Please share your Padres Memories

by jbox on Mar 31, 2008 2:01 PM PDT Comment 17 comments

I was emailed a request. AT&T is creating an Ad for the next Padres magazine and they want your input.

"We're writing an ad all about the Padres and what it means to be a Padres fan. We're trying to get as much insider-die-hard-true fan info as we can. Tell me everything you love about them, childhood memories. Best moments, worst moments, cheers, sayings, songs, mascots, what the it was like going to the old park, the new park...

Local stuff, rivals, phrases-- If someone was doing a documentary about the Padres and their fans, what would HAVE to be in there? Don't worry about editing yourself, just spew out as many different details/plays/stories/heartbreaks--- what makes you different and better than other fans of other teams...."

First thing I think of when I think of the Padres is Tony Gwynn in the old brown uniforms. Watching him gain weight and rake.

Best Moments: Everything leading up to the 1984 World Series. Cub busting and Steve Garvey's home run. Caminiti's MVP. Tony Gwynn's Batting titles. Tony Gwynn's induction into the Hall of Fame. Jerry Coleman's induction into the Hall of Fame. The '96 season ending series in LA. Chris Gwynn's double. Rickey Henderson setting records every at bat. Carlos Hernandez showing up dressed all in black leather for Tony Gwynn's retirement.

Songs: Tim Flannery's "Secret World", Buck-O-Nine's "My Town"

Mascots: Bizarre but awesome mascots like the San Diego Chicken and to a lesser extent Franken Friar. A more normal mascot the Swinging Friar and his weird family that shows up in different costumes.

Worst moments: When Caminiti died. When Mike Darr died. When we found out that Caminiti was a steroid user. When Rosanne sang the National Anthem. When Mark Langston's pitch right down the middle was called a ball and his next pitch ended up in the seats. Getting swept in the '98 World Series. The playoffs the last few years. Bochy leaving for SF after so many years. Saying goodbye to the Murph forever. Tony Gwynn's retirement.

Bitter Sweet moments: When Caminiti came clean about his steroid use. When Caminiti took the field after he retired and he thought the fans would boo him, but instead they cheered. When Nevin and Klesko carried Mike Darr's son out onto the field on their shoulders.

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Comments

Is there a link for submitting stories?

Or are they going to pull them off of here?

by Drama on Mar 31, 2008 2:09 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I'll copy and paste and email them in

So just leave them as comments.

by jbox on Mar 31, 2008 2:10 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Murph

What was great about that park, especially when you were a kid, was how freaking big it was. You didn't really care about the layout and the sightlines, but just being there in such an enormous venue made you feel like you were seeing something so big and amazing that it required a stadium of Coliseum-like proportions. And it didn't necessarily matter how the game went, because you knew that you were witnessing something really cool, and you got to share in it with 60,000 of your friends.

by matto619 on Mar 31, 2008 2:48 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

The Murph

Running down the big circular ramps as a kid was so awesome.

by Drama on Mar 31, 2008 2:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Actually, as a drunken adult as well.

by Drama on Mar 31, 2008 2:53 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was just about to say something to that effect

auto comment saved you from me calling you out first.

by Dex on Mar 31, 2008 2:54 PM PDT up reply actions 1 recs

It wasn't bad

as a childish adult either.

by jbox on Mar 31, 2008 2:54 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

When the KGB chicken became the Famous San Diego Chicken

or whatever he is called.

Until then he was sponsored by the classic rock station KGB. There was a lot of anticipation about the unveiling - what would the KGB chicken become? It seemed like it could be anything - something baseball oriented; maybe some crazy monster a la Philly Phanatic; maybe a hippo or a panda. The unveiling featured several uniformed Padres - I remember Kurt Bevacqua was involved, perhaps Tim Flannery too - carrying a giant egg out on a net before a Padres game, and then the new....San Diego chicken was hatched from it. His costume looked just like the old KGB chicken except it was different colors. I was a bit disappointed. I guess he felt comfortable in that suit and didn't want to mess with a good thing. Still, before the Padres had won their first pennant, this passed for a big deal at the Stadium one Sunday afternoon.

by Billy Almon on Mar 31, 2008 2:54 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Game 4 - 1984 NLCS

Game 4 in the 1984 NLCS was when San Diego came of age as a city in professional sports. Neither the team nor the city had ever experienced anything like it and that night, when Garvey jacked it out, was the loudest that stadium ever was. That win propelled them into Game 5, which everyone just KNEW they would win, and into their first World Series.

I'm not sure the city has ever experienced anything as exciting as Garvey circling the bases because it felt like the first time that a San Diego team won a game that really meant something. The Padres had been a disaster up until that year and the Chargers had gotten close, but failed. Everyone in the stadium and in the city was looking at each other, jumping up and down and thinking "FINALLY!"

by Winfield's Ghost on Mar 31, 2008 3:04 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Here's a link

to a related diary.

www.PadsAndEnds.blogspot.com
"jbox does not drink coffee, as it makes him clean house big time." ~Kev

by TheThirdGonzalez on Mar 31, 2008 3:23 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm pretty new to San Diego...

I meet 4 of my friends from across the country at a different ballpark every year. We are on #7 or 8. Two years ago, we all met in San Diego at the end of the year. I don;t think any of them had even heard of Trevor Hoffman, but when he came out for Trevor Time, with Hells Bells, flames and all, they said it was one of the coolest things they had ever seen at a ball game. One of the guys told me recently that it was an amazing moment to see Trevor tie the record for saves - after not even knowing who the guy was.

by planetjeffy on Apr 1, 2008 12:13 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Wow.

I can't imagine not knowing who Trevor is.

www.PadsAndEnds.blogspot.com
"jbox does not drink coffee, as it makes him clean house big time." ~Kev

by TheThirdGonzalez on Apr 1, 2008 12:50 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Murphy Vision

During the '80's, from ages 0-13, I guestimate my dad took my brothers, my cousins, and me to the Murph at least 300 times. I have a billion memories of those trips. Those were some of the happiest moments of my childhood. We would sit waaay up in the GA section, literally in the last row of the stadium. I remember having to shoo away those ginormous moths that would flutter around your red and white striped box of popcorn, annoying you to no end. I can still picture the moth nests they would build in the concrete crevices under the lighting fixtures.

But one thing I remember was how, from that vantage point way up in the nosebleeds, every fly ball that was hit would look like a sure home run. Seriously, from way up in the sky, a mile above home plate in General Admission, everything looked like a homer! Terry Kennedy would come up to bat, smack one high into the air, and every one in GA would go absolutely nuts, thinking it was for sure going over the fence. Then the ball would come down, harmlessly, 25 feet in front of the warning track, into Hubie Brooks's waiting glove. But for those brief seconds after TK had struck the ball, man, what a thrill. Alas, the euphoria was short-lived, and reality would come down on us kids as fast as that routine can of corn.

Anyway, a few years ago, some friends and I were having some beers and talking about how we all experienced this phenomenon, how every ball hit into the air, even an infield pop-up sometimes, looked like a homerun from the top of the Murph. I didn't realize that my buddies had experienced this phenomenon as well during their childhoods. We described how jubilant we were at the crack of the bat, and how depressed we were at the anti-climax. I was thrilled that my buddies had experienced this as well, and I wasn't alone. Then my friend named this phenomenon. He dubbed this optical illusion: Murphy Vision.

We thought it was quite clever, and we keep using it to this day. It has become an inside-joke, part of the lexicon my friends and I use. Even my non-baseball friends have adopted its usage, and we don't even attach it to baseball anymore. We use it as a metaphor to describe disappointment, being let down, having your high hopes dashed, irony. For example, I didn't study for the SATs because I just thought I was naturally smart, then I bombed it. That's Murphy Vision. When you think you nailed an interview and get turned down for the job anyway. That's Murphy Vision. When you think you got a good thing going with this new girl you're seeing then having her tell you she just wants to be friends. Murphy Vision. When you finally see a parking space during Christmas season at Fashion Valley after driving around for 3 hours only to discover on approach that it's a handicap spot. When you think the Padres are for sure going into the post-season only to have Trevor blow it in the 163rd game of the season. Murphy Vision. (Some of my friends have even used it in deep philosophical discussions: "Life is one big Murphy Vision." And at least one friend has used it to describe his painful divorce: "Our whole relationship was just one big Murphy Vision.")

Anyway, that is my favorite memory of growing up as a Padres fan. Murphy Vision. Those few seconds of hope, bliss, excitement, nirvana; followed immediately by heartbreak, devastation. That sums up the history of Padres baseball to me. That's what it is to be a Padres fan. This is my first post, I invite you all to use the Murphy Vision metaphor, if you don't think it is too lame...

Oh, and I also distinctly remember that old man who would sell the San Diego Union (this was before it was called the U-T). Do you remember that guy? He was there for every game during the '70's and '80's. He must have been in his 70s or 80s as well. He would have headphones on, the brown Padres jacket and cap on, and would walk around the Plaza Level mezzanine with a stack of San Diego Union rags in his arms. Then, by about the 5th inning or so, he would finally sell out of the papers, and would then walk down the mezzanine with his empty hands raised, and yell "ALL GONE!!", and everyone would go ape sh*t and cheer loudly for him. Does anyone else remember that guy??? One of you out there must. Help me out...

Fy fan! (That means damn in Swedish).

by Pad Fan in Sweden on Apr 1, 2008 1:26 PM PDT reply actions 3 recs

well...

...I'm a Mariners fan, but have lived in San Diego since '89, and am a Padres supporter whenever they're not playing their "natural" rivals, my hometown M's. favorite Padres memories:

Learning to really enjoy NL ball through the Padres. it was weird at first... didn't understand the double-switch for a little while.

Watching a Cubs-Padres game on mushrooms from the box seats freshman year of college. Andre Dawson, WOW DUDE.

McGriff, Sheffield, Santiago throwing from his knees...

T Gwynn. I started giving Tony a standing O when he came up for his first at-bat of the game long before retirement was even in the mirror. y'all just followed my lead. ; )

The old pinstriped home unis.

Day games in right field. I bought a Sunday package in '98 and had great seats for that amazing season. a lot of those were Kevin Brown 2-hour jobs. so awesome.

Sneaking full bottled Sierra Nevadas into the Murph in my girlfriend's soccer bag.

The palm trees.

The infield skin early in the football season. Natrone just got tackled at second base! the Seahawks intercepting and knocking Ryan Leaf out of the NFL on that hard-packed dirt.

Finley making circus catches against the springy center-field wall.

T Gwynn.

All the interleague games against the Mariners, especially the first 2 seasons.

Getting under Griffey's skin in his first season with Cincy while sitting in 3rd row aisle seats above the dugout. How the dugout had no roof, just stands right above the players.

Cammy making stellar plays at third and hitting bombs. G-Vaughn hitting his stride in '98.

Sitting in 3rd-base line loge seats, telling my girlfriend "you have to look alive for foul balls even all the way up here," and after she disbeliveingly laughed me off, having a foul ball crash through my buddy's replica Padres batting helmet two seats to our left.

Trevor Time, every time.

Without any announcement, between innings, the jumbotron showing every out of the perfect game David Wells had just thrown at Yankee Stadium to the sounds of Sinatra's "New York, New York".

T Gwynn.

Trevor coming in to break the record for consecutive wins, giving up a tying home run to Moises Alou to blow the save, then pitching into the 10th and getting the win.

Beating Randy Johnson in the wild card round in '98.

Both NLCS home games against Atlanta, even though we lost. the place was freakin' crazy.

Game 3 of the World Series, even though we lost. Angrily holding up an entire column of Yankees fans at the top of our section after the game.

The season-ticket holder postseason invite event at the Murph after the World Series. Pre-fire sale, that is (ahem).

Sunny Opening Days at the Murph.

Great seats and table service at Petco.

T Gwynn.

by lemonverbena on Apr 2, 2008 3:45 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

"Trevor coming in to break the record for consecutive SAVES..." duh

by lemonverbena on Apr 2, 2008 3:53 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

almost forgot...

Dave Stewart being our bad-ass pitching coach in '98, and him wearing a jacket whenever they were wearing the blue jerseys! Even on the hottest days. I ran into Stew on a flight to Arizona a few years ago and mentioned that to him. "I hated those things, Man," he confirmed. Great guy.

by lemonverbena on Apr 2, 2008 3:50 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs