The Athletics are playing two series in Las Vegas and as I had a couple of other ballparks to visit on the West Coast, I made an extended trip out of it. With the Mets in San Diego for a weekend set, I decided to start there, as I had not been to Petco Park since 2004 and wanted to revisit. I flew to San Diego and met fellow Club 124 members Gary and the King (fresh off his 10,000th game just over a month prior) as well as world-class mooch Dante at the airport. We took an Uber to our hotel (guess who paid) and after a brief stop, I walked down to the ballpark, stunned at the number of homeless along the streets.
We entered off Seventh Avenue, which leaves you in the left field corner. Here you will find a number of excellent displays highlighting the history of the franchise, one of five that has yet to win a World Series.
Of course, their most famous player is Tony Gwynn and there are plenty of memorials to this wonderful hitter, who passed away 12 years ago at the age of 54.
Many players have made the trek from San Diego to Cooperstown and they are all honoured here.
The Padres Hall of Fame can be found nearby and is worth your time. Did you know Randy Jones (#35 below) got the save in the 1975 All-Star Game? It's true, but the baseball historians did not add this tidbit to their database, and I notified Baseball Reference of the omission in December 2025. They informed Retrosheet, from whom they get their data, and as of this writing, I am still waiting for the update to be published. The wheels of baseball history run slow, as the saying goes.
Among the memorabilia here is Tony Gwynn's jersey from the 1998 World Series.
Trevor Hoffman is the second-most famous Padre and a statue of him can be found as you walk toward the outfield concourse.
It was Mexican Heritage night and a couple of ladies were dressed appropriately. The one on the left was sporting Blue Jays colours in my honour apparently.
Many fans choose to stay at Gallagher Park, the large greenspace that is inside the ballpark gates but quite far from the field. If you have young kids or a dog, this is the place that allows them to run around. Petco is perhaps the most crowded ballpark I have been to; it seemed like there was no space where one could avoid a constant flow of fans. I suppose if I came here a few times, I would get used to it and learn its secrets, but on this night, I found it a bit tough to navigate without bumping into someone.
The Western Metal Supply Co. building is the most famous part of the ballpark; the rooftop area is all-inclusive and would be worth a visit one time if you were there for a series.
The Western Metal Supply Co. building is the most famous part of the ballpark; the rooftop area is all-inclusive and would be worth a visit one time if you were there for a series.
I stopped by the section next to it to get a closer look, but without those specific tickets, you will not be able to get in here.
The strange item atop the foul pole in right field is Jack Box, the mascot from the fast food restaurant. There should definitely be some sort of prize for hitting it (besides the home run).
It was unusually cloudy and relatively cool for this game, with a game time temperature of just 67 degrees. That didn't stop 42,159 from showing up, about a 1,000 more than the Padres are averaging so far this year, which ranks them second behind the Dodgers.
You can also see the Jack Box more clearly in the photo below, as well as the right field pavilion.
The ballpark opened in 2024 and fortunately the Blue Jays were scheduled to visit that season, so I made the trip over from Japan for all three games, with the Jays winning two of them. I remember that all three were quick (2:21, 2:15, and 2:33 as it turns out) but not much more. Looking back at the boxscores, David Wells started and lost the first game for San Diego, Trevor Hoffman saved the second, and Rod Beck pitched in the final game, just two months before he would be released and eventually retire. Three years later, Beck died from a likely drug overdose. The Padres have had their share of misfortune; Eric Show, Ken Caminiti and Sean Burroughs are three more ex-Friars who passed away at a young age.
As I continued around, I came across the Breitbard Hall of Fame, which honours athletes from all sports who are either from San Diego or played here. David Wells is a member and if you want a good laugh, check out this picture of Wells and me from 1988.
The Padres have had a few pennants over their 56 seasons, with two World Series appearances, in which they won exactly one game. Given the Dodgers dominance, this streak is likely to continue.
The area surrounding the ballpark has several bars that are worth checking out. Bay City Brewing has a tasting room with a fantastic pregame happy hour where everything is half-price, including food. A $10 pepperoni pizza is hard to beat. A bit closer is Bub's, a more traditional sports bar that is packed before every home game. Afterwards, I tried Knotty Barrel, which has a good selection of beer and food, along with a lively, if somewhat inebriated, crowd. I hope to be back soon.
Near this area is a collection of batting helmets from all of the high schools in the area; these don't mean much to me but it is always fun to see families trying to find their school, which can be quite difficult.
Retired numbers are above the press box; in addition to those shown, Jones (#35) and Hoffman (#55) are there, along with Jackie Robinson's #42. Pro tip: do not play 6-19-31-35-55 on a lottery ticket if you are in town; you will likely split the pot with several Padres fans.
Our seats were up high behind the plate, where you get a pretty good view of downtown. My seat was in the middle of the row, so I chose to sit a couple of rows back rather than disturb everybody. As the game progressed, people slowly came up and eventually nearly every seat was filled. In the middle of the 5th, I was finally kicked out and wondered where these guys were for half the game. By then, however, my row had emptied out and I went to sit with the group for the rest of the time. The point being that just because seats are empty does not mean that tickets have not been sold.
Overall, Petco Park is a top-tier MLB stadium. I rank it fifth, behind PNC, Oracle, Coors, and Wrigley, although that comes without much thought. The MLB ballparks that I have gone the longest without visiting are Kauffman and Chase, both of which were last seen in 2010 as part of my Toronto on the Road quest. Sadly, Kauffman is not long for this world, so I will have to pop in at some point in the next couple of years.
I'm not going to recap the game in any detail. The Mets had some great pitching for a change, with Christian Scott lasting 5.2 shutout innings followed by the bullpen tossing 3.1 frames of near-perfect ball, other than an error. Meanwhile, Jared Young and Luis Torrens homered, Bo Bichette tripled, and the Mets won 5-0 in a game that took just 2:34, giving me plenty of time to explore the city's nightlife.
Notes
The area surrounding the ballpark has several bars that are worth checking out. Bay City Brewing has a tasting room with a fantastic pregame happy hour where everything is half-price, including food. A $10 pepperoni pizza is hard to beat. A bit closer is Bub's, a more traditional sports bar that is packed before every home game. Afterwards, I tried Knotty Barrel, which has a good selection of beer and food, along with a lively, if somewhat inebriated, crowd. I hope to be back soon.
Best,
Sean
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