Yankees fans hang out near Petco Park during Game One of the American League Division Series between New York and Tampa Bay.
I walked around Petco Park early this evening as the big playoff series between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays was getting underway. This highly-anticipated match-up of two great American League Division Series teams is taking place in San Diego due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the necessity for players to stay in a safe bubble.
I noticed fans of both the Yankees and Rays had gathered near the ballpark. Some of the fans were trying to peer into Petco Park to watch a little of the action–either live on the field or via the huge video boards. Others were watching the televised game at nearby bars and restaurants. I must say the majority of fans I noticed were rooting for New York. I did see a few Tampa Bay fans, but they were all inside one eatery beyond the reach of my camera…
I noticed these guys with video equipment trying to capture some of the mood outside Petco Park. From here all you can see of the game is one large video board.
As you can see, some New York Yankees fans walking about would give me a thumbs up!
That crack in the fence beside Gallagher Square is the one place I know of where you can actually see action on the field. You can barely glimpse the tops of heads in the bullpen, part of the pitching mound area, and part of the home team’s dugout!
If you walk around Petco Park on its east side, you can see part of the main video board. When I snapped this photo, Tampa Bay was up to bat!
Another New York thumbs up!
Padres and Yankees fans watch Monday’s televised postseason game at tables out on an East Village sidewalk.
Can you believe it? These guys had just read a Cool San Diego Sights blog post on their phone moments before I spoke to them! Looks to me like they’re having a good time!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
The Padres faithful have converged around Petco Park for the second game of the playoffs–a Wild Card game versus the St. Louis Cardinals!
I watched part of the game late this afternoon from a spot beside Gallagher Square. When I walked home through East Village and the Gaslamp, I saw many people at bars and restaurants watching the game.
As I write this, the Pads have come back by scoring 5 runs, making it 7-6, giving us the lead! Fernando Tatís Jr. contributed with a huge 3 run homer. Will we win?
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
It’s been an unusual year in Major League Baseball. A shortened season and unusual rules because of the COVID-19 pandemic . . . and the San Diego Padres are in the playoffs! For the first time since 2006! And the Friars are widely considered one of the favorite, most exciting teams, too!
Restaurants, bars and shops in downtown San Diego have begun to put out signs, banners and merchandise in anticipation of the first playoff series against the St. Louis Cardinals, which begins at Petco Park with Game 1 tomorrow afternoon. And I noticed Padres employees and team players are getting ready at the ballpark, too!
I walked around Petco Park and the Gaslamp Quarter this afternoon to see what I might see. Check it out!
Big video screens have been erected in the Lexus Premier Lot next to Petco Park. Fans who’ve purchased special Padres Postseason Watch Party tickets will be able to enjoy playoff games together from the safety of their cars.
I noticed a couple of buses were parked next to Petco Park where visiting teams arrive.
Padres employees round a corner of Petco Park in San Diego’s East Village getting everything ready for the start of the MLB postseason.
Fans were enjoying a nice afternoon at Gallagher Square, watching Padres batting practice from a distance.
National League Wild Card graphic splashed on the video screen that faces Gallagher Square.
A photographer captures images of the Padres during batting practice.
My small camera caught a pitch on the way, with the batter ready to swing!
Banner on high balcony overlooking Petco Park’s outfield proclaims: Let’s Go Padres.
Bub’s At The Ballpark has several banners out. Go Padres!
UNION Kitchen & Tap Gaslamp has a SLAMDIEGO Special: The Padre Burger with a pint of Ballast Point Friar Ale!
Several shops in the Gaslamp have Padres apparel out on display.
Another example!
Okay, here’s something really cool. I’d left the Gaslamp and was walking up Sixth Avenue toward home when I noticed the door of Centre City Sports Collectibles was open. So I stepped inside.
Wow! My eyes almost popped out of my head! If you’re a sports collector or enthusiast and you haven’t checked this place out, you need to pay a visit! The place is jammed floor to ceiling with so many collectibles that I don’t know how Henry, the proprietor, keeps track of it all. And by the way, he’s a really nice guy!
He called the stacks and stacks of stuff in every direction a mess, but I’m not sure why. The place is like sports fan heaven!
He let me take a few photos…
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Some irritable crabs were facing off all around a watery square arena at the Ocean Beach tide pools yesterday.
Crabs small and smaller, feeling agitated, would lift their claws threateningly, scamper right up to a rival, show ’em who’s boss, then, seeming to forget everything, would bumble off in a different direction.
I can’t say there was too much actual grappling. Just a lot of showboating.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
I couldn’t believe how many surfers were out in the water on Saturday afternoon. I watched the action from the OB Pier and strove to get a few decent shots with my little camera.
So many people were paddling out, bobbing on their surfboards and catching waves that the action was frequent and entertaining! Sometimes multiple surfers would wipe out simultaneously, and boards and bodies would be flying every which way!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
San Diego’s beloved Torrey Pines Golf Course is one of the most beautiful and famous golf courses in the world. It has a history of great competitions between the world’s top professional golfers.
Last weekend I walked a little around Torrey Pines Golf Course and took photos of outdoor plaques that honor notable past champions.
Plaques along one side of a practice putting green at Torrey Pines Golf Course.
The Century Club WALK OF FAME.
Arnold Palmer, San Diego Open Champion 1957, 1961.
Billy Casper, San Diego Open Champion 1966.
Gene Littler, San Diego Open Champion 1954.
Tom Watson, San Diego Open Champion 1977, 1980.
Craig Stadler, Buick Invitational Champion 1994.
Jack Nicklaus, San Diego Open Champion 1969.
Scott Simpson, Buick Invitational Champion 1998.
Gary Player, Buick Invitational Champion 1963.
108th United States Open Championship, June 12-16, 2008. Champion Tiger Woods.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
Another excellent sculpture by Encinitas-based artists T.J. Dixon and James Nelson can be seen beside the entrance to the San Diego Yacht Club in Point Loma. The public artwork, created in collaboration with Brian Thomas of Thomas Marine, is titled Future Champion. It was dedicated in 2010.
A bronze young sailor, wearing sunglasses, appears to be piloting a sailboat in solo competition. It’s a fantastic sculpture that really captures the essence of being out on the water, one hand holding the rudder while eyes carefully watch the wind in the sails.
The artists’ work includes another similar sculpture I recently blogged about–the sailor high on a mast holding a spyglass in front of the Silver Gate Yacht Club. See that great sculpture here!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
San Diego Padres hero Tony Gwynn. This fantastic street art is not far from Petco Park.
San Diego loves Tony Gwynn. Look at his face as depicted in this recently painted street art and you can sense why. It’s all in his smile. He was a friend to everybody. He was simply a great human being.
And, of course, Mr. Padre was one of the best Major League Baseball hitters of all time!
I spotted this amazing electrical box today while walking near the intersection of Park Boulevard and Market Street in East Village. It stands near another box painted with legendary musicians. I shared those photographs in my previous blog post.
The artist’s signature is identical on both boxes, but I’m not a hundred percent sure who it might be. If you know, leave a comment!
Remember these two things–play hard and have fun. Tony Gwynn.
If you work hard, good things will happen. Tony Gwynn.
The smiling face of Tony Gwynn, a Hall of Fame baseball legend.
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
During this shortened coronavirus pandemic baseball season, is it possible to actually watch a Padres game at Petco Park? Assuming you aren’t positioned in one of the nearby high-rise buildings? Well, sort of…
Today after work I headed to Petco Park, knowing a Padres afternoon game would be in progress. I was curious to see whether anything interesting was going on at the ballpark–if there was anything to see at all. The Padres and other Major League Baseball teams have taken many steps to protect the public and their staff from the highly contagious COVID-19 virus.
I did see the Arizona Diamondbacks buses parked outside. I did hear the distant announcer vaguely calling plays, music playing between at-bats and innings, and recorded cheering.
When I walked around to Social Tap and the nearby entrance of Gallagher Square (which used to be called Park at the Park), I noticed some fans were hanging out behind the fence bordering the kids’ small ball field.
I joined them.
We could see the video screen that faces Gallagher Square, and one of Petco Park’s faraway scoreboards. We could clearly hear the game–as one would hear it on television, without the play-by-play or commentary. Through a teeny tiny gap in the fence it was possible to see the tops of the heads of visiting bullpen pitchers, the pitcher’s mound and a little tiny bit of the home dugout. But you really couldn’t tell what was going on.
What was fun was the idea that I was actually at the ballpark, with a few other devoted fans!
I happened to walk up as the Padres were trailing the Diamondbacks 1-2. Right after I arrived, a huge rally began and the Padres were soon leading 6-2. Everyone cheered.
Even though nobody heard the few of us.
The Pads won!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
Cecelia Linayao and a team of artists create Padres baseball chalk art in the Gaslamp Quarter during the first weekend of the 2020 season.
Even as I post these photos, chalk art that celebrates the start of the Padres 2020 season is being created in the Gaslamp Quarter!
I walked down Fifth Avenue about an hour ago and admired four chalk murals that are the work of San Diego artist Cecelia Linayao and her team of friendly helpers!
The Padres are 1-0 so far and play their second game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at nearby Petco Park this evening. But fans can’t attend. It’s the year of the coronavirus pandemic.
Go Pads and stay healthy!
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I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!
You can easily explore Cool San Diego Sights by using the search box on my blog’s sidebar. Or click a tag! There are thousands upon thousands of photos for you to enjoy!
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