SAN DIEGO — This place rules.
I know what you’re thinking: I’m saying that because I’m here right now, enjoying myself in the beautiful Southern California sunshine for All-Star Week and falling victim to the trappings of recency bias. But in fact, I am on record naming Petco Park my favorite in all of baseball during last year’s All-Star Week in Cincinnati. I’ve attended games in 28 of the 30 active MLB ballparks, plus seven big-league parks no longer in use.
I’ll allow that there’s some chance Marlins Park — one of the two I haven’t visited — might somehow prove more to my favor than Petco whenever I get myself there, either for next year’s All-Star Game or sometime sooner. I do like ostentatious home-run displays. The other park I’ve missed to date, Tropicana Field, seems unlikely to factor into any discussion of best ballparks.
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It’s not any one thing about Petco that makes it so enjoyable; it’s everything. Aesthetically, it’s spectacular, one of few contemporary parks that opted for a contemporary look over the nostalgic nonsense typical of too many stadiums. The spread-out concourses sort of weave their way around the seating sections, up and down levels and even under some hanging plant life. And the relative newness of the park means modern amenities, and plenty of bathrooms and beer stands.
And the smells! To walk a lap of Petco is to put your nose on a world-wide journey of incredible smells, smoking meat and simmering sausage and pungent garlic and salty ramen and freshly baked pizza. The food, needless to say, lives up to the billing set forth by the smells.
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The location: Also excellent. Downtown ballparks near bars and restaurants are obviously preferable to those out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by parking lots. But Petco isn’t just close to downtown, it’s woven right into the city: The pre-existing Western Metal Supply warehouse hosts luxury boxes and serves as the park’s left-field foul pole, and the berm out beyond center field exists as a public park whenever there’s no game.
Though it stands right up against San Diego Bay, Petco’s orientation means it can’t offer water views like those presented by the parks in Pittsburgh and San Francisco. But its proximity to the city’s tall buildings provides a fairly pleasing backdrop anyway.
(Gary A. Vasquez/USA TODAY Sports Images)
Add it all up, and Petco Park delivers the best all-around experience of any park I’ve attended. That means no disrespect to any other park — I know you’re defensive, baseball fans, and I’m sure whatever ballpark you call home is also very nice. I’m just telling you this one is nicer.
It’d certainly be a better place to watch regular-season contests if the Padres performed a bit better: The club has never won a postseason game here, has won only one postseason game total since the park opened in 2004, and has not won more than 77 regular-season games since 2010. But there are far worse places to watch lousy baseball.
