Explore Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres
Welcome to Petco Park, where the left-field foul pole is a historic landmark that isn’t a pole at all -- but rather the corner of a 115-year-old industrial building. The center-field batters’ eye doubles as a concert stage on its opposite side. The Tony Gwynn statue watches over the ballpark from -- where else? -- beyond right field. And the downtown San Diego skyline is practically woven into the ballpark itself. Here’s what you need to know:
San Diego Padres
Established: 1969
National League West
Ballpark: Petco Park (opened 2004)
The Padres began construction on Petco Park in 2000, as part of a plan to revitalize the East Village neighborhood in San Diego -- and did that plan ever come to fruition. The big leagues are full of stadiums that capture the heartbeat of the city itself. But perhaps none more so than the jewel of a ballpark in San Diego.
Located on the corner of Trevor Hoffman Way and Tony Gwynn Drive, Petco Park might as well be the city center. The sprawling steps beyond the home-plate gate are lined with palm trees and adorned with the signature “Petco Park” sign high above.
Beyond the outfield is Gallagher Square, a park open to the public on non-gamedays (and early on gamedays as well). Surrounding the ballpark on a nightly basis is the booming, buzzing Gaslamp District, full of restaurants and other attractions. Zoom out further, and the ballpark is flanked by Coronado Island to the south, the San Diego Bay to the west, dozens of beautiful beaches to the north and plenty of sights and attractions to the east.
At the center of it all, one of the finest ballparks in America.
Petco Park
Ballpark location (via Google Maps)
Padres Schedule
Padres Roster
19 Tony Gwynn Dr.
San Diego, CA 92101
Capacity: 39,860 fixed seats, plus ADA accessible seating and additional standing room locations throughout the ballpark, and lawn seating in Gallagher Square
Dimensions: left-field line, 336 feet; left-center, 386 feet; center field, 396 feet; right-center, 391 feet; right-field line, 322 feet
Park Factors (2024)
100 = league average
Runs: 92 | Homers: 104 | Hits: 96
Unique Characteristics
• The Western Metal Supply Co. Building: Built in 1909, the four-story brick structure set the baseline for the construction of the entire stadium. The historic 51,400 square-foot warehouse once housed San Diego's Western Metal Supply Co. and was declared a historic landmark by the city in 1978. When the Padres began to lay out their new East Village ballpark, they began in left field -- where the building would loom large over the field of play, 336 feet from home plate.
In one of the stadium’s unique quirks, there is no foul pole in left field. The southeast corner of the building does the trick. Any ball that hits the eastern wall is a home run. Any ball that hits the southern wall is ruled foul. The painted yellow line that graces the corner? For show.
• Gallagher Square and Tony Gwynn Terrace: A sloping grass park situated beyond the outfield, Gallagher Square is often the spot for pregame buzz. For the ballpark’s 20th anniversary, the Padres invested heavily in a renovation of the public park. The renovations proved pristine. The statue of Tony Gwynn was moved to what’s known as the “Tony Gwynn terrace” featuring an in-depth exhibit on the career and life of the legendary Mr. Padre.
The square still features a miniature wiffle ball field for kids to play on. It also features the Sycuan Stage, directly behind the center-field batters’ eye, which hosts concerts in the area. During games, Gallagher square fills up, with sightlines to the field through right-center field, as well as a broadcast of the game on the Sycuan Stage.
On non-gamedays, Gallagher square reverts to a park that is open to the public, and it often hosts other events, like concerts or the Holiday Market.
• “The Beach”: Located just beyond the right-center-field fence, the beach area once featured legitimate sand and a play area for kids. Now, known as the Toyota Beach, the area takes on a beach theme, with a standing-room deck flanked by palm trees.
• The Petco Porch: Regularly one of the hardest stadiums to hit home runs, because of the notorious marine layer over the ballpark, Petco Park does have one hitter-friendly characteristic. The right-field foul pole sits next to a group of seats that juts toward the infield, before the fence veers outward into the spacious right-center-field gap. Down the right-field line at Petco Park is only 322 feet.
• The Trevor Hoffman statue and the Padres Hall of Fame: The Padres have long enshrined franchise icons in their Hall of Fame, but the Padres Hall of Fame itself opened in 2016. Beyond the left-field seats, the exhibit features countless bits of San Diego baseball history, dating back long before the Padres were a big league club. (They’d spent more than three decades in the Pacific Coast League, featuring players like Ted Williams and Minnie Minoso.)
Two years after the team’s Hall opened, Hoffman was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and his statue was unveiled at the plaza outside the team’s Hall of Fame. For fans of Padres history -- and, really, baseball history -- this wing of the ballpark is can’t-miss.
• The Jerry Coleman statue: Beloved Padres broadcaster Jerry Coleman was a Marine Corps pilot in World War II and the Korean War long before his four-decade tenure as an announcer in San Diego. A one-time second baseman with the Yankees in the 1950s, Coleman is not depicted in baseball garb but rather in the uniform he wore as a pilot. The statue is located at Petco Park's east entrance, with images of Coleman's life dotting the wall behind it. Those images fall into three categories -- "The Marine," "The Teammate" and "The Voice."
Other Entertainment
In more than two decades since it opened, Petco Park has become so much more than just a baseball stadium.
• It has held full stadium concerts for the likes of Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, the Rolling Stones, Billy Joel and Sting, among others.
• The Sycuan Stage at Gallagher Square beyond center field regularly hosts smaller-sized concerts.
• The ballpark has also hosted numerous other sporting events, including the Holiday Bowl from 2021-23, the Davis Cup in tennis in 2014, a college basketball game between San Diego State and the University of San Diego in 2015.
• Petco Park hosted the inaugural San Diego rodeo in 2024 and will continue to do so, hosting again in January ’25.
• Each December, Petco Park hosts the Holiday Market, featuring Christmas lighting displays, live reindeer and other festive holiday-themed stations and events.
History
• The construction of Petco Park was formally approved in a vote on Nov. 3, 1998, in which 59.5 percent of San Diegans approved the plan. Shortly thereafter, the team and the city broke ground on the new ballpark, which was initially scheduled to open in 2002, but eventually opened two seasons later to much fanfare.
• The first game in the ballpark’s history -- well, the first big league game, at least -- took place on April 8, 2004. The Padres walked off the Giants in 10 innings on Sean Burroughs’ single. But the first baseball game had been staged there four weeks prior, between San Diego State and Houston. The Aztecs, at the time, were coached by legendary Padre Tony Gwynn.
• In 2006, ’09 and ’17, Petco Park played host to the World Baseball Classic -- including one of the signature moments in the event’s history. In a 2017 elimination game between U.S.A. and the Dominican Republic, Adam Jones leapt to rob Manny Machado of a home run, reaching into The Beach area in right-center field.
• Among the other notable moments in the ballpark’s history: the Padres played there first postseason game at Petco Park in 2005; Barry Bonds tied Hank Aaron’s record with his 755th home run in 2007; the ballpark hosted the All-Star Game in 2016; the ballpark played host to two rounds of the 2020 postseason -- the ALDS and ALCS -- serving as a bubble, amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In the ballpark’s history, only four games have ever been rained out, the most recent of which came on Aug. 20, 2023, when Tropical Storm Hilary forced the Padres to move their scheduled game against the D-backs ahead by a day for a doubleheader. The stadium has also seen only 10 delays in its history -- two of which were due to bees.
Concessions
Petco Park is renowned for its sprawling concourses and a plethora of food and drink options -- nearly all of them local. A few highlights:
• Fish tacos, naturally, are a San Diego staple, and both Puesto and Blue Water Seafood have stands throughout the ballpark.
• Seaside Market is a marketplace with numerous food options and several stands at the ballpark – try their famous Tri-Tip Nachos.
• Hodads, a famed local burger place, has multiple locations at Petco Park.
• Board & Brew’s sandwiches are a San Diego staple.
• For the full list of concessions, click here.
Where to stay
With the San Diego Convention Center across the street, there are countless hotels in the area around Petco Park. Among the closest in proximity are:
• The Omni San Diego (which connects to the stadium)
• The Hilton San Diego Bayfront
• The Hilton San Diego Gaslamp Quarter
•The San Diego Gaslamp Marriott
Additionally, there are many hotels outside of the Gaslamp Quarter which are still in close proximity to the ballpark. There are also hotels in nearby Little Italy. Slightly outside of the downtown area, there are numerous hotels to be found in Old Town San Diego, as well as Mission Valley (which boasts what is known as “Hotel Circle”)
Local attractions
In no uncertain terms, San Diego is a baseball city. But there is (obviously) plenty to do outside of catching a ballgame. A few options:
• The San Diego Zoo is routinely rated as one of the world’s best zoos.
• Balboa Park fancies itself as “San Diego’s ever-changing, always amazing, 12,000-acre backyard,” featuring museums, gardens and other attractions.
• The USS Midway Museum sits walking distance from Petco Park -- aboard the USS Midway itself, the longest serving aircraft carrier of the 20th century.
• The Historic Gaslamp District sits next to Petco Park, full of dining, shopping, night life and live music.
• Coronado Island is a short drive away, featuring the famed Hotel Del Coronado.
Plus, so much more -- from the region’s many beaches to its thriving inland neighborhoods. San Diego is a city worth exploring thoroughly -- and Petco Park sits right at the heart of that city.