So, as Mandi promised and I previewed several weeks back, Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres is our next review. Once again, I'll have to apologize for having so long of a time between posts; work was getting crazy, I had 4 days off in 4 weeks (each Sunday) and was getting a little burnt out and even on those days off, I had to do a considerable amount of preparation for the next week.
With that said, ONWARD with the Petco Park review!
First, a little history:
Petco Park became the home of the Padres in 2004, replacing the dual-use (shared with the San Diego Chargers) Qualcomm Stadium. If I recall correctly (I can't seem to verify it), Petco was the first to introduce open concourses in a baseball stadium, which is very neat and becoming more common today (the New Yankee Stadium has this as well, for example). What this means is that if you leave your seats for the restroom or concessions, you just have to turn your head to still see the game. You're not missing anything and walking around the stadium does not make you feel like you're missing the game. There are no (or at least very minimal) walls that separate the seating from the shops, food and bathrooms so you can view the game and feel a part of the crowd the whole time. Certainly, it is a breakthrough in baseball from an architecture standpoint in my book. Below is a picture taken as we were just walking around the stadium getting a feel for it, and like I said, you can nearly walk around the entire stadium and still watch the entire game on the field. It's also pretty neat to be able to watch the game, at least for a little bit from a perspective of the more expensive seats, like right behind home plate.
Apparently, Petco Park is broken into "neighborhoods" which, despite two visits in two different seasons, I still don't really get. They do have some neat exhibits like a World War II dedication to Naval Aviators and veterans (I can't recall exactly, but I believe the mannequin is designed to be George H.W. Bush, a WWII Naval Aviator) and this flows with many of the Padres promotions and claims of being America's "miltary team," obviously playing off the fact that San Diego is home to one of the largest Naval bases and populations in the world, not to mention nearby Marine Corps bases Miramar (yes, the one from Top Gun when it was a Navy base for all you movie buffs) and Pendleton.
The stadium itself fits fantastically downtown. Getting there is as simple as hopping on one of San Diego's trolleys which should run you less than $5 round trip. The stadium is situated right next to the beautiful Gaslamp District, a revitalized downtown area full of trendy restaurants, nightclubs, bars, shops and other attractions. The Gaslamp district is very easy to walk around, and, while it may be more common on the West Coast (can a Californian or somone confirm this for me?), for East Coasters like Mandi and I, it was neat to see they had diagonal crosswalks so you don't have to wait for 2 crossings to get going in the same direction on the other side of the street. Also within a 3 minute walk is the Convention Center which always seems to have something going on, most notably perhaps in the summertime is the Comic Con convention, which if nothing else, is just neat to see all the people in elaborate costumes. Additionally, in building the stadium, the left field has the remnants of the brick "Western Metal Supply" building built right into the stadium, complete with seating on its exterior, which just adds a very neat touch to the atmosphere -which you can see in the three pictures below.
There's a "park within the park" too out in center field which includes a small baseball field for the youngsters and an open grassy area that seems more common to minor league parks but would make for a nice picnic on any one of San Diego's seemingly endless beautiful sunny and 78 degree days.
The food in the ballpark is mostly typical ballpark fare - beer, hot dogs, fries, nachos, pretzels, etc.; I don't recall anything really sticking out to me. The Western Metal building has some higher end meats such as brisket and bacon-wrapped sausages, but nothing that's truly unique to a baseball stadium. They have some local chains like Rubio's and Oggi's Pizza as well. They do have some faddish "health" and gluten free options, but not as many as I would have expected going to the West Coast.
The crowd is pretty much what I expected for the West Coast - not as into the game as some of the more storied franchises around the league, but they did get into it pretty good against the Dodgers and at the time, the Padres were actually in contention for possibly winning the 2010 Western Division (they didn't end up winning, having a sad collapse towards the end of the year that coincided with a magical San Francisco Giants run).
Most of the seats have excellent views and while I haven't witnessed it myself, apparently some of the left field seating has blocked views from the Western Metal building.
Here's the breakdown:
Food: 6/10 - Nothing groundbreaking as previously discussed.
Crowd: 5/10 - The Padres play off the military crowd in town for sure, which does probably bring in quite a number of additional fans, but with most of them not from San Diego, are not the most enthusiastic crowd for the Padres, with many of them just looking for a relaxing night at the ballgame and then going downtown. While we saw some liveliness and pep against the Dodgers while the team was in contention for a divisional title, I'm sure that nowadays with the Padres out of contention, the fans have probably gone back to the relaxed "West Coast" crowd.
Cleanliness: 10/10 -This is easily the cleanest ballpark I have ever been to. Literally everything about Petco Park felt clean and even after six years of use, when we visited in 2010, you could have told me it opened yesterday. While I'm sure that like all stadiums, there are some minor health violations, the overall feel of the stadium is spotless.
Transportation to stadium: 8/10 - The trolley system is easy to use and inexpensive. Should you choose to park, it is limited, expensive, and driving in and around the Gaslamp district is not the most fun thing to do.
Stadium Location: 10/10 - This is how baseball stadiums should be located. It is easy to get to and in a great, fun area of town. There are plenty of things to do and see within walking distance and even more so within a couple minutes on the trolleys both before and after the games. On top of all this, the stadium feels like it is built into San Diego with the inclusion of the Western Metal building.
Stadium Appearance - 9/10 - I've already spoken about how clean the stadium appears; the overall design of the stadium is attractive as well. It's not the typical cinder block stadium and it certainly has quite a bit of added value with the Park within the Park as well as the Western Metal Building. I still don't get the "neighborhoods" built into the stadium, but that's easily made up for by the fact that they were innovators with the open concourse seating.
Cost: 8/10 -Padres games are very reasonably priced for the Major Leagues. Furthermore, their ticket staff on the phone was extremely helpful in trying to get us the best deal, seats and promotions, even calling me back after a question couldn't initially be resolved.
Entertainment: 7/10 - Good baseball and some mid inning antics; additionally, there are often various promotions for each game and seating sections.
Overall: 10/10 - As far as dates go, I cannot imagine a better way to incorporate baseball into a date. Polite fans, a great downtown location, a beautiful stadium, inexpensive and nearly hassle-free transportation to the stadium and consistently good weather make Petco Park one of, if not the best place for a baseball date.
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