A night with the Padres
Tonight, finally, was my first visit to Petco Park to see our San Diego Padres play. And what a game it was! The ever-boring Toronto Blue Jays led the Padres 2-1 for nearly the entire game — until some impressive 8th inning performance from San Diego and a Jays catching error gave the Padres a 3-2 lead. When Trevor Hoffman walked on to the field to close it out, I got to experience the Hells-Bells sensation that I had only watched on television for years. It was just incredible. The Blue Jays threatened to come back, but they couldn’t do it. Only two hours and fifteen minutes of play, and our losing streak is over.
Tonight’s game was lot of fun for lots of reasons. The ballpark really is a baseball fan’s park — intimate, inviting, accomodating. It just feels like baseball. The kiddie diamond is a wonderful sight, brimming with enthusiastic youngsters and their smiling dads nearby.
I also got a lot of time to bond with my family — my brother, especially. Certainly the most exciting moment of the night came when he caught a fly ball! Early in the game, Toronto’s Eric Hinske launched one past third base. Everyone near our seats was screaming… then standing. I looked up and saw an object screaming toward me, and at that moment I reacted the way any American would: I cowered and reached for the camera! Suddenly I was in the middle of a dizzying pit of bodies. In all seriousness, I instinctually wanted to catch the ball, but I remembered a conversation I had with David and my father only minutes earlier. I was talking about how neat it would be if someone hit a fly ball our way and I could photograph the experience and share it on my weblog. Amazing. I’m glad I did start snapping, because what resulted was a photograph that competes with my existing all-time favorite.
Indeed I got a lot of important time to bond with my camera, which has been neglected for too long. I hope my images reflect tonight’s energy.
View from the stands
View from the grass
The masses filter in
Kiddie baseball 1
Kiddie baseball 2
Military flyover
Reaching
My brother, David, after catching a fly ball. One of my all-time favorite photos.
David beaming
World’s greatest grandpa (not my grandpa)
Trevor Time (click to enlarge)
Victory!
Well, you had to know I’d be the first to comment on this post. Congrats on your first game. You watched one hell of a game first hand, and for that I am jelous. The way you talked about the game in the first part of your post was awesome… In all that news gear, is there a bit of sports in you AP? I think so. I want to see those photos!!!!!
P.S. Watching “Trevor Time” first hand is amazing isn’t it. I’ve seen it probably 20 times and it never gets old.
Small note, the Padres pitching coach is a Palomar alum. I/We are going to do a story on him this semester.
Also, the link to your brother is wrong. I think.
When I was up in Santa Cruz watching baseball on ESPN with friends, all I could talk about was going home and going to Padres games at Petco. I can’t freaking wait. You’re post made me giddy, Andrew. I can’t believe that your brother caught a fly. He’s the only person I know (other than Ferris Bueller) who’s done that. Just an awesome post.
Not that you would want to admit it Sam, but you know me too. I caught one last night. It was my 19th game or so this season, and is the first time a ball has been hit to our section, it was a line drive right to us. If you want tickets for a game, let me know.
When I was up in Santa Cruz watching baseball on ESPN with friends, all I could talk about was going home and going to Padres games at Petco. I can't freaking wait. You're post made me giddy, Andrew. I can't believe that your brother caught a fly. He's the only person I know (other than Ferris Bueller) who's done that. Just an awesome post.