8 Best MLB Ballparks in America Baseball is one of the most loved sports in America, right next to basketball and American football. With the sport being such a phenomenon, it goes without saying that there is a significant number of quality ballparks across the states. There aren’t exactly any “bad” ballparks in…
PETCO Park, San Diego, CA. Ball Park First Game Date – 4/8/2004 (1) Starting Pitchers – Padres vs. Giants: 4/8/2004 Final Score 4-3 (SDN) Attendance – 41,400 Starting Pitchers David Wells (SDN); Dustin Hermanson (SFN) First Batter – Ray Durham (SFN) Result – Flew to CF First Hits – Brian Giles (SDN), Singled to RF…
On May 7, 2016 In the New York Mets’ 6-3 victory over the San Diego Padres, 42 year old Pitcher Bartolo Colon of the Mets, already known for his wildly entertaining at-bats, becomes the oldest player to hit his first career home run when he deposits a ball into the left-field stands at Petco Park against James Shields of the Padres. Hall of Famer Randy…
The Padres, with their 7-0 loss at Petco Park, become the first team to be shut out in the first three games of the regular season, surpassing the dubious mark set by the Browns, who opened the 1943 campaign with 26 straight scoreless innings. San Diego also dropped their first two decisions of the three-game series against the Dodgers, 15-0 and 3-0.
Two teams pull off lopsided wins in their opening game. The Dodgers romp over the Padres, 16 – 0, behind the pitching of Clayton Kershaw, for the biggest opening day shutout in major league history. The Dodgers rack up 17 hits as Adrian Gonzalez and A.J. Ellis both drive in three runs. The Cubs also get off to a good start as they shut out the Angels, 9 – 0. Jake Arrieta is the winner while Miguel Montero homers and drives in three.
Major League Baseball opens its season stateside, one week after playing a two-game series in Sydney, Australia. The Dodgers, who won both games in Sydney, are again involved, visiting San Diego where they lose, 3 – 1, in front of the biggest crowd in Petco Park history – 45,567. Dodgers starter Hyun-Jin Ryu holds the Padres scoreless for 7 innings, but Seth Smith ties the game with a pinch homer off Brian Wilson to lead off the 8th. Yasmani Grandal scores the winning run later that inning after stealing the first base of his professional career.
Barry Bonds hit his 755th homer to tie Hank Aaron as the all-time leader in that category
On September 24, 2006, As the Petco Park sellout crowd roars, Trevor Hoffman retires all three Pittsburgh batters he faces in the ninth inning, ensuring a 2-1 San Diego victory. The Padres closer’s 479th career save surpasses Lee Smith’s total (1980-1997), making the 38 year-old reliever the all-time leader in saves.
Julio Franco, at 47 years, 240 days old, becomes the oldest player in major league history to hit a home run. At Petco Park, Franco connects for a two-run, pinch-hit shot off Scott Linebrink that launches the Mets’ six-run 8th inning and propells them to a 7 – 2 comeback victory against the Padres. This gives Franco the spot in the record book that had belonged to Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Jack Quinn, who was 46 years, 357 days old when he homered on June 27, 1930. Franco already was the oldest player to hit a grand slam and a pinch-hit homer, and to have a multi-homer game. He also has four career pinch-hit homers. Kazuo Matsui hits another notable homer for the Mets early in the game. His inside-the-park home run leading off the 3rd inning makes this the third consecutive year he’s homered in his first at-bat of the season. The last player to do that was Ken Griffey, Jr.from 1997 to 1999, while with Seattle.
At Petco Park in his first at-bat of the season, Kaz Matsui hits an inside-the-park round tripper, making it the third successive season in which the Mets second baseman has hit a home run in his initial plate appearance of the year. Ken Griffey Jr. also accomplished the feat starting in 1997 with the Mariners but had walked before going deep.