Your First Padres Game
Tue, Jan 15, 2008
by Geoff Young
Inspired by former Indians shortstop Tom Veryzer (of all people!), we ended up talking in Monday’s comments about some of our favorite Padres memories. I’ve been having a little fun with a similar thread over at Knuckle Curve, and I thought, hey, we should do a full-on thread here at Ducksnorts.
Yeah, I know. That’s crazy talk.
Anyway, my questions to you are these:
- When was the first Padres game you attended in person? (Link to the box score at B-R if you can find it.)
- Are there any specific memories you have of that game? Could be action on the field, or whatever.
For example, I’m pretty sure that this was my first Padres game (and first baseball game of any kind for that matter). The two things I remember are that Gene Tenace hit two home runs and that at some point (probably more than once) I asked my dad, who usually took me to football games, what quarter it was.
So, whatcha got for me?
Picking up where last year's version left off, the Ducksnorts 2008 Baseball Annual provides in-depth analysis of and commentary on the San Diego Padres. Get your copy today.
January 15, 2008 at 7:15 am
I wouldn’t mind seeing the Padres invite Shelton to spring training-he was DFA’d yesterday. http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/n.....p;c_id=tex
He’s got a career OPS of .825 and he could play catcher in a pinch. He also could man first if we wanted to give Gonzalez a day off and he bats right-handed.
January 15, 2008 at 7:26 am
Hmmm, I am not sure, but this –
http://www.baseball-reference......4260.shtml
is a potential candidate. I was 9 and the only thing I remember was a fan yelling when Jose Arcia (One of the worst hitters in Padres history) came to bat yelling to the tone of the National Anthem: “Jose can you see?”
January 15, 2008 at 7:30 am
This was my first Padres game; I think I’ve already told the story here. I mostly remember the game-winning sac fly by Tommy Dean, caught in foul territory by Donn Clendenon, who should have let it drop.
January 15, 2008 at 7:40 am
First Padres game was in 1978 (A win against the Buc’s aka: the lumber company). Saw recently mentioned Bob Davis go the opposite way and hit a double right in the area my father and I were sitting. Also memorable was Willie Stargell striking out looking against Rollie Fingers to end the game.
http://www.baseball-reference......5120.shtml
January 15, 2008 at 7:42 am
#1 I was a bit surprised to see Shelton released. I say we say goodbye to weak hitting Fick and grab Shelton for same purpose.
January 15, 2008 at 7:50 am
I was 6, so it must have been 1984, a very good year. I only remember 3 things though.
1) We were sitting in complete nosebleed. (Very my father.)
2) Asking my father when we were going to score a touchdown.
3) The obnoxious man sitting behind us had a large afro and kept emitting piercing whistles of the fingers-in-the-mouth type every few minutes. His son, who was about my age, kept whining about it, and so did my mother.
I became a real Padres fan watching games on KUSI with my brother Mark, starting a few years later.
January 15, 2008 at 7:57 am
#2: Classic. I learned about Arcia when doing the ‘69 revisited series this past summer. We had a lot of guys like that back then.
#3: Thanks, Jim; I do remember you sharing that. Love stuff from the franchise’s early years.
#6: Good to know I’m not the only one who thought baseball was football.
January 15, 2008 at 8:20 am
I asked my mom about this last night, since I had already posted at Knuckle Curve. She was pretty sure that my first game was probably a ST game in Yuma in ‘85. As for first Padres game, I’d have to assume that I went to our home opener that year… http://www.baseball-reference......4150.shtml.
Amazing that Tony only had a .192 average at that point in the season.
Speaking of games on KUSI, I will always remember Ashby’s complete game against the Rox… http://www.baseball-reference......7050.shtml
January 15, 2008 at 8:55 am
I don’t remember the date, but it would’ve been around 1978. I went with my Little League team, and what I actually remember most was all of us running up and down the circular ramps at SD Stadium.
January 15, 2008 at 8:57 am
I was 10 when I went to my first Padres game … I don’t remember much about it … but my Dad does … it was April 8th, 1969 … *the* Opening Day …
http://www.baseball-reference......4080.shtml
Shortly after that, my Dad, a career Navy man, got orders overseas and I followed the Padres via Stars & Stripes and shortwave radio … it only deepened the roots
January 15, 2008 at 8:59 am
I have no recollection of what my first game may have been, but the first game I remember having a good story about was against the Reds. I was in the 7-Up Jr. Padres Club and took a bunch of friends of mine from Jr. High to the game. In those days you got 10 or 12 game tickets which were only good for certain games. You could use as few or as many of the tickets for any of those games.
My Mom had one of those big Ford Econoline vans and she hauled a half dozen or so of us out Friars Rd. and dropped us off outside the stadium. We walked down and were sitting out in LF. I remember George Foster hit an HR which was a laser! It went out on a line and hit the back of a seat a couple of sections over from us. It sounded like a gunshot when it hit! Man, that thing was screaming!
After the game we all went down to the players exit area to try to get some autographs. I remember one of my friends asked a younger kid who was standing around there if he was going to get George Foster’s autograph. The kid was so funny; he said, “George Foster? Shoot, he’s ugly!”
And that’s my early memory Padres story.
January 15, 2008 at 9:06 am
I went to many Padre road games (in St Louis and San Francisco) during the 70’s … then the first place I chose to live for myself was San Diego in 1980 … I’m sure I went to many games that season, but the one I remember is this one …
http://www.baseball-reference......8150.shtml
… sitting thru 20 innings … only have an E6 and E8 in the top of the 20th cost us the game … a HOF-defensive-wiz-SS, and my memory of him is E6 … it only deepened the roots
January 15, 2008 at 9:11 am
1, 5: Absolutely agree. We spent a lot of the last two years without a solid RH bat on the bench. Shelton doesn’t murder lefties but he works better than Fick.
8: I was at that Ashby game. It was amazing. It was the 6th inning before we even got comfortable.
January 15, 2008 at 9:36 am
As I’ve related before, I grew up a Dodger fan, although I’ve since taken the cure. I remember the first Padre game I went to in 1975. Attendance wasn’t great and I remember thinking how easy it was to get Field level seats the day of the game, right behind 1st base, just by walking up to ticket window, something you could never do at Dodger Stadium.
January 15, 2008 at 9:36 am
http://www.baseball-reference......8270.shtml
Mark Parent hit a fly ball that Juan Samuel lost in the sun, and on the scoreboard it was called a “sun double”. That’s the only time I’ve seen or heard that term.
January 15, 2008 at 9:59 am
#9: Ah, the ramps. Those were the best. Reminds me of a football memory. I went and got autographs after a Chargers game one time. This was during the Air Coryell years. Think I got Winslow, J.J., Kelcher, and Don Woods. Also got two of Rolf Benirschke, one signed by his name in the game program and the other by somebody named Fuller, who I believe was his holder at the time; the signatures looked different.
#11: Foster is one of my prime candidates for Hall of the Very Good.
#12: Yikes, that’s a long time to wait for a loss. Reminds me of the 17-inning affair we went to last year when Pete LaForest’s inability to handle a throw at first base cost us the game.
#14: You grew up a Dodger fan? How horrible. Who would do such a thing? Oh wait, that would be me.
January 15, 2008 at 10:04 am
#14: I had to convert my husband from that ailment. He also had to pledge allegiance to the Chargers. It’s all good now.
January 15, 2008 at 10:27 am
This would be my first. I think this was the bargain night right after the strike ended.
http://www.baseball-reference......8140.shtml
I don’t remember much except the Stadium was big, the circular walkways seemed dark, the trough was very strange, and Padres couldn’t do anything against Ryan. Also, I had no idea who Nolan Ryan was. I had just turned 9 that year and it was the first year I read the sports section.
January 15, 2008 at 10:32 am
18: The trough rite of passage! It’s even better when things are so crowded that guys are trying to squeeze in along the short sides.
January 15, 2008 at 10:32 am
Speaking of autographs… My Dad brought home many autographs from the early 80s. You could always get lots of Chargers during the season if you went to the Longhorn off of Mission Gorge Road after morning practice. I remember being there one day with my family for lunch - must have been Labor Day, Columbus Day, or some other day off from school but during the football season - and the Chargers offensive line was crowded into one big booth. Those guys looked gigantic to me and the entire table was covered in plates.
Anyway, the best place for opposing team players during baseball season was Old Town Mexican Cafe. My dad brought Johnny Bench, George Foster, etc.
January 15, 2008 at 10:33 am
My first game was the “re-hatching” of the San Diego Chicken.
http://www.baseball-reference......6290.shtml
Reading from the Chicken’s website, http://www.famouschicken.com/biography.html , he’d been fired by KGB (got too big for them it looks like) and they sued him to keep him from performing in his costume. But the California Supreme Court ruled in his favor and this game was his first as the San Diego Chicken, rather then the KGB Chicken. Here’s a picture of him coming out on the field before the game: http://www.famouschicken.com/_....._Large.jpg
I don’t remember anything about the game at all, just that some guy spilled beer on my father.
Coincidentally, I also went to another game in the late 80’s or early 90’s when he had little chickens hatched, but I have no idea why or when that happened. Does anyone remember that game?
January 15, 2008 at 10:34 am
You already know mine Geoff, though now that I think about it I find it humorous that the first game I can remember was a Padres game! With those mustard/brown uniforms.
January 15, 2008 at 10:53 am
Pretty sure mine was ST in 1983…Dad had season tickets and always made a trek out to Yuma. I can tell you I spent the playoffs of 1984 throwing jalepeno’s off of the upper rings onto people walking below…landed 1 or 2 in people’s coffee. How’s that for a baseball fan?
——-
Did anyone see Rob Neyer talking about the best 1 baggers for the next 5 years? Here is what he said about AGon and then his top 9…
We should also consider Adrian Gonzalez, who’s now been quite good for two straight seasons, and his numbers would be significantly better if he didn’t play half his games in the toughest hitter’s park in the majors. I will argue that right now he’s the equal of Helton and Lee, hitting-wise, and he’s also a lot younger and has a good defensive rep.
My list, looking five seasons out:
1. Pujols
2. Fielder
3. Howard
4. Ortiz
5. Teixeira
6. Gonzalez
7. Pena
8. Lee
9. Helton
January 15, 2008 at 11:04 am
23: I think that Gonzalez is in about the right place on that list. That’s some pretty select company. I’d be a little nervous about David Ortiz five years from now…
January 15, 2008 at 11:07 am
#23: A tidbit from the 2008 Annual (which I’m currently cleaning up before sending out for review):
On another note, I’m working on a THT article that looks at some of the worst individual pitching performances of the past 50 years. Steve Arlin’s 1973 season earns an honorable mention:
http://www.baseball-reference......st01.shtml
January 15, 2008 at 11:09 am
23: Ortiz? He’s putting David Ortiz as a 1B or am I missing something? And Carlos Pena? Somehow one year like last year out of 7 major league seasons screams fluke to me.
But overall it looks like a pretty good list.
January 15, 2008 at 11:12 am
23: Nice catch, CM. I was just talking to my wife last night about how underrated Adrian is as a 1B. He’s probably one of (if not the best) the top defensive 1B in the league. When you couple that with his offensive numbers, you get one of the best players in the NL. It’s going to be really interesting to see what happens in 2009 or 2010 when Blanks is banging down the door and Adrian’s contract is up.
January 15, 2008 at 11:15 am
First game memory: 9 or 10, with my pops, in CF bleachers at the Murph, playing the Pirates. Three guys sitting behind us heckled Andy Van Slyke all night long (”Turn around, Andy! Blow me a kiss!”) and it made me very very nervous. I remember them smoking, too, and I breathed through my shirt - was this possible in 88-89? As far as the game and the Pads - I remember little, except thinking the grass was painted and that the ball should be bigger.
January 15, 2008 at 11:35 am
Geoff, were there too many links in my post?
January 15, 2008 at 11:36 am
18/19 … I’m unfamiliar with the “trough” … can anyone describe? pics?
January 15, 2008 at 11:46 am
LynchMob, I think they are referring to the big metal urinal troughs….
January 15, 2008 at 11:51 am
#29: Yep, filter caught it.
Everyone, look at post #21. Fun stuff…
January 15, 2008 at 12:15 pm
30/31: Yep. Giant metal trough for peein’ in. After the 5th inning in the cheaper sections it could get messy.
January 15, 2008 at 12:54 pm
I grew up in Illinois so all my first Padres games were at Wrigley. And this was the first of the first. http://www.baseball-reference......8210.shtml
All I remember is that before the game my Dad told me Tim Lollar was pitching and then I remember that the Padres won but we left early to beat traffic. Also it was packed at Wrigley (as usual) and there was standing room only available so we scalped from someone on the street.
January 15, 2008 at 12:57 pm
My first game I remember was either in 1986 or 1987, a preseason game at the Murph against the Angels. I remember only because I got Don Sutton’s autograph. I don’t think B-R has preseason boxscores.
January 15, 2008 at 1:20 pm
I was 11 years old and had just moved to the Oregon coast from North Dakota the year before. I had family in Bakersfield and I accompanied my family to a conference in Anahiem in June ‘85. When the conference ended a bunch of us (extended family) went to San Diego for a few days. The first day there I went to a Dodgers-Padres day game at The Murph.
Unwittingly (I’ll blame it on my youth) I was rooting for the “glamerous” Dodgers (or so I thought). Who knew I’d become a Padre fan and wind up living here…
http://www.baseball-reference......6270.shtml
January 15, 2008 at 1:29 pm
34 … nice … that was Tony’s game #33 of his career …
http://www.baseball-reference......82&t=b
… just a pup!
36 … where on the “Oregon coast”?
January 15, 2008 at 1:33 pm
21 … far and away my favorite Chicken bit is this …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHXXZwfGrP4
… and there’s several out there with clips of the chicks.
January 15, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Just finished up my 2008 NL West Winter Rankings, with the Padres and DBacks finishing in a statistical dead heat for the top spot. With the Padres nudging the DBacks if you feel that Randy Johnson will miss much of the 2008 season. I used my baseball simulator and played 1000 games head to head for each NL West teams, with #1 pitchers facing off against #1 pitchers, #2 pitchers facing off against #2 pitchers etc…, with each team getting 1000 games at home and 1000 on the road per H2H matchup. I used 2008 ZIPS projections for data input, and Bill James for the DBacks (their ZIPS aren’t out yet). All stats were then park adjusted to the home stadium. The Dodgers came in 3rd, Rockies 4th and the Giants far far behind in 5th. The Padres got big boosts to their offensive stats when playing on the road due to their home park parameters, while the Rockies suffered a bit on the road.
vr, Xei
January 15, 2008 at 3:08 pm
I think I win for most recent first Padre game attended. I don’t actually remember the earliest few games I went to, but the first one I do was in 1998 against the Mariners when I was 10. Randy Johnson dominated the Padres and Ken Griffey, Jr. homered. Carlos Hernandez homered in the bottom of the ninth with two outs to pull the Padres to 2-1, but that was the final score.
http://www.baseball-reference......6240.shtml
January 15, 2008 at 4:38 pm
It was July 1975, I was 12, and the Padres were bad. (I hope that was right). I still have the program, scorecard included, but I don’t remember the game much. And yet I still went back.
P.S. Already scheduled to go to Peoria March 18-24, but would love to meet up with any who are around at that time.
January 15, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Mine was in 1995, the year after the most recent strike. I would have been 9 years old.
This one was actually a twi-night doubleheader; I remember that we left after the 1st game. Andy Ashby was lights out that night, punching out 11 in a complete game, 5-hit shutout. I don’t remember many of the details, but walking out of the concourse into the seating bowl on the loge level and seeing that field for the first time was a feeling that I’ll never forget. You could say I was hooked from that minute on. 
January 15, 2008 at 7:56 pm
I just remembered an earlier game I went to in 1993. I was five years old at the time; it was a double-header with the Rockies. I was only there for the first game, but in the second Tony Gwynn recorded his 2,000th hit. In that first one, Trevor Hoffman actually recorded a 2.2 inning save. Looking back at baseball-reference, I just discovered that was his first career save as a Padre.
http://www.baseball-reference......8061.shtml
January 15, 2008 at 8:07 pm
I was 4 (1986) when I attended my first Padre game. Unfortunately I don’t remember much just being in the nosebleeds and being bummed that I slept through Take Me Out To the Ballgame.
January 16, 2008 at 1:32 am
Scoreboard watching the whole time hoping we could catch San Fran before the end of the season. It was not to be, but it was a fun year to be a Padres fan.
http://www.baseball-reference......9090.shtml
January 16, 2008 at 4:00 am
My First Padre game was at Shea vs. the Mets (the only place I’ve gotten to see the Padres so far). I remember Kruk homering, but not much else.
http://www.baseball-reference......8220.shtml
January 16, 2008 at 10:29 am
My first Padre game was the Padre’s first game, April 9, 1969, a 2-1 victory over the Houston Astros. Box:
http://www.baseball-reference......4080.shtml
Admission was 50 cents for military in the upper deck at San Diego Stadium.
I am still a devoted Padre fan to this day.
January 16, 2008 at 11:00 am
#47: Awesome, Ron! I think we have a few readers who were at that game. Love it…
January 16, 2008 at 11:08 am
My first (and only) live Padre game was in Cincinnati when I was in college. I think this must have been it: http://www.baseball-reference......9280.shtml
I remember Jack Clark’s towering HR, and remember Harris warming up in the pen (which wasn’t too far from where we sat) and taking some heckling. Apparently he never got in since Hurst pitched a CG. The Pads swept the series but everything was decided by that time, and of course the Reds went on to win the WS.
January 16, 2008 at 11:15 am
This is definitely one of my first, if not my first, Padres games. http://www.baseball-reference......6090.shtml
I don’t remember much about the game itself but I do remember years later looking back and thinking, “Wow, I saw Tom Seaver and Randy Jones pitch against each other.
January 16, 2008 at 11:43 am
I was at this game:
http://www.baseball-reference......6020.shtml
I sat as close to straight-away CF as possible, front row, lower level, basically directly behind the CF camera. Bagwell and G. Vaughn both hit HRs near us, monster shots. I also remember wondering why nobody was at a game between two 1st place teams (and not flukey-early-season leaders either).
January 16, 2008 at 4:55 pm
I was at this game:
http://www.baseball-reference......8050.shtml
1974. I remember it because as a young boy of only 7 I was sitting behind the left field wall and there was this really drunk Padre fan leading cheers in front of the first row. I got to see Hank Aaron play and he came up in the 5th inning with bases loaded and hit the ball off of the left field wall. The odd thing about this play was that all runners only advanced one base, and he hit the ball off the wall. The runner on 2nd base messed up and went back to tag up and only advanced to third. I just barely missed seeing Hank Aaron hit a grand slam home run.
We were in SD on vacation, I never lived in the area.
vr, Xeifrank
January 22, 2008 at 7:59 am
I grew up in New England and started following baseball when my father pointed out Ted Williams on TV in ‘57. I saw my first major league game at Fenway in ‘65, but saw my first Padres game in ‘71, after the Navy stationed me in San Diego. Not much to remember, the Giants were in town, with McCovey, Willie Mays in Center, and Marichal the starter. Marichal pitched a complete game and the Padres lost 6-3.
One memory was when we got into the stadium, a guy came over and identified himself as Phil Collier. After the introductions, he asked us where our seats were. Phil knew by our haircuts we were sailors who got discounted tickets from Navy special services, donated by the Padres.
The Padres couldn’t draw flies back then (attendance for that game was a tad over 3,000) and Phil wanted to see what quality of tickets the Padres were giving away and writing off at full price. I showed him my ticket: field level, looking straight down the basepath from third to second. Phil thanked us and walked away, shaking his head.
The seats weren’t that good, in the last row of field, and there was NOBODY in front of us, all the way to the rail. We moved to the front row in the third inning and nobody bothered us. We were charged two bucks for those tickets instead on the normal one, but it was worth it, just to see Willie Mays, let alone those two other future Hall of Famers.