Took in a Padres game this weekend, my last in San Diego for the foreseeable future, and as usual the venue didn’t disappoint. Living in San Diego for the last few years, I have been to my fair share of Padres games, and always had an affinity for the stadium. With amazing weather, great food, skyline views, and an aesthetically pleasing design there is plenty to like about Petco Park. When considering the stadium in isolation, it’s hard to picture a better venue for a baseball game. But there is one area where the gameday experience at Petco typically falls short, atmosphere.
When describing the typical crowd at Petco Park the word moribund comes to mind. There are some exceptions, Giants and Dodgers games tend to elicit a more impassioned fan base, but the average game can be downright quiet at times. I think this is partially a result of San Diego’s demographics, chiefly that it seems nobody is from San Diego. San Diego is a city of transplants, who bring with them existing team loyalties. There are homegrown Padres’ fans, which tend to be passionate and well versed in the game, but there aren’t nearly enough of them to pack Petco for 81 home games each season. The remaining seats end up filled by surfer bros and craft beer connoisseurs, who naturally aren’t the loudest or most passionate baseball fans. This isn’t a death knell, Petco is all in all a great place to watch a baseball game, but rather an acknowledgment of the stadium’s primary weakness. For some fans this could even be desirable, the mellow environment makes for a fine family outing at the ballpark. But if you are a true baseball fan, looking for the best gameday experience, a little more atmosphere is desirable.
With the review out of the way it’s time to update the rankings. To the surprise of no one, I will slot Petco ahead of Angel Stadium, in first place at least for the moment. Savor it Padres’ fans, as I’m planning on going to Dodger Stadium tomorrow night………
Stadium Rankings
- Petco Park – San Diego, CA
- Angel Stadium – Anaheim, CA
29. Oakland Coliseum – Oakland, CA
30. Tropicana Field – St. Petersburg, FL
Interesting…poor Angels…can’t believe you dissed your hometown team. 🙃
Ya, that was a real shocker. 🙂
As I mentioned in an earlier comment, the skyline view at Petco is great, but wait till you get to Pittsburgh, which should be higher on the list.
Petco is a nice park, but it’s fairly pedestrian when compared with places like Camden Yard, which set the standard for retro-new parks. If you can set aside your affinity for Petco as your “home park” for the last few years I think you’ll find it dropping down the list as you see more. I hate to admit it, but San Francisco’s Oracle Park is gonna make it toward the top of your list. Certainly above Petco.
Petco gets high rankings from people that like to hang out at the ballpark, but not necessarily baseball fans. I’m at T-Mobile Park in Seattle as I type this, early indications are Petco is dropping a slot.