Petco sees its first washout

By: BRIAN HIRO - Staff Writer | Tuesday, April 4, 2006 11:19 PM PDT ∞

Seven year old Bobby Christian of San Diego tries to catch raindrops while in the San Diego Padres dugout Tuesday before the game.
JAMIE SCOTT LYTLE Staff Photographer
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SAN DIEGO ---- One by one, they emerged from the clubhouse and stared at the opening sky in bewilderment, as if actual cats and dogs were falling on the field.

"I don't know what this stuff is," Padres manager Bruce Bochy joked as he watched rain pelt a rarely used tarp covering the Petco Park infield Tuesday afternoon.

Closer Trevor Hoffman sat in the home dugout for more than an hour, soaking up the foreign sight. First-year strength coach Jim Malone, who joined the Padres from the Cleveland Indians organization, poked his head out and deadpanned, "Everyone said, 'Come to San Diego, it's 65 and sunny every day.' "

Just before 8 p.m., Padres CEO Sandy Alderson surveyed the damage done by Tuesday's rainstorm and officially called off the team's second game of the season, against the San Francisco Giants. When the postponement was announced over the public address system, the few brave souls in the stands booed as lustily as they had Barry Bonds on Opening Day.

The game was rescheduled for July 1 at 12:05 p.m. as the first part of a day/night doubleheader against the Giants. The second game will remain at 7:05 p.m. There will be separate admissions for those games.

Rainouts in San Diego are about as rare as World Series appearances for the Padres. The weather postponement Tuesday was a Petco Park first and the first for a Padres home game since May 12, 1998 at Qualcomm Stadium. Incidentally, that was the last season the Padres reached the Fall Classic.

It ended a streak of 635 consecutive games in San Diego without a rainout.

Before '98, the previous home rainout was back in April 1983. There have been only 16 total rainouts since the franchise's inception in 1969.

"It doesn't happen often, does it?" Bochy said after the postponement. "It's something you never even think about. But (the rain) was relentless. It was getting sloppy out there. I don't think there was anything else that could be done."

The rain is forecast to continue today, with a 30 percent chance of precipitation tonight, when the Padres are scheduled to conclude their season-opening three-game series.

Bochy said he will push his starting pitchers back a day. Left-hander Shawn Estes, Tuesday's scheduled starter, is set to face San Francisco's Matt Morris tonight. The starters for the Colorado series this weekend are Chris Young on Friday, Dewon Brazelton on Saturday and Jake Peavy on Sunday.

Estes said he was disappointed to have his Padres debut delayed.

"I was looking forward to getting out there," Estes said. "But it's the same game tomorrow."

Estes, who warmed up by playing catch, added that he was relieved the game wasn't postponed after a few innings.

"You never want to get hot because then it's just a waste," he said. "At least no one had to go out there and maybe get hurt."

Bonds, the Giants' outfielder, was in Tuesday's lineup, but he could be held out tonight because San Francisco has its home opener Thursday afternoon. The 41-year-old Bonds tends not to play day games after night games.

Tickets for the rainout will be valid for the afternoon game on July 1. If fans are unable to attend on that date, the tickets can be exchanged at Petco Park for any of the other 79 home games (based on availability).

Contact staff writer Brian Hiro at b_hiro@hotmail.com.

The rainout Tuesday night marked only the second time in 23 years a Padres home game has been postponed because of rain, and the 16th overall. Here's the list:

By: - Date-Opponent

April 27, 1970-Montreal

April 14, 1971-Chicago Cubs

May 7, 1971-Cincinnati

May 28, 1971-New York Mets

June 5, 1972-Pittsburgh

June 6, 1972-Pittsburgh

April 8, 1975-San Francisco

April 9, 1975-San Francisco

Sept. 10, 1976-Houston (doubleheader)

May 8, 1977-Montreal (doubleheader)

April 15, 1978-San Francisco

April 28, 1980-Atlanta

April 29, 1980-Atlanta

April 20, 1983-Atlanta

May 12, 1998-New York Mets

April 4, 2006-San Francisco