Another late night (I kept Doris and Susan up late talking about life and the movie business), and another early morning (I got a call from Brook Lawer who arranged some interviews for me at 7:30am) and I was back in the mini-van on my way to San Diego. I stopped to have breakfast with Kevin Arnovitz at Canter's Delicatessan and Bakery (they make the best Homentashen's in the world) in hopes of getting good directions to San Diego. I got lost right out the parking lot and didn't recover for nearly twenty five minutes -- better luck next time.
I arrived at the park before the press gate was open and sat in my car trying to relax and take a quick nap. The wind was so intense in the parking lot that my car was sort of bouncing arround, so I decided to wait outside the press gate (sheltered from wind) until my credential arrived. I chatted with the press gate attendant, Bruce, about all the changes being made to the stadium, and finally was handed my credential more than half an hour into our talk. I plugged my computer in to the press box, checked my e-mail, and watched in amazement as Tony Gwynn stroked pitches to every part of the outfield.
Qualcomm Stadium (formerly Jack Murphy Stadium) is a cookie cutter park. Whatever creative and wonderful aspects in once had are all gone -- prompting one front office represnetiatve to say "I wish I could tell you there is something special about this park, but there really isn't." Built as a multi-use facility to accomodate both football and baseball, the park was recently remodeled, adding more than ten thousand new seats for use during football games. Apparently, before the renovation, fans could see the beatiful southern California hills (which sit just beyond the outfield walls) from their seats. Now, four enormous cement levels and skyboxes fill what was once a wide open outfield.
Obviously the outer areas of the stadium, especially the concourses, reflect the changes made to acoomodate football -- expansive and boring cement construction, dark and ominous pathways ramps. But it is the field that bears most of the differences from a baseball only park. A large gap exits between the outfield wall and the beginning of the outfield seating section (to accomodate for the temporary football seats that get rolled in before each pigskin classic) and the infield seatingsections are set well back from the field (with some elevated so fans cannot reach the ground). The bullpens are on the field but hidden away in a gap created where the field seats meet the outfield walls. And, the dugouts are simply extensions of the out-of-play area (with dirt floors), that sit underneath the first few rows of seats behind home plate (allowing fans to hang their hands and feet over the edge -- occasionally spilling a beverage over the side). To add insult to injury, there is not enough room in the dugout for all the players and coaches -- some have to sit on an extension of the bench which hides behind the camera well.
But, with all the changes came some nice technological advances. A brand new scoreboard illumiates right field while offering lineups (with full names, not just numbers), game statistics and instant replays to the fans. Below the larger scoreboard is an out-of-town scoreboard which offers fans constant updates on all the other games in major league baseball (including game summaries). And, the left field wall holds a scoreboard which tracks pitcher statistics (including pitch type, speed, and the ball/strike ratio) throughout the game.
But, like every other major league team with a stadium more than five years old, the Padres want a new, baseball-only facility of their own. In the meantime, they have filled the stands with new and creative things (including one section behind home plate which gives fans touch screen computer access to all the statistics, highlights and other information about the game) and activities (such as batting cages and chidren's play areas) that everyone can take part in. Fans will soon be able to arrive at the stadium via a new monorail type public transport system (actually being built for the Superbowl which will be in San Diego in January 1998 -- but adopted by baseball fans as well). And, there is even a special reward program that gives fans prizes (such as pins, autographs and free merchandise) as a reward for their regular patronage.
I guess what I am trying to say is that you could do a whole lot worse than a Qualcomm Stadium (or Jack Murphy if you prefer).
I squandered most of my opportunity to watch batting practice working in the press box and walking around the stadium. I sat in the dugout for nearly twenty minutes while the Padres were stretching and warming up. I overheard Tony Gwynn talking about a fisihng trip he has planned during the team's upcoming road trip to Houston. And, I watched Archi Cianfracco joking around with one of the camera crews -- at one point taking the headset and controls from the cameraman and operating the camera for himself. Everyone got quite a rise from his antics.
Because the Padres executive offices are off site (the renovation forced them out to make room for football sky boxes) I had to leave the field to try and contact the member of the front office staff I was schedule to meet with. By the time I left a message, grabbed my tickets from will call, and returned to the field area, the Padres had finished hitting and the Mets were in the middle of their rotation. I wandered around for a while -- somewhat in a daze -- and waited for batting practice to end.
Before I go any father, I want to acknowledge the customer service staff at Qualcomm Stadium. When I went to find my contact from the Padres front office, I ended up in the customer service office located off of Gate F at Qualcomm Stadium. Not only were the customer service folks (Clarice in particular) friendly and helpful in finding someone for me to speak with, they were kind enough to have me escorted back to the field where I would eventually meet the person. And, I am convinced that Clarice tried to leave a message for me during the game to make sure that my time at the stadium was going well. They were probably the best customer service team in baseball.
As for the front office, I was originally scheduled to meet with Kevin Towers, the General Manager of the Padres, but he was called away to watch the club's minor league affiliates play and wasn't at the game. I later learned that the real reason he wasn't present was because he had agreed to play in a celebrity baseball game with Mark Harmon and wasn't able to free himself from the obligation.
Anyway, I was met on the field by Fred Uhlman Jr., the Assistant General Manager of the Padres, and we spoke for nearly an hour as the Mets finished their batting practice. Things started off a little slow -- mostly my fault since I didn't know what questions to ask after he said there was nothing special about the stadiu. We talked about the pennant race, interleague play (he is very much in favor of it), and what the Padres are trying to do as the trading deadine approaches (he mentioned speaking to seven different General Manager's on this day in hopes of arranging a trade for a strong starting pitcher to bolster the Padres rotation). There was a lot of uncomfortable silence.
After we had been standing around for nealy twenty minutes, Steve Phillips, the Mets General Manager, joined us on the field. It was an interesting contrast as Mr. Phillips was sharply dressed in a a jacket and tie while Mr. Uhlman was casually dressed with a button-down shirt and no tie. They spoke about the differences in media styles (New York brought seven beat writers while San Diego traditionally travels with only one) and shared some of the major league gossip (managerial changes and slanderous news articles were popular) while I listened trying not to give the impression I was eavesdropping. After a few moments Mr. Phillips noticed my University of Michigan shirt (he is a graduate of UM himself) and we ended up talking about the trip and (ironically enough) Connecticut (he lives in Wilton, CT -- the town adjacent to Westport, CT). By the time we finished, I was almost ready to say the Mets were a pleasant organization to deal with -- almost.
After a while, Mr. Phillips left and Mr. Uhlman and I took a seat in the dugout to continue our conversation. Because Mr. Uhlman focuses most of his time on the baseball operations portion of the game, he was not familiar with many of the things relating to the stadium. As a result, most of his answers were not informed ones but rather full of honest opinions and franks responses. On more than one occasion he used the phrase "I would never say this publicly" when describing the daily activities of the team -- something that is refeshing to hear from someone in management. I got the feeling that Mr. Uhlman has a very tough job -- one that he doesn't love as much as some of the others has had -- but one that he really felt was important to the club and the league. You don't see that everyday.
The press box is one of the facitlities that was recently updated during the renovation of the stadium. The facilities are new and clean, phone lines and electrical outlets are availalbe at every seat, and a full dining area is available for working press. It is an open air press box, oddly enough located just to the right of home plate (probably more centrally located for football) and the sounds of the stadium filter in making it tough to hold a conversation even with the person next to you.
I took a seat in the second row of the box (seat 52) so I could have a phone line available to me without disturbing any of the other media folks. Instead, while I was down on the field, the entire New York media contingent (at least seven writers) took seats around me. We ended up talking throughout the game about things on and off the field and shared runs to get dessert and other treats. I was surprised how friendly the writers were (especially when the media relations folks were so unpleasant) and vowed to spend more time in my remaining stadiums talking to the local beat writers -- I figure I could learn a lot.
THE FOODYou have to have incredible will power to come to Qualcomm Stadium and not spend the entire evening eating. On this night, I did not have that so-called will power. And why not, with all the opportunities including mexican food, barbecue (owned by former Padre Steve Jones), diner style hamburgers, Haagen Dazs Ice Cream, gourmet fish tacos, and extra plump looking hot dogs. There is even a choice of pretzels with the standard salted one being accompanied by a Jalapeno stuffed pretzel.
I was particularly hungry when I arrived at the park so I grabbed a full plate of turkey and mashed potatoes (with all the fixin's) from the press box dining room. But, when all the other media folks started bringing in outside food to supplement their selection I was overcome by a series of cravings. By the time the night was finished I had added a full plate of barbecue chicken, coleslaw and baked beans from Jones' Barbecue on the plaza level (the mesquite grilled taste hit the spot), two pretzels (one of each -- both quite tasty although the Jalapeno one had some kick) and a double-scoop cup of butter pecan ice cream. I had to loosen my belt one loop to get through the seventh inning stretch -- but it was well worth it.
To say this evening was unique would be selling it short. First of all, Qualcomm Stadium was celebrating Zoo Night with all the fans -- including a visit by Joan Embree and a live Camel (which relieved itself in the Mets dugout prior to its appearance on the field). The diamondvision challenge to fans was to guess which golf ball would get closest to the hole (at other stadiums it is which hat the baseball is hiding under). And, during the seventh inning stretch, an almost gospel-like soft rock version of "Take me out to the ballgame" was played over the speakers (with proper grammer such as "I do not care if I ever get back" instead of "I don't care if I ever get back").
To their credit, the San Diego fans seemed un-phased (and possibly even excited) by the off field distractions provided by the Qualcomm management. Focused entirely on the game between the Mets and Padres, the 25,167 fans (mostly adults) fans cheered loudly for the home team as they played smart and aggressive baseball. Folks around the stadium believed that the crowd was small because there was no give-away being offered (Saturday night's jersey/t-shirt giveaway has prompted a 48,000+ fan sellout) but acknowledged that compared to three years ago (right after the baseball strike when the Padres were lucky to draw 10,000 quiet fans) this was an excellent crowd. "It's really nice to see the whole city getting behind this ballclub. . ." said one fan in my section, " they really deserve it."
And, on this night they really did deserve it -- at least for a while. The Padres scored in the top of the first inning as Tony Gwynn singled home Ricky Henderson. The RBI tied Gwynn's career high for RBI's in a season with 90 (in only game #103) and the run elevated Henderson into sole posession of 8th place on the all-time runs scored list (one ahead of Tris Speaker). One of the New York media folks commented how disgusting it was that Henderson had surpassed the great Tris Speaker. The Padres tacked on another run in the second inning to take a 2-0 lead.
However, the activities on the field were not what occupied our attention for most of the evening At approximately 8:16pm Pacific Standard Time -- in between the top and bottom of the 4th inning -- a tremor from an earthquake shook the stadium (felt mostly by the press box and club level fans). We later learned that the earthquake, with a measure of 4.7 on the richter scale, was centered close to 90 miles East of San Diego. The game continued without a delay, but conversations shifted away from baseball and our focus became fixed on the construction of the stadium (and a debate over whether or not a section of the ballpark had indeed broken or if it came that way -- it was the latter).
The Mets scored one run in the top of the sixth inning (after some nifty baserunning and an error that I didn't quite understand) to pull within one run. The story of the night was pitching as Padres starter Andy Ashby pitched six strong innings giving up only one run and striking out seven -- a season high (he donated $100 to cancer research for each strike out as well) before handing the game over to the bullpen. The bullpen blew it giving up three runs in the top of the eighth (including one relinquished in a rundown when Carlos Baega was hit in the head with the ball). The Mets finished off the Padres in the ninth with little excitement, capturing their eighth win in nine games to elevate their record to 16 games over .500
I didn't spend any time in the stands on this evening -- choosing only to walk around the stadium while sitting in the press box to watch the game. To be perfectly honest, after the tremor, my heart was beating a little bit faster and my hands shaking more than usual. After two scoops of Haagen Dazs Ice Cream I finally began to calm down, but bad thoughts continued to race through my head. I am not a big fan of natural disasters (at least not the ones I am present for) and when I am traveling alone I find it more comforting to be sitting in the press box than trying to find someone in the stands to interact with.
My evening ended with a quiet drive around San Diego while I searched for a hotel near the airport. I wanted to stay where the visiting ballclubs stay but the prices were so high it seemed silly. I settled on a motel by the airport (which is almost centrally located to downtown) and called it an early night. It was a long day and one that I needed a good rest after.
This is Clarice, one of the customer service representatives at Qualcomm Stadium.
Qualcomm has one of the best customer service programs in baseball.
Here's a view of the field from the press box. This is the best I got since when
I visited my seats behind home plate I had forgotten my camera in the press box.
Here's Archie Cianfracco of the Padres playing around with one of the on-field cameras.
