It's Always Sunny at Petco Park: A Review

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Article originally published on STADIUMJOURNEY.com

It took six years, numerous legal battles, a San Diego Padres pennant, and massive voter support to get Petco Park, the Friars’ current stadium, from the ballot to the heart of San Diego’s downtown.

Now, as I, and millions of satisfied visitors and San Diegans can attest, it was worth the wait.

Beginning construction in 1998, the stadium was scheduled to open in 2002. Lawsuits, injunctions, and other legal troubles stemming from unsatisfied politicians pushed the inauguration back to 2004, when it finally opened. I’ve sat in several sections at the park, with different price ranges. The result is pretty much the same each time, despite a relative closeness to the field from any seat, the action is always visible, always clear, always complete.

Petco Park was designed to evoke nostalgia in every baseball fan that walks through its gates, aiming to give the city of San Diego a taste of tradition in the vein of old parks like Ebbets Field, the Polo Grounds, and other turn-of-the-century structures.

The fact that one has to walk into Petco Park (it has no immediate surrounding parking structures around the stadium itself), past local bars, restaurants and apartment buildings, gives it that retro flair. Unlike the stony coliseum a few miles east in Qualcomm Stadium, Petco Park is not closed off, allowing local traffic and passers-by to take a good peek into the field itself.

Beyond the centerfield wall, one can find the “Park at the Park”, a grassy area beyond the right-centerfield fence that is technically accessible to all who have purchased a ticket, but is specifically available for seating for a price of $5. It’s a wonderful, off-beat, and very “Southern California” idea that attracts its fair share of people.

Of course, the stadium is also state-of-the-art, and is packed with modern amenities. VIP skyboxes tower over the highest stadium section seating, the Western Metal Supply Co. building itself has a private section for parties and other events, the walking area around the seats boasts nearly 250 HDTVs for patrons to enjoy, and multiple LED video boards. Whenever I missed something, I could count on looking up at the screen for the replay.

The park’s unique arrangement allows for multiple restaurants, concessions, and bars to be part of the stadium itself, and these are almost all located outside of the seated, “dome” area of the park, instead populating the surrounding buildings and areas within the stadium. This seemed a little annoying to me at first, as I’m a firm believer that things should be close to the field of play so you don’t miss a lot of the action. However, this is compensated by the fact that there are numerous, and I mean numerous roaming vendors selling everything .

Despite the sometimes suspect product out on the field, Petco Park will keep me coming back for more. Like I said before, it was worth the wait.

Randy Jones’ BBQ

Address: 100 Park Blvd. San Diego, CA (inside stadium)

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