Beat LA

For the second to last home series, the Dodgers came to town hoping to make an MVP push for Kemp and Cy Young push for Kershaw. The Padres ended up picking up a W for Harang on Saturday's game while dropping to Kemp on Friday (home run #37) and Kershaw (win #21) on Sunday.

The giveaway on Saturday was "Beat LA" towels which made for a fun visual as the Padres blanked the Dodgers 3-0. I was expecting a subdued crowd compared to early season SD vs. LA excitement, but to my surprise everyone cheered as if we were playing for the pennant. Gotta give it up for the SD fans.

Snakes September Series

The Pads took two out of three in a series that featured beer, bands and free stuff. On Friday we had two sets of seats. During the first five innings we sat in the second row in left field. It was one of the few spots that we had wanted to sit all season but had yet to do. The second half of the game was spent along the right field line near the visitors' bullpen. It was there that Laura caught (in self defense as neither of us saw it coming) a free t-shirt from one of the members of the Pad Squad.

Before the game we visited the beer tents set up in Park in the Park for Oktoberfest. I grabbed a Big Eye IPA from one of my favorite microbreweries, Ballast Point (too bad they weren't serving Sculpin!). We also picked up a free t-shirt from the Frequent Friars club with points we had earned from purchasing tickets.

Giants' September Visit to Petco

Baseball seasons are long enough to provide completely different looks from the same teams. The opening day matchup featured names like Rowand, Tejada, Hawpe, Ludwick and Cantu, all long gone from the teams by the time the September battle of the teams rolled around. Posey, Wilson, Sanchez, Moseley, Richard and Headley all were on the DL and unable to play in this Labor Day week matchup. The holes left behind by these players give opportunity for new players to be heroes.

Rockies Roll into Petco

The Rockies have been one of the more perplexing teams this season. They have big time hitters like Tulo and Cargo. Helton is a veteran who is aging like a fine wine. They also have some nice young hitters like Fowler and Smith. Even with pitching problems, they should have been much more competitive in the NL West. Personally, I point the finger to manager Jim Tracy who Dodgers fans and Pirates fan grew to loathe during his tenure managing those teams.

Final Visit by the "Florida" Marlins

The Florida Marlins will move into their cozier and drier (thanks to a retractable roof) new ballpark in 2012. You can see the progress on the Marlins' cool panoramic ballpark webcam. They will be moving in with a new team name - the Miami Marlins. I prefer city team names over state names so I think the change is for the good especially with the alliteration. The 2011 Marlins in some ways remind me of the 2011 Padres in that they are a nationally anonymous team that has some decent young talent. One of those young talents is Mike Stanton who hit a laser out of Petco on the Sunday game. 

Retiring Number 51

The Trevor Hoffman retirement ceremony was hands-down one of the coolest baseball moments I've ever experienced. Because we are new to San Diego and don't have the same connection to Trevor as long-time Padres fan do, I was excited to be there but didn't know what to expect. I was blown away. The Padres organization did an all-star job at honoring the MLB saves leader.

The Likeable New York Team

The Mets were in town for a four game series in early August. The team travels well and Petco Park was very full of Mets' fans. Surprisingly, they were quite an enjoyable bunch. Typically I get pretty annoyed with "funny" fans who are constantly cracking jokes. However, there was a Mets fan in front of us that was pretty funny. He thought it was hilarious that Padres fans were all bundled up when it was 70 deg at game time. Apparently in New York, they would be in shorts and tank tops. Two fans showed up in pink poncho pillows (snuggie ripoff?) to keep warm. They were non-stop harassed the rest of the game. When the hot chocolate guy came around, that put him over the top. He "had" to take a picture to show to his NY friends because they wouldn't believe him otherwise. Around the 7th inning I quietly got out my Padres blanket to keep warm.

High five for the Poncho Pillows!