One step forward, one step back. Such is the story of the 2024 San Diego Padres. 

“It’s been a confusing, back and forth season,” says AJ Cassavell, MLB.com’s Padres beat reporter. The team has hovered around .500 and have been unable to separate from the pack in a wide open National League wild card race. That’s in large part because, “the star players haven’t been up to their normal standards,” according to Cassavell. The stats bear that out.

Limited by a lingering elbow injury and a recent strain in his hip, franchise cornerstone Manny Machado is having the most difficult season of his illustrious 13-year career. Second baseman Xander Bogaerts struggled before a broken shoulder shelved him indefinitely. Right fielder Fernando Tatís—arguably the most talented player in baseball—played like a mere mortal during the first two months of the season. The Padres’ most productive player by Wins Above Replacement, a metric that quantifies overall value, is outfielder Jurickson Profar, a journeyman signed to a one-year, $1 million deal.

It’s not all bad. It can’t be when a team wins roughly half its games. Cassavell credits this to the “role players who have been really good,” including center fielder Jackson Merrill, infielder and hitting machine Luis Arráez, and reliever Jeremiah Estrada, who as recently as November could have added #OPENTOWORK on his player profile and by June had struck out 13 consecutive batters, an MLB record. “The Padres might have found the best bullpen bargain in baseball,” proclaimed Sports Illustrated. 

Padres general manager A.J. Preller has long focused on big free agent signings and splashy trades. At last, he found worthy compliments to a high-priced core, and despite Kim’s baserunning mistake it seemed to have all come together against the A’s on Monday, June 10.

Starting pitcher Dylan Cease scattered eight hits across six innings. Tatis scalded a ball that left the yard so fast it belonged on the Autobahn. Second baseman Jake Cronenworth hit a gentler homer, though one that scored a run all the same. Closer Robert Suarez struckout the side in the ninth to end the game. The stars played like stars, and to Padres manager Mike Shildt the 6-1 victory served as “the blueprint for winning baseball games. You get your starter [to] limit damage, then you get an offense that just completely takes relentless at-bats.“

True to form, the Padres didn’t follow that blueprint for very long. After sweeping the A’s in the three-game set, they flew to New York and gave those three games back to the Mets. The Pads then traveled down I-95 to Philadelphia, only to continue scuffling. They won five of the six games prior to heading east, then lost five of six on the road trip. One step forward. One step back.

Still, Shildt stands by his team. “Short-term? We got to figure it out. We need to be a little more consistent, a little better,” he said after a 9-2 loss to the Phillies. “Long-term concern? None. Zero. I know we’re going to end up right where we want to end up, and that is in October.”

Fans appear to share in the belief that their team will make the playoffs. The Padres rank 15th in winning percentage, smack in the middle of MLB’s thirty teams, but rank second in total attendance. It’s as if Padres fans are motivating the role players to step up, and willing the star players to shine again.

“Can we go on a [playoff] run? Absolutely,” says Hugo “Randy” Salgado, a longtime season ticket holder. Salgado and his family are such big Padres supporters his nickname derives from his father’s fandom of legendary Padres pitcher Randy Jones. Salgado’s little brother’s given name? Randy. 

From his seats in right field Salgado sees the struggles of the team’s core, but he also recognizes what could be. “We’re weathering a perfect storm” of injuries and tough scheduling, he says, and making the playoffs “would mean everything to this city, it would mean everything to us fans.”

The team seems to feed off that energy, that belief. In the June 20 matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers, Cronenworth hit a walkoff home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, marking the third consecutive home game that the Pads won in the final frame. Petco Park exploded after each game-winning homer, the fan base euphoric over a team that never quits.They don’t call them the Friar Faithful for nothing.

The post One Step Forward, One Step Back for the Padres appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

“Hopefully, it’s a deal that works both ways,” said Padres president of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller, according to The Athletic, referring to Soto’s trade to the New York Yankees, “and we’re seeing him in the postseason next year.” Since the Yankees play in the American League, that would mean the Padres playing in the 2024 World Series. Maybe that’s not so crazy.

The Pads will bring back all-stars and fan favorites in Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis, Ha-Seong Kim, Joe Musgrove, and Yu Darvish. The Soto trade returned several solid contributors, and they signed Japanese pitching star Yuki Matsui. This core will be led by new manager Mike Shildt, who was once named the National League Manager of the Year and led the St. Louis Cardinals to three consecutive postseason appearances. The Padres have never made the playoffs in three consecutive seasons.

Even though they’ll likely lose top pitchers Blake Snell and Josh Hader in free agency, the Pads still possess a “huge amount of talent,” said Michael Baumann, staff writer at FanGraphs. “Preller tried to build not just a good team, but a superteam.” Unfortunately, there are other super teams in the N.L. West.

The Dodgers being the Dodgers, signed two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani to a contract that exceeds the gross domestic product of ten countries. The salary structure is so team-friendly, though, it has allowed the team to splurge on pitcher Tyler Glasnow and they’re homing in on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the prized free agent pitcher from Japan. 

For their part, the San Francisco Giants signed away star outfielder Jung Hoo Lee from his native Korea, and the Arizona Diamondbacks return more or less the same roster that steamrolled three supposedly better teams in this year’s playoffs on their way to the World Series. (There is a fifth team in the N.L. West, the Colorado Rockies, which is about all that can be said of them.)

Losing Padres’ Owner Peter Seidler

But the most impactful, and heartbreaking, development for the Padres this year was the loss of beloved team owner Peter Seidler. “The best thing a team can have is an owner that cares about winning,” Baumann said, and Seidler certainly did.

He gave Preller free rein to put together a superteam. He invested in the minor leagues and player development, which, either through promotions or trades, resulted in players like Tatis and Soto. He invested in Petco Park, making a Padres game one of the best game day experiences in professional sports. He even invested in his city, having emerged as a civic leader in the fight against homelessness. He did all this despite San Diego being a so-called “small market” team.

Following Seidler’s death in November, news trickled in about how the Padres would manage their roster. The consensus became that they still want to compete, but also need to shed high-cost players after carrying the third-largest payroll in the sport and missing the playoffs.

Looming over this strategic decision and the roster intrigue are larger questions about the direction of the franchise. Will the Padres keep pushing to win that elusive World Series championship? Or will they retreat to more familiar, more modest terrain? After trading Soto but recruiting Matsui, the jury is still out, and it seems San Diego’s other major league sports teams are at a similar crossroads.

San Diego FC Signs First Player, Duran Ferree

Earlier this month, Duran Ferree became San Diego FC’s first-ever signing, and in turn, the answer to a trivia question coming to a bar near you. Of course, local soccer fans hope Ferree becomes better known as the goalkeeper for Major League Soccer’s next great team. To the club, Ferree’s signing “underscores the Club’s commitment to identify and develop young talent, and build a youthful, dynamic and winning organization.” 

Wave FC Acquires Savannah McCaskill

SD Wave have reached the National Women’s Soccer League semi-finals in back-to-back years, and this year they were the best team in the regular season. They were primed to contend again—at least, they were before the recent NWSL expansion draft, which was necessitated by two new teams starting play next year.

Forward Rachel Hill was poached by Bay FC, and SD Wave had to expend assets to get midfielder Sierra Enge back in the fold. Captain Alex Morgan was not pleased, and the team responded by signing midfielder Savannah McCaskill, a two-time NSWL Player of the Month. “We are confident that Savannah’s ability and experience will prove to be an important part of our continued success,” the team said.  

San Diego Sports Fans Set Attendance Records In 2023

San Diego has fans willing to invest in these teams. Despite their struggles, the Padres set an attendance record in 2023 and at one point saw 25 consecutive sellouts. Eight thousand people went to Snapdragon Stadium just to attend SDFC’s brand announcement event, and the Wave were the biggest draw in the NWSL this season. Even our hometown rugby team, The Legion, set a league attendance record.

What’s to be determined in 2024 is if San Diego has teams who, in the face of setbacks, continue to invest in their rosters and turn their pronouncements about winning into reality.

The post San Diego Sports Making Big Moves Ahead of 2024 Seasons appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

In one way, Padres fans brought pain upon themselves this year. The Padres ousted the Los Angeles Dodgers from last year’s playoffs, finishing three wins shy of the World Series. The fans’ impassioned commitment to the team afforded an unprecedented investment in the roster.

For the 2023 season, the Padres put together their most talented and expensive team in franchise history. Those lofty hopes and stark dollars set up 2023 to become the most maddening and disappointing season in franchise history. 

I believe this is a good thing. Hear me out. 

For years, San Diego has been characterized as a “small market.” It’s how the city ended up as a one-sport town. It’s how it could have ended up as a no-sport town. On one hand, San Diego ranks just 30th in market size, and the region’s large transplant population might not pledge allegiance to the Padres.

On the other hand, the county is the fifth-most populous in the United States and has a diverse economy, international marketing opportunities, and perfect weather. 

Padres team owner Peter Seidler seemed to have skipped the market-size class in business school, or said the hell with it. He spent money on his team like the New York Yankees do—or, at least, how they used to. Padres fans were used to being coupon-clipping underdogs, but now their team was setting the market.

Since 2019, Seidler has committed more than $1.2 billion to third baseman Manny Machado and fellow all-stars Fernando Tatís, Yu Darvish, Xander Boegarts, Jake Cronenworth, and Joe Musgrove. The team traded for top players Blake Snell, Juan Soto, and Josh Hader.

They signed away Ha-seong Kim from his native South Korea, watching him become one of the best all-around players in baseball and a fan favorite. On opening day this year, the Padres possessed the third-highest payroll in baseball, representing a spending spree so rare in San Diego sports they should hang a banner for it.

The roster moves were fueled by a few things. First, Siedler must have realized his unique opportunity. With no NFL, NBA, or NHL team competing for pro-sports eyeballs in the city, the Padres have the opportunity to own San Diego. And it worked. This year, the Padres had their first-ever season ticket waitlist. Jersey sales of Machado and Tatís were among the best-selling in the sport.

In February, fans turned the casual FanFest into baseball Woodstock. Those fans hoped the Padres would finally end the Dodgers’ reign atop the National League West, and they hoped their team would win San Diego’s first major sports championship. Those hopes felt pretty unrealistic after just the first month of play.

“Don’t jump on the bandwagon later on when we start f— raking and we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing,” Machado said after his team lost ten of their first eighteen games. The raking never came. The unraveling did, though, along with a historic string of bad luck when it mattered most. 

Cases in point: The 1969 Montreal Expos are the only other team to have lost their first 12 extra-inning games in a season. The 1935 Boston Braves are the last team to be as pitiful in one-run games. A September surge allowed the Padres to avoid their eleventh losing record in thirteen seasons, but it came too late to matter. They missed the playoffs in the most anticipated season in team history.

The Athletic pinned the disastrous season on the management style of general manager A.J. Preller; the San Diego Union-Tribune attributed it to the performance and personality of Machado. This all made for what was “easily, hands down, not even close, the worst season” Ryan Cohen can remember. Cohen, whose love for the Padres has garnered him a sizable following on social media, has spent most of 2023 grasping at the thinnest silver linings. 

As most of those faded away, there remained only one: the fans. 

Machado called for their support and they responded: despite an underwhelming team and an outing at Petco Park costing as much as a student loan payment, the Padres drew three million people to their games this year for just the second time in franchise history. Only the Dodgers and Yankees—baseball’s evil empires—drew more fans.

At the final home game in September, a sellout crowd watched the Padres’ playoff hopes die yet another death. The home team lost again in extra innings, this time to the lowly St. Louis Cardinals. The loss dropped their record on the year to 76-79. It seemed impossible, and advanced statistics agreed.

The Padres outscored opponents by more than 100 combined runs during the season—which should have resulted in a 92-win team. It’s as if the fan base tried to will that theoretical team into existence, right until the bitter end. 

Since the season concluded on October 1, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the Padres will likely pare back its player payroll next season. That makes sense considering the team missed out on the TV money, gate receipts, and memorabilia sales that come with a playoff run. 

But for a single season, a franchise, its fans, and its host city shed the “small market” label and exposed it for what it is: an excuse for mediocrity. If Padres fans experienced more pain than ever this year, it’s because their team at last strove for greatness.

The end results didn’t pan out for the Padres in 2023, but the crowd kept showing up. They knew that the investments in their team gave them better odds than ever, and that odds eventually pan out if you play enough times.

After all, the Padres recorded MLB’s best record in this season’s final month, and most of the Padres’ star players return next season. Of course, so will the fans. That’s a scary thing for the rest of the league.

The post There’s Always Next Year for the San Diego Padres appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

Moments after the Padres’ 2022 National League Division Series win against the Dodgers, Manny Machado and more than 450,000 fans let out the collective cry of phoenixes rising from the ashes of a decades-long legacy of almost.

The Padres are the most exciting sports team on the planet. If that’s not objectively true—seeing as how other continents and soccer exist—it is in our hearts. And in no way, shape, or form were us fans emotionally prepared for this. “Act like you’ve been here before,” they say. Apologies, but we can’t because we haven’t. We’re clapping a bit too loud. Laughing in nervous bursts. Fist-bumping at dad frequencies.

Because it’s been a long, grueling ride to get here.

Growing up a Padres fan was like watching the asteroid pierce the earth’s atmosphere and still raising your “Go Dinosaurs!” foam finger. Each season it felt like part of MLB’s opening ceremonies was the mathematical elimination of our team from the playoffs. Most of our modern lineups consisted of Tony Gwynn, a couple talented young players on entry-level salaries who were contractually obligated to lend us their skills for the sake of parity (a stint with us was like a tour in the Peace Corps), a once-legendary veteran doing a retirement tour on half of one healthy knee and a quarter of a rotator cuff, and some other nice chaps with gloves.

Every year, US media would flash the names of the biggest free agents. Padres fans would kiss sacred rocks, pull muscles from all the praying, promise to be better humans if the gods would just grant us just one Machado. And every year the Dodgers and Yankees outbid us with a chortle and split those stars evenly.

So, San Diego sportswriters became pros at stories about the “untapped potential” of players on our team. How, if all the stars aligned and the earth’s gravity shifted a touch and maybe there was a light intervention from Jesus, they could be legends.

One reason San Diegans loved Tony Gwynn so deeply was that he stuck with the Padres despite the inevitability of disappointment. Just like us! We were Tony, Tony was we—lighting each other’s smokes in the foxhole of small market baseball.

At some point, you start to take pride in your identity as an eternal underdog. Your heart suffers from Stockholm Syndrome. The Padres kidnapped your heart at an early age, and you love them despite rational reasons to leave a harshly worded Yelp review and pick a favorite cricket team.

And then… that just all changed in the most drastically positive way. Owner Peter Seidler, CEO Eric Greupner, and GM A.J. Preller have been consistently, repeatedly binge shopping at the superstar store. We’re the Noah’s Ark of choice for elite athletes. And it’s not just one-year rentals. Manny Machado, Yu Darvish, Xander Bogaerts, Fernando Tatis Jr., Joe Musgrove—all are signed to play for the Padres for at least the next half decade.

It’s important for new fans to know these travails, our budget legacy of almost. It’s why this moment in franchise history feels like petting puppies in the sun with a two-beer buzz after your 23andMe test reveals that you’re 80 percent Dave Grohl. Our brains are hot tubs of endorphins.

The disappointment was real. Fans donned paper bags during another 2012 loss.

Two things happened to create a historic opportunity for the Padres. First, the Chargers left to pursue their acting career in LA. The three most popular sports in the US are football (74.6 percent of Americans follow the sport), basketball (56 percent), and baseball (50.5 percent).

With the top two sports out of town, San Diego became a baseball city. The Padres had the chance to own almost every sports heart in town. Ownership probably still could’ve set attendance records without investing so heavily in the product. But if he could seize that opportunity and bring the franchise its firstever World Series win? Local babies of all genders would be named Peter for years to come.

Then a second seismic change created the perfect storm for baseball hysteria: the pandemic. For a while (felt like eons), gathering in public and cheering was deemed unsafe for humankind. And gathering with thousands of people— all of us vibing on the same thing—is one of the most emotionally powerful things we do as humans. It’s why Bon Jovi was invented. That’s why people who don’t even like a sport will go see a live game for the experience, the excited human spectacle.

And the Padres are the biggest mass cheering opportunity in the market. After years of virus-enforced isolation, the emotional release of 45,137 fans losing their shit in unison as the Padres beat the Dodgers in the playoffs… was more than baseball. It was a group reclamation of self and joy.

Whether or not you support spending hundreds of millions of dollars on professional athletes, there is no denying the market has decided that value. No matter your estimation of capitalism, its existence is not in doubt. Occasionally, frugal teams win it all, but you’d have to go back 20 years to find a champ that was bottom-five in spending (2003 Florida Marlins). If you want a sane statistical chance, you gotta be in the top half.

I don’t pretend to know Seidler’s thinking. But from the sidelines, we saw all those things converge—a fanbase that loved a team despite its legacy of apologies, the fan vacuum left by the Chargers, the pent-up need for large-group human bonding from the pandemic—and knew the Padres had a historic opportunity to become the most beloved sports team to ever call San Diego home.

All we needed was ownership with the emotional and financial fortitude to push all its chips to the middle.

And, well. Meet my son Peter.

The post How the Padres Won a City appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

jurickson profar

James Tran

“Sometimes you know… I’m looking for hits,” says Jurickson Profar, poring over a selection of bats deep in the guts of Petco Park. “So I come in here and feel it out, listen to the bat… I feel it, hear it.”

The 29-year-old Curaçaoan left fielder is standing in a room few people besides players ever see. Where sewing machines on tables patch names of new arrivals. Wardrobe racks are lined with jerseys. Profar stands among sky-high stacks of bins filled with official Padres caps, bats, gloves, belts, socks, cleats, shin guards, wrist guards, pro gear—a dizzying collection of game-day memorabilia any fan would kill for.

“It’s exciting,” Profar says. “I’m a curious guy. So I like to always come in here and check what we got new.”

Let’s be honest, the Padres aren’t known as a colorful club. The clubhouse is brown carpet, brown doors, brown walls, brown trim, a splash of mustard. But hang a right on a Friday afternoon and it’s an almost disorienting blast of color. Bright, fresh, and polarizing. The team’s City Connect jersey—a blended cocktail of bright pink and electric banana yellow, garnished with mint—was designed to pay homage to our city’s unique border setting. They’re more Baja than Balboa Park. A sunset off the coast of el otro México perhaps, or a quinceañera.

Like all great art, the uniforms evoked strong and conflicted emotions. Some hailed it as the most stylish MLB uniform in eons. Others railed against its Miami-ness, how it evoked a rec league team sponsored by Taco Bell. Love it or hate it, these jerseys and hats made noise—and dollars. The Padres sold nearly a quarter million worth of City Connect swag on the very first day the uniform debuted.

“This is my favorite uniform to wear, by far,” Profar says. “Curaçao is a colorful island, so I love the colors.”

The post Inside the Room Powering the Padres appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

First, the upfront: This is a paid partnership with the Padres. Second, that’s not going to stop me from reliving one of my favorite kid memories.

I was 11 years old when the Padres played the Chicago Cubs in the playoffs. The Padres were a large part of my world. My mom, a baseball nut, taught me how to keep score in an official book that year. We had season tickets, which meant we were able to get seats for the playoff games. Padres lost the first two games, came back to San Diego on the ropes. 

Mom and I were sitting in the left field bleachers when Kevin McReynolds hit a towering fly ball in our direction. The ball got bigger and bigger and bigger. The Cubs’ left-fielder ran toward us, ran fast until he ran out of room. The ball landed, and the stadium exploded. It landed right… HERE. It landed at US. 

Up until that moment, I’d always envied the other, closer seats.

Three days later, I was sitting in the upper deck when Craig Nettles threw the ball to Alan Wiggins and the team rioted into a human pile of happy in the center of the field. The Pads’ first trip to the World Series. 

The bleachers are where us fans harvest homers. Send us your dingers, your dongers, goners, taters, oppo tacos, no-doubters, moon shots, your grand salamis, and your Machados. Slam Diego isn’t a fictional place. It’s a seat. And that seat… is right here. It’s a tad louder in the bleachers because, well, joy and happiness aren’t quiet. Welcome to the party at the end of the home run rainbow.

The Padres are now playing their final stretch of games. All of them at Petco. I split season tickets this year with a friend specifically for this reason. To have a chance to get those seats again, relive that McReynolds moment, that Garvey time. 

It’s down to the wire, the biting of nails. Machado and Soto and Joe and Yu and Snellzilla and all the players with great hair could use locals at the finish line. Get a seat. Any seat. All have their unique charms. And should you decide to become a member (partial or whole season tickets for 2023), the list of perks is pretty impressive, including:

—priority access to Postseason tickets (and, baseball gods be willing, World Series)

—before each game, it’s happy hour (more than half-off select beer, wine, and cocktails)

—invitation to watch batting practice to catch homers (if you get a ball with gold-stitching, you get a free Pads jersey of your choice)

—10% off all schwag (City Connect calling your name)

Go Pads.

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Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres

The post Ode to the Bleacher Seats appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

Petco Park

Andy Hayt/San Diego Padres

Big-league baseball is a game of inches. A deep-deep-deep fly ball could become a game-winning home run—or disappoint millions. It’s also a numbers game. Few know more about the stats behind Petco Park than Ken Kawachi, VP of ballpark operations. Kawachi oversees more than 50 full-time employees—and over 500 part-timers during baseball season. He breaks down the numbers behind one of MLB’s most iconic fields.

60

Permanent concession stands

58

Portable concession carts.

4

Hours to mow the iconic crisscross on the

98,000

Square-foot field.

4,331

Hot dogs on average consumed per game.

18,474

Beers consumed per game. Those numbers spike on weekends and when the Dodgers come to town to collect their losses

61.2′ x 123.6′

Left-field video board by Daktronics

716

Solar panels, the largest solar array of any MLB facility.

50%

of Petco Park events in 2021 were baseball. There were:

19

Concerts (this year: Red Hot Chili Peppers, July 27; Bad Bunny, September 17)

18

Graduations

4

Drive-in movies

2

Weddings

The post Over 4,000 Hot Dogs and 18,000 Beers per Game—We’ve Got the Stats on Petco Park appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

“Black history is a key element in the fabric of our region,” says Shelby Gordon, marketing manager at the San Diego History Center. “We cannot adequately understand our city and region without having knowledge about San Diego’s Black history. The stories, challenges, and heroes of San Diego’s Black community are very compelling as well as crucial to understanding our past, present, and future.”

To celebrate Black History Month in San Diego, we’ve put together a preview of 10 interesting milestones from the exhibit’s timeline:

Frederick Coleman Finds Gold in Julian

After fleeing the South to settle in California, Frederick Coleman put Julian on the map when he discovered gold in what would soon be named Coleman Creek. The discovery kicked off a brief gold rush and Coleman settled nearby in the Cuyamaca Mountains. By 1880, sixty percent of Black San Diegans also resided in San Diego’s backcountry.

Hotel Robinson, c. 1910

Photo courtesy of the San Diego History Center

The Hotel Robinson Is One of the First Local Black-Owned Businesses

After Albert and Margaret Robinson gained their freedom from slavery, they built and opened The Hotel Robinson in Julian in 1887. Now known as the Julian Hotel, this historic building is considered one of the first Black-owned businesses in San Diego and the oldest operating hotel in Southern California.

Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, 1925

Photo courtesy of the San Diego History Center

San Diego’s First Black Church Is Formed in 1887

Cordelia and Soloman Johnson formed the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in their home in 1887, and members of the church managed to raise funds to move the institution out of their home and into a separate building. The church is still running today.

Fisher Opera House, 1902

Photo courtesy of the San Diego History Center

The Color Line Case

According to an article published by the San Diego History Center, Edward and Mary Anderson were denied access to their orchestra circle seats at the Fisher Opera House in 1897 when manager John C. Fisher told them Black people were only allowed to stand in the balcony. The Andersons filed a lawsuit and won a judgment of $150. Though they lost the appeal, the lawsuit marked a historic first for racial discrimination cases.

Goodwin Family, c. 1902

Photo courtesy of the San Diego History Center

Henrietta Goodwin Becomes the First Black Graduate

As one of 15 in the class of 1913, Goodwin was the first Black graduate from State Normal School of San Diego (now SDSU). Though her name was not listed in the school roster of graduates, report cards showed that she attended the school beginning in 1908.

Harlem After Dark at the Creole Palace, c. 1920

Photo courtesy of the San Diego History Center

Celebrities Flock to the Creole Palace in the Gaslamp

Amid the Roaring Twenties, Black locals and celebrities flocked to the Gaslamp Quarter to stay at the new Douglas Hotel. Home of the Creole Palace nightclub, the hotel was the premier Black entertainment venue on the West Coast and saw visits from celebrities like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Dinah Washington.

Howard “Skippy” Smith and his integrated workforce, 1943

Photo courtesy of the San Diego History Center

Howard “Skippy” Smith Earns a Time magazine Title

In 1943, Smith’s Pacific Parachute Company was named Time magazine’s “Top Black Owned Business in the United States.” Smith, who was a stunt pilot, had one of the first integrated workforces in the region, which included Filipinos, Asians, Latinos, and Black people.

From left: Luke Easter, Artie Wilson, and Johnny Ritchey integrated the minor-league San Diego Padres, 1950

Photo courtesy of the San Diego History Center

Johnny Ritchey Joins the Padres

In 1948, Ritchey became the first Black baseball player to join the San Diego Padres, breaking the Pacific Coast League’s color barrier and following one year after Jackie Robinson debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He became known as the “Jackie Robinson of the West Coast.”

Martin Luther King Jr. Speaks in San Diego

On May 29, 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. visited San Diego to speak at California Western University (now Point Loma Nazarene) and San Diego State College (now SDSU). In his speech at Cal Western, King spoke out against California’s Proposition 14, which allowed discrimination for housing. The speeches shed light on San Diego’s segregation and racial issues, and the proposition was declared unconstitutional by the California Supreme Court two years later.

Black Panthers serving breakfast, 1969

Photo courtesy of the San Diego History Center

San Diego’s Black Panther Party Forms

The San Diego chapter of the Black Panther Party formed in 1968. Though on a national scale the party was known primarily for its armed protests against police brutality, it also did a lot of community-oriented social work that went less reported, starting schools, supplying groceries to seniors, and operating a free breakfast program for children.

Martin Luther King Jr. speaks at California Western University on April 29, 1964.

Photo courtesy of the San Diego History Center

The post 10 Historic Milestones of San Diego’s Black Community appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

Re-Create Padres Stadium

Cody Page

There’s never been a better time to keep up with the Padres, who have just made big waves in the trades and are setting up the team to make a deep postseason run. It’s been a while since we’ve even made the postseason (namely, 2006), so this is the perfect time to show your support and enjoy a game, even if we can’t go down to the ballpark.

How to Watch

Since going to Petco Park is out of the question, you’ll need to find another way to catch the game. For those of you with dish or cable TV, Fox Sports San Diego is the channel to watch. For those without, Hulu and AT&T TV Now are the only streaming services that have rights to this channel.

Where to Get Gear

You still have a reason to swing by Petco Park if you want to shop for Padres gear at the official team store in the Western Metal Supply Co. building. If shopping online is more your speed, you can get official licensed gear at the MLB shop or at Fanatics.

What to Eat

Phil’s BBQ

Phil’s is famous for their baby back rib dinners, perfect for the main event of your meal. Just be careful not to get barbecue sauce on your new jersey.

3750 Sports Arena Boulevard, Midway District | 619-226-6333

Hodad’s

A cheeseburger from Hodad’s is a classic San Diego favorite, equally enjoyable at home on the beach in OB or on your couch watching the game.

5010 Newport Avenue, Ocean Beach | 619-224-4623

Seaside Market

The burgundy pepper tri-tip sandwich from Seaside Market is called “Cardiff Crack” for good reason. You can get the tri-tip shipped straight to your house to put on your own sandwich or anything you’d like.

2087 San Elijo Avenue, Cardiff | 760-753-5445

AleSmith

AleSmith named their San Diego Pale Ale .394 after Tony Gwynn’s career high batting average from 1994, and they took his preferences into account when they made the beer. There’s no better way to pay tribute to the legacy of the Padres’ greatest player while enjoying a meal.

9990 AleSmith Court, Miramar | 858-549-9888

Buona Forchetta

Considering all the Italian influence in San Diego’s history, pizza makes a strong case for Padres ballpark food. Any one of the huge varieties of Buona Forchetta’s Neapolitan pizzas makes a good choice.

3001 Beech Street, South Park | 619-381-4844

Carnitas’ Snack Shack

If you want some mouthwatering Mexican food to go along with your Padres game, Carnitas’ Snack Shack is for you. The carnitas tacos are classics, but you can also get sandwiches and burritos.

1004 North Harbor Drive, Embarcadero | 619-696-7675

Baked Bear

For dessert, Baked Bear offers truly special custom ice cream sandwiches. Choose your top and bottom, filling, and any toppings, and you have the perfect accompaniment to (hopefully) a Padres win.

4516 Mission Boulevard, Pacific Beach | [email protected]

Costco

Unfortunately the hot dog stands are closed, but if you want the ballpark dog experience you can buy Tarantino Gourmet Sausage at any local Costco. Tarantino is a local brand and the official hot dog partner of the San Diego Padres, so grilling one at home is just as good as getting one at the park.

4605 Morena Boulevard, Clairemont | 858-270-6920

The post How to Re-Create a Day at Petco Park at Home appeared first on San Diego Magazine.

Coronado Cays

Occupation:

TV play-by-play announcer, San Diego Padres

Who you’re sheltering with:

Me and my wife Kathy. Our daughters Sydney and Lauren have spent some time here during the pandemic with us as we group social distance.

What you’re doing for exercise:

Walk every morning a little over an hour. I have two routes, in the neighborhood and on the Silver Strand State Beach across the way. I try to rotate daily to mix it up. I think it’s a little over four miles.

Go-to meal:

I love to cook, and this time has given me the chance to try some new things. Mostly Italian, and many on the grill. Lots of seafood!

New TV show you’ve discovered:

I’m actually rewatching The West Wing. My wife hadn’t seen it, so I’ve had the chance to see all the seasons over again and have thoroughly enjoyed it. Since there are no concerts, The Dave Matthews Band rerun shows from last summer’s tour have filled quite a few nights for me.

Any rituals to stay sane?

It’s funny—in my now 20 years in the Majors, I have had nothing but daily rituals in a normal 162-game season. But now it’s fishing, fishing, and more fishing. With varying degrees of success. I have a paddleboat and pedal out into the bay, anchor down, and fish most afternoons. Calming. Any time I can spend out there, I cherish.

What you’ve come to appreciate:

My family. For the last 30 years I have always been working or on the road all over the country broadcasting baseball, beginning in February every spring and all summer. This year we’ve had a great amount of time spent together. Simply time we ordinarily wouldn’t have had.

What’s your daily uniform at home:

Shorts, boat shoes, polo or fleece of some kind. Generally repping my team. I have a ton of comfortable Padres hangout gear. During spring training, with the Padres changing back to brown this year, I had to really update my wardrobe. So I was ready.

What you can’t wait to do when it’s safe for everything to reopen:

Broadcast baseball and do what I love. Going to stadiums, calling great games, and having all the Friar Faithful be there and be able to attend without fear, and for them to just be able to enjoy a day or night at Petco Park again when able.

What does your workspace look like?

It’s been spent in my wife Kathy’s office. We have been doing virtual Padres broadcasted games and shows on social media and Fox Sports San Diego from home. It’s where the laptop is and has the best WiFi for video and audio purposes.

The post Sheltering at Home with… Don Orsillo, Padres Announcer appeared first on San Diego Magazine.