Next to the grass slope is a small baseball field where countless kids were fielding wiffleballs tossed by a stadium worker.

More than any other stadium, Petco Park seems to almost blend into it's surroundings.  The stadium, which faces north opens up to the city of San Diego and Balboa Park (home to the world famous San Diego Zoo).  High rises and hotels tower right over the stadium and the 100-year old Western Metal Supply Co building has been incorporated into the building out in left field.  Side note, healthy food options can be found throughout the stadium.

The location of the bullpens is an oddity that provides it's own sort of home field advantage.  The Padres' bullpen is located behind a wall in the outfield while the away team must use a bullpen located in foul territory.

Game Comments (courtesy of MLB.com)

Game Date: July 3, 2010

Attendance: 40,042

Weather: 71 degrees F, clear

Length of Game: 2 hours, 32 minutes
Final Score: San Diego Padres 1, Houston Astros 0

Padres starter Kevin Correia and Astros starter Bud Norris both went seven scoreless, but neither factored in the decision, as San Diego's Aaron Cunningham scored the game's only run on an error in the eighth.

Stories from the Road

I had my first taste of southern California traffic on my way from San Diego from LA.  Having been spooked by horror stories of LA traffic, and up against the clock to get to San Diego in time for that evening's Padres game, I decided to take a slightly indirect route to SD that, I was sure, would bypass any and all traffic.  I was wrong ... On my route (LAX to Artesia Fwy to Riverside Fwy to 15 S to San Diego) I was stopped in bumper to bumper traffic that ended up being caused by a pick-up truck that had pulled over to the side of the road and had 2 women sunbathing on the top of the boat that they were towing ... Welcome to Southern California!

San Diego … Wow!  Great weather (of course), but the neighborhood where the stadium is located, The Gaslamp District, is one-of-a-kind.  Clubs, restaurants and shops abound in this downtown section of San Diego.  Despite the great environment, it turned out to be rather chilly that evening; so much so that I had to buy a hoodie to stay warm.  Luckily the shops along 5th ave in the Gaslamp District were open late (probably to welcome the tourists who, like me, did not realize how cold it can get in the evenings).