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.
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.
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