Petco Park

Petco Park under construction in 2001.

The ballpark was constructed by San Diego Ballpark Builders, a partnership with Clark Construction, ROEL Construction and Douglas E. Barnhart, Inc. The construction cost of more than $450 million was partially funded by a Public-private partnership which included the Center City Development Corporation and the San Diego Redevelopment Agency. The stadium was intended to be part of a comprehensive plan to revitalize San Diego's aging downtown, particularly the East Village area.[16] The stadium is across Harbor Drive from the San Diego Convention Center, and its main entrance behind home plate is two blocks from the downtown terminal of the San Diego Trolley light rail system. When the field was finished, the first home plate was placed by young San Diego native Marlon Cook, who was selected through the Boys & Girls Club of Memorial Park for his exceptional community involvement.

The ballpark was scheduled to open for the 2002 season; however, construction was suspended temporarily for legal and political reasons. Part of this was a court decision, which nullified an already passed ballot proposition (approving the city's portion of the stadium financing package), and required the proposition be put to voters a second time. Construction encountered a further delay regarding the Western Metal Supply Co. building, which was a historic landmark. After negotiations with the preservation community, the builders agreed to rehabilitate the building in accordance with The Secretary of the Interior's Standards, and the building was renovated and included in the stadium design in an example of adaptive reuse.[17]

The resulting delays required the Padres to play the 2002 and 2003 seasons at Jack Murphy/Qualcomm Stadium.

The first baseball game played at Petco Park, March 11, 2004, was part of a four-team NCAA invitational tournament hosted by San Diego State University. The San Diego State Aztecs baseball team, of which retired Padres player Tony Gwynn was the head coach, defeated Houston. It was the largest attended game in college baseball history.[18] Lance Zawadzki recorded the first hit, when he hit a double.

On April 8, 2004, there was lighthearted pushing and shoving before the gates opened about 4 p.m., as numerous Padres faithful tried to be the first to enter Petco Park. Brent Walker, 17, had a distinction all to himself. "I'm very proud to be the first fan to come in", said Walker, who was wearing a San Francisco Giants jersey. The San Diego Padres played their first regular season game and defeated the San Francisco Giants 4-3 in 10 innings.[19]

On April 15, 2004, Mark Loretta hit the first Padre home run off of Hideo Nomo of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was caught by Mike Hill, a bartender at the Kansas City Barbecue.

Petco Park right field scoreboard

The stadium's first playoff game came October 8, 2005. The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Padres, 7-4, to finish off the three-game sweep of the 2005 NLDS.

On March 18 and 20, 2006, the ballpark hosted the semifinals and finals of the first World Baseball Classic. It also hosted second-round games of the 2009 World Baseball Classic.

On April 4, 2006, Petco Park had its first rainout, postponing a Padres evening game against the San Francisco Giants.[20]

On August 4, 2007, Barry Bonds hit his 755th home run to tie Hank Aaron's record.

On April 17, 2008, the Padres and Rockies played in a 22-inning game, the longest game in Petco Park history. The Rockies won the game, 2-1. It was the longest MLB game in nearly 15 years.

On July 2, 2009, MLB experienced the first game delayed/halted by a swarm of bees at Petco Park in a game between the Padres and the Houston Astros. A small swarm of honeybees took up residence around a chair in left field, causing the game to be delayed by 52 minutes. A beekeeper was called in and the swarm was exterminated.[21] The Astros went on to win that game, 7-2.[22]

On June 14, 2010, during a Toronto Blue Jays vs. San Diego Padres game, there was a magnitude-5.7 earthquake, which was centered about 85 miles (137 km) east of San Diego. Play stopped momentarily in the eighth inning.[23] The Blue Jays went on to win 6-3.

Rain delays led to the suspension of the Padres' game with the Los Angeles Dodgers on April 8, 2011. The first delay caused the game to start 28 minutes late. Play then was stopped for more than 90 minutes in the second inning and again in the sixth inning for more than hour. The score was tied at 2-2 in the top of the ninth inning when play was suspended at 1:40 a.m. PDT April 9. After a fourth rain delay, the game was finished April 9, with the Dodgers winning in 11 innings, 4-2.[24]

On April 30, 2012, Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Ryan Braun became the first player to hit three home runs in one game at the park. Braun finished the game 4-5 with three home runs and a triple.[25]

On July 13, 2013, Tim Lincecum threw the park's first no-hitter, for the visiting San Francisco Giants as they defeated the Padres, 9-0.

The park hosted the 2016 Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

In February 2007, Petco Park became the new host of the USA Sevens, a rugby union sevens event within the IRB Sevens World Series. Previous editions of the USA Sevens had been held at The Home Depot Center in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson. After the 2009 edition, the event moved to Las Vegas.

From January 31 through February 2 in 2014, Petco Park's left-center field temporarily was converted into a red clay tennis court for the Davis Cup tie between United States and Great Britain.[26][27]

In January 2015, Petco Park hosted rounds of Monster Jam and AMA Supercross Championship, as a replacement for Qualcomm Stadium.[28][29]

Since 2015, Petco Park has partnered with Callaway Golf Company to open a par-3 nine-hole golf course within the stadium the first week of each November.[30] The holes are built within the outfield while many of the tees are in the upper decks of the stadium.

On December 7, 2015, Petco Park hosted its first college basketball game between the San Diego Toreros and the San Diego State Aztecs as part of the Bill Walton Basketball Festival held in San Diego.[31]

On January 25, 2017, following the relocation of the Chargers NFL franchise to Los Angeles, it was announced that exploratory discussions were taking place regarding the possibility of playing the Holiday Bowl at Petco Park in future years.

Petco Park is considered a future venue for both AHL Outdoor Classic and NHL Winter Classic. As they are both under the same ownership, it is possible that the San Diego Gulls would play the Outdoor Classic on New Year's Eve with the Anaheim Ducks playing the Winter Classic on New Year's Day. If awarded the Winter Classic, the Ducks would invite teams such as the San Jose Sharks, Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche or Dallas Stars to be their opponent.

Season 11 auditions for the singing reality-television program American Idol were held Friday, July 8, 2011, at Petco Park.[36]

American Idol auditions at Petco Park, July 8, 2011

In 2011, the Food Network filmed a "Chairman's Challenge" at Petco Park that was to air as part of Season 4, episode 2 of The Next Iron Chef.

During stadium construction, the Padres offered fans the chance to purchase bricks outside of the concourse and to dedicate them. PETA tried to purchase a brick to protest Petco's treatment of animals (PETA and Petco have a long-standing dispute over this matter), but the first two attempts were denied. Undeterred, PETA succeeded on its third attempt by purchasing a brick, which read "Break Open Your Cold Ones Toast The Padres Enjoy This Champion Organization." When one reads the first letter of each word, it forms an acrostic which reads "BOYCOTT PETCO." The Padres decided to leave the brick, saying not enough people walking by would notice the secret meaning.[37]

Due to a lack of space in the Convention Center, Comic-Con International and other companies associated with entertainment have been allowed to host activities in Petco Park.[38]

Petco Park has been described as being an "extreme pitcher's park". During the 2005–06 offseason, Padres CEO Sandy Alderson adjusted the dimensions in right-center field in an attempt to make it more hitter friendly.[47] At the end of the 2008 season, Petco Park ranked 29th in hits and 30th out of 30 in home runs per Major League ballpark.[48][49]

Following the conclusion of the 2012 season, the Padres announced that they were moving the fences in to make this ballpark more favorable to hitters than it had been previously. The left-center field wall was moved in from 402 feet (123 m) to 390 feet (120 m), the right-center field wall was moved from 411 feet (125 m) to 391 feet (119 m), and the right field wall was moved in from 360 feet (110 m) to 349 feet (106 m). In addition, the visiting team bullpen was moved from foul territory in right field to behind the left-center field wall, right behind where the Padres bullpen is. The right field wall was also lowered from 11 feet (3.4 m) to 8 feet (2.4 m), and the out-of-town scoreboard was relocated.[50]

After the conclusion of the 2014 season, more renovations to the park commenced. These include a new HD video board, slight changes to the distance to the left-field fence, and removal of some seats in the middle deck (which were replaced with standing-room seating). The alterations, including the new video board, were completed by Opening Day 2015.[51]