SDSU-Houston inaugurate Petco Park with an NCAA-record crowd

By: SHAUN O'NEILL - Staff Writer | Thursday, March 11, 2004 10:08 PM PST ∞

SAN DIEGO ---- It had the bright lights. It had the dignitaries and famous guests. It had the highly anticipated show. All San Diego's version of a big-time premiere was lacking was a red carpet. Instead, Petco Park delivered a green carpet.

That would be the fussed-over, manicured playing field.

"Look at that grass," Padres owner John Moores marveled Thursday night before the first baseball game in his team's new home field. "I've never seen it done better."

It wasn't the Padres who jogged onto that green carpet Thursday night. Instead, it was San Diego State and the University of Houston, a couple of college teams that got to christen the $458 million ballpark. Meanwhile, Padres officials got a chance to work the kinks out, to trouble-shoot. In essence, the four-day Aztec Invitational tournament is a dry run for 81 Padres home games.

The Padres, who operate Petco Park and are its sole tenant, didn't exactly have a chance to ease into action. The Aztecs' 4-0 victory over Houston attracted a sellout crowd of 40,106, which in turn set a record for largest attendance at a college game.

Lines at concession stands were significantly longer than at Qualcomm. And there were plenty of empty seats despite the announced sellout, though that could be because people bought souvenir tickets. As far as problems with parking and facilities, the Padres will have nearly a month to analyze those before their regular-season home opener April 8.

The Padres, naturally, anticipate any problems are temporary ones. They instead were celebrating the start of a new era in franchise history. After 35 years of sharing Qualcomm Stadium with the Chargers and Aztecs football teams, the Padres now have a home they designed for themselves.

"I'm excited about it," said Padres first baseman Phil Nevin, who was able to attend because a shoulder injury cut short his spring training. "I can't wait until we're on that field."

The Padres aimed high with the project. Larry Lucchino, the club president during the crucial early stages of planning, once boasted that the ballpark would be the best in the world. And he knew a thing or two about ballparks, having presided over the opening of Camden Yards in 1992 while serving as president of the Baltimore Orioles.

Some early reviews, though far from impartial, are that Lucchino did not brag without backing it up.

"What I'm happiest about," said former Padres executive Charles Steinberg, who followed Lucchino two years ago to work for the Boston Red Sox, "was standing on the concourse and looking back out of the stadium, you could see Point Loma, the bay, Coronado. Then you come into the seating area and see the urban backdrop.

"We wanted this ballpark to be uniquely San Diego. We didn't want it to feel like a ballpark in any other city."

Added Tony Gwynn, the greatest player in Padres history and now the Aztecs' coach: "It's exceeded my expectations. It really has."

Early positive reviews and word-of-mouth are nice, certainly. But Petco Park's ultimate success or failure will come through results ---- whether fans keep coming back, whether the Padres' revenue leaps forward and translates into more wins, whether the ballpark does indeed anchor the East Village redevelopment project and help surrounding businesses thrive.

"What makes a ballpark a destination," Steinberg said, "is the type of experience you give those who visit."

Ballpark tour

A look at baseball's other stadiums, from oldest to newest, as we count down to Petco Park's April 8 opener. The third of 29:

YANKEE STADIUM

Team: New York Yankees

Opened: 1923

Cost: $2.5 million

Capacity: 57,545

Dimensions: LF 318 feet, LC 399, CF 408, RC 385, RF 314

Fast facts: If the Yankees are baseball royalty, this is the sport's palace. No other site has seen as many great moments or been home to as many Hall of Fame players. Yankee Stadium was the first triple-deck structure in baseball. It was cavernous before a remodeling in the 1970s, holding more than 70,000 fans and measuring as far as 490 feet to center field. The Yankees' history is acknowledged in 17 monuments beyond the center-field fence, honoring the team's greatest of the great. Three momuments ---- Lou Gehrig, Miller Huggins and Babe Ruth ---- originally were in play, and outfielders sometimes had to scurry around them to retrieve long drives. The Yankees played at Shea Stadium from 1974-75 during a $48 million reconstruction project and returned to the Bronx in 1976, which coincided with their return to the World Series after a 12-year absence. Padres star Tony Gwynn homered off current Padre David Wells in Game 1 of the World Series in 1998, Gwynn's first game in the hallowed stadium.

Did you know? Knute Rockne's "win one for the Gipper" speech came at Yankee Stadium at halftime of Notre Dame's football game against Army on Nov. 12, 1928. The game was scoreless at halftime but the Irish responded to Rockne's inspiring words and defeated the Cadets 12-6.

Sources: New York Yankees media guide, ballparks.com

Contact staff writer Shaun O'Neill at (760) 740-3546 or soneill@nctimes.com.