The Hopefully Annual Baseball Extravaganza San Deigo Edition: Part 1
Like many baseball fans, Seth and I have a goal to eventually enjoy a game at every major league baseball stadium and ideally some of the minor league stadiums as well. Economics and vacation time has thus far limited our progress to slow and local but, hey, progress is progress! Last season we took in a gloriously old-fashioned single admission double header at the Oakland Coliseum and experienced the Dodgers Giants rivalry at AT&T Park. This season we headed down the 5 freeway in the other direction and are currently enjoying the beginning of Interleague play as the Angels take on the Padres at Petco Park.
The Pet-Co Park scoreboard. Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
A Word About Petco Park: Gorgeous!
Okay, when can I ever limit myself to one word? Add to that enjoyable, friendly and in general a first class baseball experience. Everywhere we went, our clearly not rooting from around these parts red attire prompted staff to smile and welcome us to the park, a nice touch we have never experienced before. We enjoyed nice conversations with friendly ushers during batting practice and the game – baseball fans everywhere love talking about their team, their stadium, their experiences and I love to listen. The fans in our section were equally lovely, despite the fact of the Angels winning. And with recent Padre Ernesto Frieri sitting right in front of us in an Angels uniform (Ah, our seats! I’ll get to those is a minute.) and the other half of that trade, Alexi Amarista playing second, we had plenty to talk about.
The Padres: Their bleachers are absolutely better than your bleachers. Their’s are a beach! Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
I love the Big A to pieces, but Anaheim take note: THIS is what a beer stand should look like. Stone! Ballast Point! Avery! Okay, so San Diego is the craft and micro brew capital of California, some would say the West, but it’s not like we don’t get some of this labels in L.A./Orange County and have some of our own too! 🙂 Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
The stadium seats are designed for beauty as well as function. The view across the field is really pretty, especially at night, with different sections of seats designed to look like industrial buildings. And there really does not appear to be a bad seat in the house…as for our seats, see that guy in red blocking the shot? That’s Jordan Walden standing up. Our amazing seats were literally just behind the Angels bullpen. We could have shook hands with them across the aisle and wall, were we inclined to bother ballplayers during a game, which we are not. Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
The outfield is huge. HUGE! Definitely not a hitter’s ballpark. Mike Trout warms up in centerfield between innings. I still like Peter Bourjos a little better in centerfield – stronger arm, better routes, a little faster and more experience. But Trout is an asset wherever you put him – He’s that good! – his arm is getting stronger and his routes will improve with time. Still is an outfield with both of them (and Trumbo for now and later longterm!) too much to ask?? Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
Batting Practice and Bullpen Sessions, Oh My!
Taking in batting practice is one of my favorite ways to start a ballgame experience and yet, even as often as we go to the ballpark, this treat is a rare one for us. Working hours being what they are, even on the weekend, and L.A./Orange County traffic being what it is, if we’re lucky we get to the game about 20 minutes before first pitch and if we’re not, we get there somewhere during the 1st inning. So it was a nice vacation luxury to walk through the gates shortly after they first opened. Petco Park was designed with wide concourses that have great views of the field for most of their stretch, so we roamed freely about from the outfield above the beach bleachers, to our bullpen adjacent seats to home plate and back.
Watching Jerome Williams take his bullpen session from a distance comparable to across a conference room table was easily the best thing about the pregame. It was fascinating to listen to Williams and Mike Butcher go over which pitches to throw and refine a few points here and there…that and watching the pitches zing by like 10 feet from my face. Wow! Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
Relief pitchers Jordan Walden and David Carpenter chat during batting practice. Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
Howie Kendrick looked great during BP, smacking the ball deep into the outfield and he got a solid hit come game time too! Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
Erick Aybar and Maicer Izturis talk in between turns at the plate during batting practice. Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
So, About Interleague Play…
Although it certainly isn’t the popular view, I actually enjoy and look forward to Interleague play. Maybe it’s because I was raised on the Dodgers and the National League. Maybe it’s because my team of choice has such a natural, longstanding and fun Interleague rival in the Dodgers? Or maybe it’s just that my personality is as slightly skewed from the norm in my baseball fandom as it is in everything else? Whatever it is, I look forward to seeing all of the unusual matchups Interleague play has to offer. Hello, odd visuals like the Angels playing against the storied ivy draped backdrop of Wrigley Field? How can that not be fun? Or, at least, that’s what I think. Besides, watching American League pitchers bat is a seasonal novelty I will never tire of and some guys surprise you:
Jered Weaver in the on deck circle. Such an AL pitcher! For his first at bat, he wasn’t really even taking practice swings so much as just playing with the bat like a little leaguer whose coach is about to tell him to quit daydreaming. It was very cute. Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
Jered Weaver leads off second…and it’s a goofy, I don’t do this very often lead off as well. Still, for all of his awkward appearance at the plate and on the base paths, Weaver did more than fine, walking and lining a nice hard single into left. Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
Yes, there you have it folks: Big Bat Jered Weaver! …of course his average has since dropped to a mere .500. 😉 Starters, Weaver has set the bar high indeed but you’re used to this. Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
As if All of This Preamble Wasn’t Enough, the Game Rocked…
The Angels played well and that was especially nice to see after Thursday’s game against the White Sox. Yes, I know, the Padres are struggling but so are the Angels and the struggling Royals just swept the unstoppable Rangers so you never can tell how these matchups will turn out once you take them from paper to the field. I was proud of our guys! Jered Weaver looked great – and not just with his bat ;). Our bats were present and made that presence known. Our defense had more than moved on from Thursday’s gaffs – hey, who put that sun up there in the sky? *facepalm* – and the bullpen rocked. All that and a W – what more could a fan ask for?
Jered Weaver pitches from the stretch. Weaver pitched a great game with really only one bad inning and he managed to get out of that one giving up only one run. Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
Mike Trout is a beast! He had 3 hits and 1 walk in 5 trips to the plate. I am loving having this talented rookie bat leadoff. Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
Mike Trout reaches second base. It may look like he’s jawing at someone but with former teammate Alexi Amarista at 2nd, I think it more friendly banter. Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
Mark Trumbo continued his hitting streak with a solid double driving in a run in the 5th inning and he looks great in right field, really comfortable. Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
The bullpen looked great! Scott Downs was, well, Scott Downs. Ernesto Frieri got a shot at closer and definitley impressed. Padres fans called out that he looked better in blue when Frieri took the mound in the 9th but, personally, I like him in red an awful lot. Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
Okay, Now That’s Funny!
If you’ve been reading my blog for any length of time, you probably already know that I prefer my blog entries, my friends and, indeed, my baseball with a rollicking sense of humor, the more off kilter the better. I love baseball’s crazy prank traditions, overly complex and fabulously silly rookie hazing rituals, and the goofy things that stadium personnel do to the opposing team. This evening it was the Padres Jumbotron Angels player slides that had me cracking up:
At first it seemed sort of innocent. I noticed that all of Albert Pujols’ stats changed with each at bat but always pertained to homerun records he had with the Cardinals. But, because he’s had such a slow start this season, I figured what else were they going to say? Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
Then I noticed this one and thought ‘Why go back to minor league stats and that’s a weird aside to bring up, Brandon Wood that is. It almost makes mentioning the honor seem sort of like a left-hand compli…ah hah! There’s a reason for that!’ And then I saw… Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
There was just no way to read these with a straight face at this point. But it got even better! Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
Okay, now they’re just f-ing with us! Well played, Padres Jumbotron programmers, well played. Angels at Padres, May 18, 2012. Photo by This is a very simple game…
Big A Jumbotron programmers can be funny too, just usually at the Angels expense. For example, when our pitchers load the bases with only one out or no outs, it’s not uncommon for the stat to tell us how rarely the batter hits into a double play or how prone he is to grand slams. Ummm…thanks guys?
Anyway, that concludes Part 1 of our excursion. We have great seats for today’s game too and I am really looking forward to it – Go Angels!!
This is a very simple game... 
That looks like a great experience. The score boards seemed really funny. Great seats. I’ve had the same view before. it’s awesome. Have you ever been to Miller Park? If not you have to try some time. Good luck on going to visit more and more ballparks.
-David
http://bleacherboy.wordpress.com/
Thanks David! We have never been to Miller Park, but it’s definitely on the list. I think next season the plan is either Kansas City and Cleveland or Seattle, but when we do head out to Miller I will definitely ask my fellow bloggers for seating tips and tourist ideas. 🙂
— Kristen
Okay, I LOL’d pretty hard just now at all those Angels tidbits. For Wells they coulda just said what they were feeling: “this guy blows”. Also, I had a hard time getting past that beer stand shot. Wow. Just wow wowowowowowowowowowowow.
–Jeff
Yeah, they do beer right down there, Jeff. As for Wells, I think their way was more eloquent. Ouch!
— Kristen
If is a weekend Padre series with the Dodgers you can be sure to find me there with my friends. If is a weekday series well I am itching to head that way but I restrain myself…sometimes. The amount of Dodger fans there for those series is tremendous. How was the Angel attendance there?
-Emma
I can see why Emma. That’s a great ballpark! Angels attendance was high, especially on Saturday. Lot of red out there.
— Kristen
Great seats. How long exactly did it take you to get to PETCO? I ask this because I know a guy, who was in Southern California and managed to do an Angels Stadium and PETCO Park double-header. When reading your account of the trip, it seemed like a trek, but he made it sound like: “Ladi-Ladi-da, let me prance on over to PETCO before I come back to Los Angeles for a night game.”
-Mateo
http://mateofischer.mlblogs.com
It’s not really a trek, Mateo. It’s 122 miles or roughly two hours from my part of L.A. to San Diego without traffic and would take a little less than that from Angels Stadium. But we decided to get a hotel, grab a couple of games and make a weekend of it. To give you an idea, there’s a craft brewery restaurant we really like in San Deigo about 1/2 hour north of Petco Park and a couple of times a year, we will drive down just for dinner and then head home. I wouldn’t try the creative duble header unless the conditions were just right though because it would mean heading out from the day game to the night game through either rush hour traffic or the So Cal Saturday headed out for fun traffic which is similar, and I would hate to either leave early or miss the first pitch. But it can be done.
— Kristen
I too am a huge fan of interleague play. I understand it’s all done for profits, but there’s a reason why there is profit. People love the novelty of facing a team they don’t normally see. I still would like both leagues to play with the same rules, but that’s probably asking too much. As long as AL pitchers don’t injure themselves running the bases and never fully recovering (cough Chien Ming Wang cough) then I’m cool with it. Hilarious player stats by the way. I hope you eventually do get to each stadium, because I know I’d like to as well!
Yeah, Weaver injured his throwing shoulder a few years back busting up a double play. the team didn’t disclose it until two years after the fact but looking bakc it definitely impacted his season. It’s all fun and games so long as the AL pitchers practice and understad how to do things the right way. I am really weird by the way in that I’ve actually come to appreciate the DH for it’s career extending purposes, but I get that argument.
— Kristen
Great pictures as usual! Looks like a nice park. Do they let people get up to the seats on the warehouse, or is that separate? Looking forward to Pt II
~Russel
Thanks Russel! The Wherehouse seats are part of the park but they are mostly suites. Each balcony section is one suite. The friend we went to the game with was saying that the top of the wherehouse is available for individual sales or just to hang out. I think there’s a restaurant up there, either at the top or at the very bottom, too.
— Kristen
More awesome pics, Kristen (especially of all the beer…). Glad you had a great time, and that you weren’t surrounded by ‘pink hats’. The Angels win must been nice, too.
–Mike
Thanks Mike! Yes, the beer is a must visit when in San Diego and the Angels win Friday was wonderful…Saturday’s loss less so but what can you do?
— Kristen
You took some very nice pictures, and your blog was very interesting. I couldn’t help but laugh when I was reading the pictures of the scoreboard!
-Paul
http://apieceofthegame.mlblogs.com/
Thanks for dropping by my blog and commenting Paul! Yeah, it was a fun trip. Petco is a great field and that scoreboard was just plain funny. 🙂
— Kristen