Greg Vaughn to throw out ceremonial first pitch for Home Opener

I can't believe that this will be the 10th Opening Day at Petco Park. It seems like just yesterday when we all attended the ballpark opening. Where does the time go?

I was asking Dex earlier if he favors Opening Day to be at home or the excitement spread out over MLB Opening Day and the Padres home opener. He prefers Opening Day to be at home, there's less chance for the Padres to have a poor road trip and killing fan enthusiasm. I like my excitement spread out like Nutella on toast.

Here's your Opening Day information for tomorrow:

Ceremonies

Time

The gates open at 1:30. The Fox Sports San Diego coverage starts at 2:00 with ownership interviews. The ceremonies start at 3:00 and the game starts at 3:40. Jonny Dub and I are taking tomorrow off from work, I recommend you do the same. We'll congregate there and you can ignore us and pretend you don't read blogs.

Giveaways

All fans will receive a free Opening Day T-shirt. I'm going to enter the park shirtless and have the employees at the gate dress me. The first 25,000 fans will receive a 2013 Padres schedule cling and SD decal. The second 20,000 can pick up their cling and decal out of the trash. I'm just kidding, I love a good cling.

Emcee

Dick Enberg will emcee the festivities again. Ted Leitner and his 34 years of Padres broadcast experience will glare at him the entire time. Jerry Coleman will be glad he's not in the spotlight.

Theme

"Celebrating Baseball in San Diego: Past, Present & Future". What would be the perfect outfit for this? A Turn Ahead the Clock jersey, a throw back hat and modern Padres branded Crocs? Good, I've already got it laid out.

National Anthem

The Star-Spangled Banner and God Bless America (in the 7th inning stretch) will be performed by Miss California 2010 Arianna Afsar. It will sound something like this. The flag will be unfurled and held by sailors from the USS Russell and the USS Boxer. Two San Diego Police Department helicopters will flyover, it'll be just like everyday.

First Pitch

Greg Vaughn will be throwing out the first pitch. Here's a quiz, do you remember who threw out the first pitch in 2004 when the ballpark opened? I'll give you a hint, it was Jimmy Carter.

Pre-Game Ceremony

Trevor Hoffman will lead a touching tribute to the late Darrel Akerfelds.

Padres Youth Baseball Inititative

25 Players from Lemon Grove Little League will accompany Padres starters onto the field. If the shit hits the fan they may end up playing.

Can't wait!