San Diego- Petco Park

Petco Park

Year Built: 2004

Capacity: 42,302

Surface: Bulls Eye Bermuda Grass

Cost to Build: $450 million

Overall Grade: A

Return Someday: Yes

Ah San Diego...such a fantastic city with nearly year-round perfect weather, and easy going friendly people. Petco Park is located on Tony Gwynn Way right in the heart of beautiful downtown San Diego's Gaslamp District.  This is a very nice venue to enjoy a Padres game.  I often will drive down to this ballpark to catch a game when the Giants are in town, as this is a much safer alternative compared to the other southern California NL stadium.  Padres fans are much like Angels fans, very mellow.  This ball park is very fan friendly.  There is a great kids' area where the young fans can play in the sand box just outside the outfield fence or play wiffle ball on the mini diamond in the park.  It is very safe to attend these games as a visiting fan wearing your team's gear.  In fact, this was where I brought my daughter for her first MLB game.  She has a blast every time we visit this stadium. It is always a really cool treat to see the Padres honor the military and wear their camo uniforms.  The surrounding area is full of shops, restaurants, hotels, and bars.  There are tons of public transportation options with the San Diego Trolley stop right outside the stadium making getting around the city very convenient.  The ticket prices are decent and it is  very easy to be able to walk up to the ticket window and purchase your tickets the day of the game, since it seems like they never sell out. The food options are good.  I really like the inside nacho bar area on the 2nd floor.  Big portions and reasonably priced.  The design of the stadium pays homage to San Diego's culture & history.  The sand colored walls represent the beaches, the light towers symbolize the bell towers of the California Missions, and the all brick original Western Metal building is a cool addition to the left field area. The priceless view beyond the outfield walls is of the San Diego bay and the Coronado Bay Bridge. Do yourself a favor and make it out to this extremely friendly stadium!