Padres Baseball, San Diego

I attended a Padres game in old Qualcomm Stadium back in 2001. Back in those days you could get a cheap outfield seat for $9.

The Padres moved to even more-wonderfully named Petco Park in 2004. Now bleacher seats are just $8!!! The stadium seats 42,445 fans.

IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA THERE IS THE SAN DIEGO PADRES(IMPERIAL@PARK)
THE GASLAMP AREA(4TH AND 5TH FROM BROADWAY TO HARBOR) FULL OF VEGAS LIKE CLUBS AND RESTURANTES
THE WATERFRONT AND THE SD CONVENTION CENTER(HARBOR DRIVE)
LITTLE ITALY(PACIFIC HIGHWAY NORTH OF CEDER) AND BALBOA PARK(PARK AND I-5)
THE BEACH COMMUNITIES:MISSION BEACH,PACIFIC BEACH,LA JOLLA SHORES,MISSION BAY
NORTH COUNTY:SD COUNTY FAIR(IN JUNE AND JULY)LEGOLAND CARLSBAD,CARLSBAD FLOWERFIELDS,DEL MAR HOT AIR BALLOONING.
THE CITY:SD ZOO,SOUTH SAN DIEGO(LOCAL)EAST SAN DIEGO(LOCAL)
SOUTH BAY:CORRS AMPLIFETER,KNOTTS SOAK CITY,,MEXICAN BORDER
EAST COUNTY:THE PROFORMING ARTS CENTER OF EL CAJON

The ball game is a great way to spend the day with friends and family. Besides traditional stadium seating, there is a grassy hill where you can purchase $5 tickets and take a picnic or have a beer and watch the game, and there's a little mini baseball diamond where kids can play during the game. The stadium is within walking distance from the gaslamp district so you don't have to deal with parking. One tip: bring a blanket or warm clothes, even on a warm day, if your seats are in the shade - the breeze can make it chilly!

The food at this tailgate party was about what you might expect for San Diego- taquitos (tiny tacos), and chicken wings ranging from hot to nuclear. The majority of drinks were alcoholic. Someone even offered me a rum and Coca-Cola (the very thing that finished ME off on my last night at university). I had an unadultered Coca-Cola, although my first choice was water. However, the only kind of water on hand tasted the way your foot feels when it goes to sleep. Although, we were allocated the Bob Uecker seats, Mr. Cooper arranged for us to have access to the club house for free food and drink. I had 3 pieces of fried chicken, a dozen cherry tomatoes, and black olives from the vegetable platter, lots of salted-in-shell peanuts, all the while watching the game on a closed-circuit monitor. Many of the people in Sean's office had lived in San Diego for a long time and were, thus, loyal San Diego Padres fans. Sean's loyalties were divided because he grew up loyal to the Richmond Braves- a minor league farm team to the Atlanta Braves, but was living in San Diego and working amongst fiercely loyal Padres fans. I am a pure Braves fan and I was not about to mute that fact even in a limo full of Padres fans. After the bottom of the 7th inning, the clubhouse closed. As the crowd of 31430 was doing the 7th inning stretch and singing, "Take me out to the ball game." I found Javier a Padres key chain to add to his collection (which already had one for the Braves). The Braves were still behind 1-3. Unfortunately, that's how the game ended. (Remember in 1998, the Padres beat the Braves for the National League pennant and the Yankees in turn swept the Padres in the World Series.)

The Padres were playing the Arizona Dimondbacks. Randy 'The Big Unit' Johnson was pitching for the D'backs. He actually had a no hitter going into the 6th inning, and finally left in the 7th with 14 strikeouts. The Padres had less than 25,000 people in attendance at the game, so we were able to 'upgrade' our seats without any problem. Even though it was over 95 degress we stayed until the 12th inning when we left. You could say we didn't see anything as the score was still knotted at ZERO when we left. From the car, we learned that the Padres won it in the bottom of the 13th with a solo home run.

More photos avialable at:
http://public.fotki.com/seth0919/sd_padres_vs_arizon/

They should jump in the water and experience surfing or bodyboarding. Go to the world's famous, San Diego Zoo. Visit Balboa Park, Sea World, Scripps Aquarium and the La Jolla Cove. Go to the Gaslamp Quarter in downtown. And of course, watch a Padre Game. This was at the World Series Game 3 vs. the Yankees.

I haven't been here yet but being a big baseball nut and the fact that I used to live in San Diego at went to the sucky Qualcomm Stadium, this is a must see the next time I go south again.