***** TexAgs' Baseball Offseason Tour of the Ballparks Thread *****

1,256 Views | 8 Replies | Last: 2 yr ago by wbt5845
The Porkchop Express
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So I wanted to do this last year but never got around it, but in light of the lockout seems like a great time to kick it off.
I've met some fantastic baseball fans on here, not just of the modern game but all of its wonderful history and pageantry, as the Baseball Reference.com thread attests to.

So to pass the time until 2022 spring training, I thought we could do a tour of the MLB cities, a couple each week. I'm going to start with one and go in a roughly geographic pattern across the country. I figure two a week should get us to spring training easily. Each one I'll include the history of the ballparks in that city and maybe some trivia or a few video clips of great moments. If I've been to the park (I've been to maybe 13-15), I'll share my memories of it, and I encourage you to do likewise, or really just anything you know about the stadium, the city, the team, etc.

Stop #1: San Diego

Jack Murphy Stadium: 1969-2003
The Jack actually opened before the Padres were there, starting in 1967 as the home of San Diego State Aztec football team and all of their great players like Marshall Faulk, and what's his face, and the other guy.

From 1969-2003, it was the home of both the Chargers and the Padres which was always great on Sundays when you'd watch a game and wonder why Dan Fouts was taking the snap from second base. In 1984, the Padres first trip to the World Series, Aggie grad Mark Thurmond started Game 1 vs. the Tigers - first WS game in San Diego ever.



Petco Park: 2004-current
Starting with the Orioles' incredible new ballpark (Camden Yards) in the 1990s, a ton of new parks came into existence, many of them in new locations and downtown spots. San Diego's harbor area is about as gorgeous as you're going to get and hard to beat with the water, the Gaslamp Quarter, and all the rest. The park incorporates several historic buildings into the outfield area, notably the Western Metal Supply Co one, which was built in 1909, and there's a public park right behind centerfield where the Tony Gwynn statue is where families can go, take a picnic, and watch the game drive-in movie style on a giant projection on the brick wall outside the stadium. If you go to the gift shop behind the left-field fence, there's a non-descript door that leads out to a tiny view space right behind the base of the left-field fence. You can be within a few feet of the left-fielder on a double down the line, it's really unique.

I got to go to a game with my brother in 2008 - a interleague game vs. the Tigers that was great bit of history since that was the team's 1984 World Series opponent. We sat in the right-field bleachers, actually next to a number of Tiger fans with Trammell, Morris, Whittaker, and Parish jersey on. They had come to San Diego to work tech jobs after the auto industry collapse.

We picked the game at random as part of a greater family trip, and had the unbelievable luck of seeing Greg Maddux start for the Padres in his final season at age 42. He absolutely destroyed the Tigers, 7 innings, 5 hits, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts, and the Padres made it 2-1 on a Khalil Greene home run in the last of the 7th to put Maddux in line for the W. At least until Heath Bell gave up a 2-out homer to all-time slugging legend Placido Polanco to tie it at 2-2 and blow the win for Maddux. Padres then scored 4 in the bottom of the eighth off Fernando Rodney and Aggie Casey Fossum for the W. Looking back at the box score, we saw 3 dead-cinch lock HOFers in that game - Maddux, Pudge Rodriguez, and Miguel Cabrera, whenever he decides to retire.





Here's the box score for my fellow stat hounds.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SDN/SDN200806200.shtml

Look forward to your memories and observations. Next stop will be Anaheim Stadium on Thursday.
AgBQ-00
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AG
I approve of this thread!
DallasAg 94
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Went to PetCo in like 2015-'16 time frame. Sat in LF. Great place to see a game.

I grew up a Tony Gwynn fan and when Steve Garvey left the Dodgers, I followed him to the Padres.
The Porkchop Express
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DallasAg 94 said:

Went to PetCo in like 2015-'16 time frame. Sat in LF. Great place to see a game.

I grew up a Tony Gwynn fan and when Steve Garvey left the Dodgers, I followed him to the Padres.


Tony Gwynn is my favorite non-astro ever. While everyone remembers the 94 strike interrupting the home run record chase of Griffey and Matt Williams, they forget that Gwynn was hitting.394 when the players walked out. First legit shot at .400 since George Brett in 1980.
BCSWguru
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Driving by Jack Murphy is comical knowing what they have now. My only experience at Petco was in early April and it was pretty cold. Should have waited for the day game.
wbt5845
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AG
Went to Jack Murphy when my brother was stationed in San Diego in early 80s. He lived walking distance to the stadium.

He was a series commander at MCRD San Diego and had their annual bash for his DIs in a suite for a game. I think it was three series commanders and 12 DIs? We got so. Freaking. Drunk.

No one can drink quite like a Marine Corps DI.
The Porkchop Express
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Stop #2: Anaheim

LA Wrigley Field: 1961
Yes, the Angels played their first year in a Triple AAA baseball stadium where they had played as a PCL team for decades previous. This is where they used to play the live version of Home Run Derby on TV. Held just 20,457 fans during their first season and the power alleys were crazy short, just 345 both ways. Apparently it was in a real POS neighbor and only 11,931 people showed up for the first game. The team set a still-standing record for wins by an expansion team in its first year with 71.

Dodger Stadium: 1962-1966
The Angels called it "Chavez Ravine" for their home games so they wouldn't have to be playing in the Dodgers' stadium, even though that's exactly what they were doing.

Anaheim Stadium: 1966-present
it's also been called Edison International Field of Anaheim and now is Angel Stadium of Anaheim and is remarkably the fourth oldest ballpark in the majors, trailing only Dodger Stadium, Fenway, Pahhhhhk, and Wrigley Field. Its most famous feature is the "BIg A" sign that is 230-feet tall and weighs 210 tons and lights up when they win a game, be it at home or on the road. It's also right across the street from the Honda Center - home of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, sits flush with the Santa Ana River, and if you head west on Katella Ave. 4 miles you run right into Disneyland and California Adventure (the Cars' ride is not to be missed).



Most of you know that Nolan Ryan had some of his most incredible seasons with the Angels, throwing 2 of his 7 no-hitters there, including #4 in 1975, which tied with Sandy Koufax for the most all-time. The stadium got a big overhaul in the late 1970s when the Los Angeles Rams decided they wanted to move in, since they were missing selling out the LA Coliseum by about 70,000 fans every week. They added 23,000 seats to Anaheim Stadium, but it clipped the view of the mountains in the distances as a result and move the Big A scoreboard out of left field and into the parking lot. The Rams played there from 1980-1994 before moving to St. Louis.

Memorable events included the 1967 MLB All-Star game which was the first ever played on prime-time TV. The game went 15 innings and the NL won on a solo home run by Tony Perez. In 1984, Erick Dickerson broke OJ's record for most yards rushing in a single season. He needed 195 yards in the last 2 games of the year to break it, but fortunately they were playing the Oilers in Week 15 and he got the whole amount against them.

The first-ever music concert at the stadium was The Who on their 1970 Tommy Tour. The stadium has appeared in movies including The Naked Gun, Taking Care of Business - one of my favorite movies that is never on TV, Angels n the Outfield, and everyone's favorite, Air Bud: Seventh Inning Fetch.

Personal Note: I went to Anaheim on a 10-day California baseball vacation in 2005 and really had a blast there. For starters, I was starving, and they had Carl's Jr. inside the stadium. I'd never eaten there before, but I ate there about 5 more times on the road trip.



Secondly, the game I went to was against the Orioles on the day that Rafael Palmeiro got busted for roids. the Orioles were an incredibly bloated team of aging veterans: Javy Lopes (34), Palmeiro (40), Sammy Sosa (36), BJ Surhoff (40), and so forth.

The Angles finished first that year and lost the ALCS to the White Sox. I got to see Bartolo Colon pitch 7 1-run innings and Vladimir Guerrero hit two homers in a 10-1 win. I remember the first HR very fondly because I had called my brother, who had Guerrero on his fantasy baseball team, and he hit the homer about 15 rows in fron of me while were on the game.

Box score from that game: https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ANA/ANA200508020.shtml

Hope to read about your experiences.

Next stop: Dodger Stadium




Mr. White
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Yeah, it was TV, but Anaheim Stadium will always be a special place for me because it was the site of my first All-Star game viewing. 1989.

Like with any sport, movie, tv show, book, etc. Your firsts always stick with you and will always be special. Got to see Nolan Ryan get the win, Wade Boggs/Bo Jackson HRs, a few Rangers play, Mark McGwire batting 8th blew me away.

Sometimes you just click with a random player. Saw Doug Jones pitch for the first time and thought he was so cool.

Saw Rick Reuschel pitch and thought, "If he can make it, so can I."

Eric Davis, Will Clark, etc. Good grief.

Pres. Reagan did an inning with Vin Scully was a little sad bc it was obvious to 11 year old me that he was off.

wbt5845
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AG
Been to the Big A several times as we have suppliers in Orange County who I visit on a regular basis. Nice place to watch a game since they renovated the stadium to make it baseball only.
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