Tag: padres

Fun characters root for Padres at watch party!

Is that Fernando Tatís Jr. in my above photo?

The big crowd of fans gathered in Gallagher Square for today’s Padres watch party did their best. Closely watching the giant videoboard, they cheered their team, whirled rally towels, and some fans (and the Padres mascot Swinging Friar) excited the crowd as costumed characters. Alas, it wasn’t enough.

The Padres were eliminated this evening from the 2025 MLB Postseason. The Chicago Cubs took the Wild Card series, 2 games to 1. Ouch.

Our team: pitching good enough to win, but sketchy offense. Failure to make clutch hits. Like certain periods during the regular season.

It would’ve been a thousand times more fun if the Padres had won and advanced in the playoffs. The young kids running about and playing catch in Gallagher Square didn’t seem to mind, however. They were simply having a good time.

Of course, Dude Vader was present!

Two Manny Machados are better than one!

This awesome, masked lucha libre Padres fan brought his big swag chain!

I loved this Día de Muertos costumed Catrina!

Well, as they say, there’s always next year.

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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Photos of Padres Postseason watch party at Petco!

Padres win! Padres win!

The crowd in Petco Park’s Gallagher Square went nuts when the San Diego Padres recorded the final out in Game 2 of the MLB Wild Card Series against the Cubs in Chicago. When Manny Machado hit his 2 run homer, imagine how excited everyone was!

What awesome fans: waving rally towels, dancing between innings, tossing balls with excited kids, focusing on every pitch and swing on the big Gallagher Square videoboard.

What a great team win! The Padres pitchers in particular were practically unhittable.

There will be another Padres Postseason Watch Party tomorrow. At the time of my writing, the start time is undetermined. Proceeds from the five dollar tickets go to the Padres Foundation. Get your tickets online.

Win or lose, the San Diego Padres organization always provides a really good time.

Enjoy some fun pics taken before and during the big game…

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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As playoffs begin, downtown roots for Padres!

Hard to believe it’s almost October. Major League Baseball Postseason 2025 begins tomorrow!

The San Diego Padres will be playing in Chicago against the Cubs in their MLB Wild Card Series matchup. Our hometown team ended up with another 90 win season. Let’s go Pads!

I walked around the Gaslamp Quarter, Petco Park and East Village this afternoon, and found indications that small businesses, restaurants and many others in downtown are rooting for the Padres!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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Painting the Merrill Madness mural downtown!

San Diego artist Christopher Konecki was working on painting the new Merrill Madness mural in downtown this morning. The artwork will depict Padres baseball star Jackson Merrill, and will greet fans coming west down Market Street at Eighth Avenue.

The grassroots, fan-funded mural is a collaboration that includes the Merrill Madness Foundation and artist team Christopher Konecki (@konecki_art) and Carly Ealey (@carlyealey). Amazing murals by these artists appear throughout the city. You might recall how they painted two cool Padres murals in North Park. See those photos here and here.

Chris told me this is the fourth day of working on the Merrill Madness mural. It’s huge: four stories high! The mural should be done in a couple of weeks or so.

I’ll provide an update when the artwork is completed.

Looks like it’s gonna be awesome!

UPDATE!

Three days later, much progress has been made!

ANOTHER UPDATE!

And in another three days…

AND FOUR DAYS AFTER THAT…

ONE MORE UPDATE!

It was finally completed!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Star Wars photos outside Petco Park!

May the Force be with the San Diego Padres!

No doubt the Force will come into play, considering it’s Star Wars Day at Petco Park as the Padres face the Royals in a home day game.

Many fans were converging on the ballpark in downtown San Diego, and fun Star Wars shirts and costumes and signs could be spotted in the crowd.

I took photographs!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Negro Leagues baseball exhibit opens in San Diego!

An extraordinary exhibit concerning the history of baseball’s Negro Leagues officially opens tomorrow, April 15, 2025, in San Diego!

Extensive displays celebrating African-American baseball players who helped lead the way to a more integrated and tolerant society can now be enjoyed on the 8th Floor Reading Room of the Central Library. The exhibit is titled Barrier Breakers.

Visitors to the Central Library are in for a treat. The epic exhibition is brought to our city by the San Diego Padres and the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

There are biographies of athletes who competed in the Negro Leagues–complete with stats, accomplishments, photographs and memories. There are stories of how trailblazing players were eventually accepted by Major League Baseball. Different eras are represented, and key moments are remembered.

As one might expect, Jackie Robinson, the first African-American to play in Major League Baseball, has a special place in the exhibit. It’s no coincidence that tomorrow, the day Breaking Barriers opens, is Jackie Robinson Day. Jackie made history by starting at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947.

Another display celebrates the San Diego Padres’ own trailblazer, hometown hero catcher Johnny Ritchey. He made Pacific Coast League history when he joined the team in 1948. (He had seven hits in his first eleven plate appearances!)

Anyone who is a baseball, sports or history buff needs to check out Barrier Breakers. I just happened to swing by the Central Library today, and was super fortunate to observe a special preview presentation.

If you can’t make it to San Diego’s downtown Central Library, you can view an online virtual exhibit by clicking here.

Just a few photos…

During today’s special presentation, Bob Kendrick, President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, presented The Home Run for Humanity Award to worthy recipients in San Diego. Congrats to all!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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The new Padres mural in North Park!

Have you seen the new San Diego Padres mural in North Park? It appeared to have been completed yesterday when I swung by this morning to check it out.

It’s located at 2510 University Avenue on the Western Dental building. Sadly, the community had to raise money for this great mural to replace another Padres mural on University Avenue that had been defaced. You can see photos of that LFGSD mural before it was vandalized by clicking here.

The same artists painted this new, much larger mural: muralists Carly Ealey (@carlyealey) and Christopher Konecki (@konecki_art).

Looks awesome!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Fun photos of 2025 East Village Block Party!

This morning, before the East Village Block Party officially began, I walked down J Street just north of Petco Park and checked out a bunch of very cool lowrider cars. You can see those photographs by clicking here.

I returned to the block party in the mid-afternoon as it was in full swing!

The huge crowd wasn’t surprising. The San Diego Padres seem more popular than ever. The East Village Block Party celebrates the beginning of a promising 2025 baseball season.

Enjoy some fun photos!

Mariachi Internacional was performing on the stage at the east end of the block party. As you’ll see, they’d later walk down J Street playing their instruments with big smiles.

The pitching game must be tough. I didn’t see a single person succeed.

Lots of Padres fans had their pets along…

Cody Carter and Quartet were performing country music live on another block party stage.

A fun street performer makes passersby smile…

People (mostly kids) were trying their hand at climbing…

A street artist who said his name is James created this cool graffiti East Village art. A dog with a swag chain gets ready for a photo in front of it!

A sign explains how fans helped to replace a vandalized Padres mural in North Park. (You can see the mural that was replaced here.)

Here come the mariachis!

Will the Padres make the MLB Postseason again in 2025? We hope so!

Firefighters at San Diego Fire Station No. 4 give my camera a thumbs up!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

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Cool lowriders at the East Village Block Party!

Very cool lowriders are a big attraction at today’s East Village Block Party in downtown San Diego. As I walked along J Street between Sixth and Tenth Avenues, a few minutes before the event officially began, I took these photos. I was surprised at the number of cars participating this year. Check them out!

The 2025 East Village Block Party is being held one block north of Petco Park and celebrates the opening of the new baseball season. (The San Diego Padres are 2-0 and looking good so far!) The event is today, March 29, 2025, from 10:00 am to 4:30 pm.

When I walked through the outdoor party, several late arriving vendors were still setting up tables and the entertainment hadn’t begun. I’ve thrown in a few miscellaneous photos, as well, so you get the general vibe!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!

Photos around Petco Park on 2025 Opening Day!

The San Diego Padres are playing the Atlanta Braves at Petco Park this 2025 Opening Day. As I type these words, the score is 4-3.

Before the game, I walked around Petco Park and through East Village and the Gaslamp Quarter breathing in the exciting atmosphere.

Padres baseball jerseys, shirts and hats everywhere. The media on the scene. A huge crowd entering the ballpark. Many smiles and thumbs up. Just before the start of the big game, a flyover of military helicopters…

Enjoy a variety of photographs!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X.

Feel free to share!