The Petco Park Problem: Is It in San Diego Padres Players' Heads?

"Even though we knew what was coming, we still couldn't pull the trigger."

Stop me if you have heard that before around here Insane Diego...

We have reached the level of the absurd folks.

Never has a ballpark been so vilified by its own players—so hated by the Padres current squad—that they dread coming back to play there.

It might as well be the Overlook Hotel, or Micheal Meyers' house, the way these guys carry on.

I expect to see Nosferatu lurking in the park in the park, or perhaps Herman Munster, who could at least hit with some power stepping into the batters box.  

And the players are dead wrong in this thinking. Petco Park should provide the greatest home field advantage in the National League.

If one examines the history of the home field advantage, a good team usually tailors itself to it's home confines and forces the opposition to deal with it.

Apparently this idea has not been bandied about here in sunny So Cal. Player after player has stepped into the batters box for the Friars since day one at Petco and decided those fences look easy to reach...

Lets take a quick look at what the Padres SHOULD do to make Petco Park a house of horrors for the opposition, instead of what we have now...

HIT the GAPS!!! Ya Think???

Donald Miralle/Getty Images

SAN DIEGO, CA - JULY 17: Shawn Green #15 of the Arizona Diamondbacks looks on from the outfield during their MLB game against the San Diego Padres on July 17, 2005 at Petco Park in San Diego, California. The Diamondbacks won 6-1. (Photo by Donald Mirall

Lets do some basic math here...

Outfield at Petco Park = HUGE. You could land the USS Enterprise out there.

+ Basic size of outfielder = 6 feet, give or take...

+ Size of Ball = well, ball sized.

+ Air at Petco Park = HEAVY, sea air is cold and balls tend to slow down quickly.

= Line drives, ripped into the nooks and crannies out there, combined with jack rabbits on defense.

Simple, Basic, Perfect.

And so obvious that no one who works or plays for the Padres has ever thought of it. Not Kevin Towers—and so far—not Jed Hoyer either. Forget the Kyle Blanks type player, unless you are going to play him at first.

We need Tony Gwynn to leap from the stands and show this current Padre squad what a stand up double looks like. Gwynn would have hit .450 at Petco lifetime...

Petco Psychology 101: Get over It...

Harry How/Getty Images

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 30: Will Venable #25 of the San Diego Padres scores a run for a 2-1 lead as he and Chase Headley #7 look back to third base where teammate Jason Bartlett #8 is thrown out during the fifth inning at Dodger Stadium on April 30, 2011

Psychology is the study of what makes us tick, what makes us crazy and why.

Instead of bemoaning the fact that Petco Parks fences might as well be located in the Swiss Alps, the players need to EMBRACE this fact and adjust their game accordingly or this team might set the record for least runs scored EVER in a season, by any team.

San Diego's players and management need to admit failure in their approach to hitting at home and spend the rest of 2011 practicing hitting the gaps—and running like the wind when they do.

There is no other way to win there...

Logic...