Petco Park/Anyone Going to See Nats/Padres this Week

[GNatsNoMore]

I'm in San Diego visiting family and going to Petco Park for the first time on Wednesday.

Is anyone familiar with Petco Park? Could anyone recommend seats that are a good value?  At Nats Park I like to sit in 300 level seats on the third baseline between home plate and third base.  I'm hoping to find 3 seats with a comparable view and comparable price at Petco.

Is anyone else from the board going to the game on Wednesday?  Gore is pitching.  Thanks!

[Natsinpwc]

I'm in San Diego visiting family and going to Petco Park for the first time on Wednesday.

Is anyone familiar with Petco Park? Could anyone recommend seats that are a good value?  At Nats Park I like to sit in 300 level seats on the third baseline between home plate and third base.  I'm hoping to find 3 seats with a comparable view and comparable price at Petco.

Is anyone else from the board going to the game on Wednesday?  Gore is pitching.  Thanks!

Cool.  Have fun.

[imref]

i went to a game about a decade ago and sat on the 3rd base side. It is a beautiful stadium in a great part of town.  IIRC we were in the 316-320 area and seats were great.

I'd check here https://www.reddit.com/r/Padres/ for seat recommendations. There is also a wiki at https://www.reddit.com/r/Padres/wiki/index/ with lots of good info about the neighborhood.

Enjoy!

[wj73]

One of my favorite parks. Be sure to get there a bit early so you have a chance to explore.

[GNatsNoMore]

i went to a game about a decade ago and sat on the 3rd base side. It is a beautiful stadium in a great part of town.  IIRC we were in the 316-320 area and seats were great.

I'd check here https://www.reddit.com/r/Padres/ for seat recommendations. There is also a wiki at https://www.reddit.com/r/Padres/wiki/index/ with lots of good info about the neighborhood.

Enjoy!

Thanks imref and everyone.  It should be fun.  I'm going to wear my James Wood "welcome to the Show" giveaway shirt.  I saw a guy in a Padres cap the other day and told him how the Nats crushed the dreams of Dodgers fans in Game 5 of the Division series with that dramatic comeback the last 3 innings. He loved that.

[wj73]

I always wore my Strasburg shirt when I went there. Lots of fans remembered him from San Diego State and it led to some great conversations.


A few years ago I was buying my ticket at the box office and the cashier noticed my shirt. After a good conversation, I walked away with my ticket. It wasn’t till later that I noticed she’d charged me the discounted senior rate. At the time, I was still a couple of years from qualifying. I didn’t know whether to be grateful or insulted!


*edited to change “heat” conversations to “great” conversations. Doh!

[OfftheBat]

I never went but I've heard nothing but great things about Petco.

[Elvir Ovcina]

I've been to Petco. 

To be honest, I hated it.  It's an architectural project with the douchiest fans outside of LA.  It's like SEC frat guys crossed with military worship.

Very nice to look at, but that's it.

[HondoKillebrew]

I've been to Petco. 

To be honest, I hated it.  It's an architectural project with the douchiest fans outside of LA.  It's like SEC frat guys crossed with military worship.

Very nice to look at, but that's it.

Sorry that was your experience and pretty extreme reaction. I think it’s a great ballpark and, on my one visit, found the fans to be pretty cool and a good mix of people. But I suppose people can have different impressions based on a limited number of visits and depending on who sat near them. 

[Smithian]

I've been to Petco and am very jealous you're there for Nats game. I found it to be an extremely cool ballpark and I loved the Gaslamp district.

I personally had no problem with San Diego people and find every sporting venue in every community to have mostly cool people mixed in with some less appealing types.

[wj73]

I’m sorry you had a bad experience at Petco, Elvir. I’ve been there several times and always had great experiences with friendly fans, even when they were playing the Nats and I had Nats gear on.


But of course, everyone seems to love Fenway and I hate it, so we all go against the grain now and then.

[varoadking]

But of course, everyone seems to love Fenway and I hate it...

I hate Fenway too...

I rank it below Wrigley for worst in MLB mostly because I am a Chicago native and can deal with Chicagoans (even if they're stupid Cubs fans) much better than I can deal with unruly Bostonians.  The Parks themselves are equally bad and should both be razed...

[wj73]

I hate Fenway too...

I rank it below Wrigley for worst in MLB mostly because I am a Chicago native and can deal with Chicagoans (even if they're stupid Cubs fans) much better than I can deal with unruly Bostonians.  The Parks themselves are equally bad and should both be razed...

Hooray! I’m not alone in my Fenway hate!


I’m OK with Wrigley EXCEPT - one women’s bathroom in the upper deck? One? Are women not supposed to be fans? Or maybe we’re not supposed to have a couple of beers at a game?

[bluestreak]

I've been to Petco. 

To be honest, I hated it.  It's an architectural project with the douchiest fans outside of LA.  It's like SEC frat guys crossed with military worship.

Very nice to look at, but that's it.

Have you ever been to a game in Boston or New York or Philly? I mean the weather in SD is too nice for those guys to get worked up about anything…

[HondoKillebrew]

Hooray! I’m not alone in my Fenway hate!


I’m OK with Wrigley EXCEPT - one women’s bathroom in the upper deck? One? Are women not supposed to be fans? Or maybe we’re not supposed to have a couple of beers at a game?

Yes, but Wrigley used to have (still has?) what I will call “communal relief stations” for men.

[bluestreak]

I hate Fenway too...

I rank it below Wrigley for worst in MLB mostly because I am a Chicago native and can deal with Chicagoans (even if they're stupid Cubs fans) much better than I can deal with unruly Bostonians.  The Parks themselves are equally bad and should both be razed...

I agree with both of you. Both Parks are dumps.  Everyone should go once to say they did and then never return.

But I’m also a guy that thinks OPACY is vastly overrated. 

[imref]

Saw a game once in Fenway. No desire to ever return. I just remember that the seats were incredibly uncomfortable with little leg room.

[varoadking]

But I’m also a guy that thinks OPACY is vastly overrated.

I'm with ya there as well...

[imref]

I'm with ya there as well...

agreed though apparently they finally put in a real scoreboard and sound system.

[blue911]

Yes, but Wrigley used to have (still has?) what I will call “communal relief stations” for men.

Only part of Wrigley worth a crap.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Only part of Wrigley worth a crap.

The old Yale Bowl rest rooms were added after they built the stadium and realized they forgot such structures. They are in little buildings outside the Bowl. The men's rooms urinals used to be walls with some trickling water running down them into a drain. When they modernized about 20-30 years ago, they went to communal metal troughs.

Of course, the buildings don't help much with tailgaters. It's not a problem for most games, but the port-o-potties sometimes are insufficient for Yale-Harvard games that near sellout. I recall a game in the late 2010s where there was an en masse decision that the a wall of the stable in the parking lot was the second best alternative.

[IanRubbish]

Petco is my favorite park.  Thoughtfully designed with a lot of little hooks, like the deck chairs just pass the left-center wall, the berm past there, view into the city, the integration into the neighborhood with all the walkable restaurants/bars.  You'll notice a lot fewer Padre fans heading out in the 7th and 8th compared to Dodgers/Angels whose stadiums are surrounded by fields of parking lots.

Oracle is a close second, but Petco has better weather for night games.

I agree with comments about Leeches Stadium in Baltimore. Among many issues, the surrounding neighborhood is one of the worst in the league. 

[HondoKillebrew]

I attended one game at Oracle Park. To maximize the views of the Bay Area, I sat higher up than I’d usually sit while visiting a ballpark for the first time, and down the right field line. I did walk around the rest of the park for a bit but, because it was a while back, I can’t recall if the place is great mostly for the Bay & Cove views or if the rest of the place is commensurately great.

[IanRubbish]

40k today for a weekday afternoon game against the Nats.  Remarkable how well they draw...without summer concerts or gimmicks.

[OfftheBat]

40k today for a weekday afternoon game against the Nats.  Remarkable how well they draw...without summer concerts or gimmicks.

To be fair, the Padres don't really have any "crosstown competition". They don't have NFL, NBA & NHL like most other cities have. They only have the MLS that could potentially compete with the Padres. I think that helps the Padres' attendance a lot.