Ultimate Baseball Road Trip (114 page)

The ninety-five-year-old building had to be seismically retrofitted in order to comply with the new earthquake-proof standards of the day before it could be incorporated into the ballpark. Concrete was poured in all levels, including the roof, to accomplish this in early 2003. Then openings were created on each level to serve as ramps to the seating decks.

The Padres team store is on the first floor, as is a doorway leading to the general admission area. The second and third floors house luxury suites, and the fourth floor houses a restaurant. The first level concourse passes through the building and it is worth checking out both the Padres Hall of Fame and the exhibit dedicated to the history of the Pacific Coast League and baseball in the San Diego area. Also worthy of a stop is the Hall of Fame restaurant.

The San Diego Padres Hall of Fame honors players, coaches, and executives who have left their mark in the Padres’ history books. At the time of this printing, six men had been inducted into the hall since it was created to honor the club’s thirtieth anniversary in 1999. The group includes four players, two executives, and one broadcaster/manager.

The inaugural class included pitcher Randy Jones, who won ninety-two games in eight seasons with San Diego (1973–1980), outfielder Nate Colbert, who averaged twenty-seven home runs per year in six seasons with the Padres (1969–1974), and former owner Ray Kroc (1974–1984).

In 2000, outfielder Dave Winfield, the first player to be enshrined in Cooperstown wearing a Padres hat on his plaque, was inducted into the Padres Hall. Winfield jumped right from the University of Minnesota campus into the Padres lineup in 1973, without playing a single game in the minors. He played eight seasons with San Diego, before joining the Yankees in 1981. Though his prime years were spent in the Big
Apple, the slugger’s distaste for George Steinbrenner and fondness for America’s Finest City were taken into account when it came time for the Baseball Hall of Fame to make his plaque, which portrayed him in a Padres hat.

The team’s first president, Buzzie Bavasi, and longtime radio broadcaster, Jerry Coleman, were inducted in 2001. Coleman, who has been calling Padres games since 1972, actually stepped out of the broadcast booth to manage the team to a 73–89 record in 1980, paving the way for broadcaster Larry Dierker to pull the same trick in Houston several years later with considerably better results. Coleman, you may also remember, won the 1949 American League Rookie of the Year Award playing second base for the Yankees.

Tony Gwynn, who holds nearly every Padres batting record, assumed his place in the Padres Hall in 2002 and joined the Baseball Hall of Fame on his first ballot attempt in 2007.

Atop the grassy knoll in Petco’s “Park at the Park” is a statue of “Mr. Padre” himself, Tony Gwynn. “Mr. Padre” won a National League record-tying eight batting titles and was selected to fifteen All-Star teams. His .338 lifetime average is the highest by any Major Leaguer since Ted Williams. In a career that spanned 1982 to 2001, Gwynn recorded 3,141 hits. He also notched 1,138 RBI and 319 stolen bases. Today Gwynn is the head baseball coach at his alma mater, San Diego State University. The statue is a nice likeness of Gwynn, who is portrayed with his distintive swing dashing yet another pitcher’s hopes. The statue was unveiled as part of “Tony Gwynn Weekend” during July 2007.

Atop the batter’s eye are the numbers of retired Padres greats. Steve Garvey wore No. 6 for the Friars for five seasons. Though he was not with the team long, Garvey helped the Padres make it to their first World Series by hitting a clutch two-run homer against the Cubs’ Lee Smith during Game 4 of the 1984 NLDS. No. 19 belongs to Gwynn, who, aside from the aforementioned statue, also has a street named for him. Petco Park, in fact, is located at 19 Tony Gwynn Dr. No. 31 honors Winfield, whose remarkable twenty-two-year career began in San Diego. No. 35 was worn by Randy Jones, perhaps the most popular Padre to ever play other than Gwynn. We met Randy at his barbecue stand on the first road trip, and it’s easy to see why this very affable man remains a great ambassador for Padre baseball. No. 42 belongs, of course, to Jackie Robinson. No. 51—which was retired late in the 2011 season—belongs to Trevor Hoffman, whose 601 career saves made him one of the best relievers ever.

What many who visit Petco may not notice is that beneath the batter’s eye are mounted replicas of the bronze plaques of those Padres who have entered Cooperstown. You’ll need to bribe an usher to get down here, but it might be worth it to you.

Serving as the home for the Padres players who have been inducted into the PCL Hall of Fame, the Pacific Coast League Bar and Grill is a great place to get something to eat while
soaking up the seven decades of Padres’ baseball in San Diego. Look for the statue of Johnny Ritchey inside the grill. A native San Diegan, Ritchey was the first African American player in the PCL and played for the Padres in 1948 (just a year after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier at the Major League level). Ritchey hit .323 during his rookie season and his grace and dignity in assuming the role he did to break down barriers garners him the respect he deserves.

In the Kidzone section on the outer concourse, near the standard pitching and batting cages, stands a miniature replica of the USS
Midway,
encased in Plexiglas to honor the military heritage of the region. A mural honoring all MLB players who have served in the military is on the wall nearby and contains the San Diego Padre logo set within the U.S. Military red, white, and blue stars and stripes emblem. Also, on the third level flag plaza near the right-field foul pole, you’ll find the flags of every National League team interspersed with the flags of all the branches of the US Military.

A tradition we hoped would be left at the old ballpark and not brought to Petco was the mediocrity of the ballpark food. Sadly, we are still left to hope that one day this city, with the freshest ingredients known to man, will offer more consistently delicious ballpark fare. But as of today we must warn you that the food at Petco is perhaps suitable for pets, but most of it is not for humans. There are a few notable exceptions, but by and large, the tailgaters and the folks chowing down at restaurants in the Gaslamp Quarter have it correct. Eat before you get to the game.

This dish is comparable to what you would get in the restaurant, a big old burrito that you can hold in two hands, and stuffed with beans, rice, cheese, freshly diced tomatoes, jalapeños, salsa fresco, and slathered in a nice chipotle sauce that’s not too overbearing. Ralph Rubio opened the first Rubio’s stand in Mission California in 1983 after bringing the recipe for his fish tacos to the States from San Felipe in Baja, Mexico.

Though an improvement over the Wienerschnitzel dogs we tried at Qualcomm, the Friar Dog still only garners our most average rating. But hey, much like the Friars themselves, a C is a massive improvement over the failing grade earned in the past. The Friar dog was boiled, not grilled, had little snap, and average flavor. You can still get the Wienerschnitzel dog too; we can only guess this is for nostalgia purposes other than culinary ones.

The
carne asada fries
available at the Bayview Grille stands are not cheap, but they are delicious. Maybe more than even the shrimp burrito, these fries, dripping in carne asada and smothered with cheese and jalapeno peppers, taste like what you might expect in the Southwest. And it’s all served up in a bowl over deliciously crispy fries. You can get better carne asada fries at Lolita’s just across the street from Petco, but then again, those might be the best on the planet.

Anthony’s Fish Grotto has a
Cajun crispy fish sandwich
that is quite tasty, as is the
New England clam chowder
served in a breadbowl. Inside the Western Metal Building you’ll find a couple of offerings you’ll enjoy: The
beef brisket sandwich
from the Carvery is a solid choice, as you can hardly ever go wrong with brisket; the
Sonora sausage
from the Sausage stand is wrapped in bacon and has a nice spicy flavor to it. Of course, you can always get
nachos
with so many different options for toppings you’ll have trouble deciding.

Another favorite place for us at Petco is
Randy Jones’ Barbecue
where we not only sampled a tasty plate of Brush Back Ribs, but we also met the former Cy Young Award winner. Jones was friendly and personable and took time out from running the stand to talk to us about our travels. Aside from the ribs, we also recommend the Fowl Territory plate, which consists of half a barbecued chicken with a choice of two side dishes. Jones sells the barbecue sauce that carries
his name, and has since 1994. Jones has two locations in the ballpark—in the Mercado area alongside other restaurants and in the outfield.

A southpaw, Jones became the first Padre to win the Cy Young Award in 1976 when he posted a 22–14 record to go with a 2.76 ERA and twenty-five complete games. He remains the team’s all-time leader in innings pitched (1,765), starts (253), complete games (71), and shutouts (18), and is a member of the Padres Hall of Fame. For his career, however, Jones was an unremarkable 100–123. He and another former Padre, Mark Davis, are the only two pitchers to finish their careers with losing records after winning the Cy Young Award. Davis, who posted forty-four saves and a 1.85 ERA to claim the 1989 Cy, hung up his spikes in 1997 with a career record of 51–84.

The Padres’ Mexican Café carries what we once called the ballpark’s trademark food, Rubio’s Baja shrimp tacos and fish tacos. Last time we gave the nod to the crispy fried fish tacos, but this time we tried the shrimp and fish tacos and they were pretty awful. We’d like to see this offering come back to its former stature, but the fact was, when we tried it, the shrimp was rubbery, the tacos were too soupy to hold onto, it was over-spiced, and had little of the delicate flavor we remembered from our first trip. Just to prove we weren’t imagining things, we went to a Rubio’s restaurant and ordered both the shrimp and the fish tacos, and they were just as good as before. So this is not a case of, it’s just better at the restaurant. In this case, say no thanks and get the carne asada fries or the shrimp burrito instead.

Outside Section 105 you will find Ballpark Brews which has an extensive selection of beers from all over. Whether you fancy a Shinerbock, a Widmer, a New Castle, or an Alaskan Amber, there is a bottle of beer here to suit you. Though the beers come in bottles, the attendant pours them into plastic cups for patrons.

Josh:
A beer always tastes better out of a plastic cup.

Kevin:
You’re kidding, right?

Josh:
Obviously.

La Cantina Bar outside section 102 serves top-shelf liquors (and others) as well as ice-cold premium drafts. If you want it, they pretty much have it here, whatever your beverage needs might be.

The Family Carmarena Tequila stands offer tequila margarita and straight shots for $9. We are always pleased to see hard liquor at the ballpark, and the Family Carmarena brand, which is made by the Ernest and Julio Gallo Company of winemaking fame, is often considered to be a decent tequila for the price. The problem is, for this price you could get a really good shot of tequila at a nearby bar, which we would recommend you do.