From Ballpark Roadtrip
lumpy's notes: fish tacos, naked bar guy, sponge bill no pants, scalper desert
Qualcomm Stadium
San Diego, CA
St. Louis Cardinals @ San Diego Padres
July 22, 2003
The Road Trip
Statue of Jack Murphy and his dog
We woke up in L.A. at a decent hour and hit the road for San Diego. We wanted to check in at the hotel and then hit the supermarket for food and charcoal. We try to tailgate once per trip and the night game in SD coupled with a short drive from L.A. made for a perfect opportuinty. Although we only had a 60 mile or so drive ahead of us, we knew that traffic would be bad, and sure enough, it was. We
got into San Diego around 2PM, and had a room through Priceline at a Hampton Inn very close to the stadium. We checked in, hit the supermarket and were off to Qualcomm (aka Jack Murphy Stadium).
The Stadium
We were certain that scalping tickets here would be no problem. We figured that we would just hang out and tailgate, then closer to gametime, go find some Mijos on the corner selling tickets. Well, the first sign of a problem was the stadium and parking lot was set back pretty far from the road, much like in L.A. We hoped that some scalpers would come strolling through the lot but even as cars started streaming in...no scalpers. Finally, Lumpy and Mike decided to venture forth in pursuit of tickets. First out to the main road looking for a "scalpers row" type of place - no luck. From this spot we could see about 75% of the stadium grounds and no scalpers to be seen. They decided to ask the guy directing traffic where the scalpers hung out and his reply was, "I don't know nuthin' 'bout that. But if I did, I'd say check the train
Our chance to steak the field
station behind the stadium." The only spot out of view! So they headed around the back of the stadium. At one point they went by an open door leading straight to the field. Very tempting, but there was work to be done. One glance at the train station revealed that we had met our match. At least 4 San Diego cops in
uniform who appeared as though they were...well, looking for scalpers. What's the big deal here?!?! Is SD really into that squeaky clean image? This is the first stadium we've encountered where there were no scalpers. There are many stadiums where no-scalping laws are enforced, but none where such enforcement results in no scalpers. They must deport you to Mexico if you get caught. Lumpy and Mike made their way back to the tailgate disappointed and empty handed. We had to resort to the ticket window where they had mediocre seats for high prices, too rich for our blood. We ended up sitting on the rail in the upper deck for $10. Probably would have been a better seat for a Chargers game. Also during our cruise for scalpers we came across the rudimentary pyro setup in the parking lot, assumedly for the home runs that would never materialize in this game. You can also see the section of football stands they moved out into the parking lot.
Tailgating before the game
The only aspect of this stadium we were looking forward to was the location. San Diego is beautiful and the weather is great year round so at least we would have that on our side before bidding farewell to another donut stadium that will only survive thanks to football. In the end, we were pleasantly surprised with Qualcomm which we would much rather refer to as Jack Murphy. When we read the website info about tailgating, it claimed that it was allowed in certain spots on certain days
during certain phases of the moon, etc. so we were a little skeptical showing up with all of our stuff. We just followed signs to the main lot, paid our fee, drove in, and parked in the most convenient spot. People were already set up grilling and we were not harassed when we busted out the Wiffle ball/bat and football. They even have conveniently located bins specifically for your used charcoal. Baseball should learn something from football. Wake up people! there were no rent-a-cops in golf carts like L.A. to prevent us from throwing a ball around. We had a blast cooking up food, drinking beers, playing music, and horsing around. Unfortunately, this opportunity is becoming a rarity in baseball.
It's a big stadium so the parking lot is huge. There is a nice train station on the backside for easy commuting that looks more like a monorail station at Disneyland. As a matter of fact, San Diego has a bit of a Disney feel about it, clean and safe. Also near the train station there is a statue of Jack Murphy and his pup.
As nice as this place is, it's still baseball in a football stadium. As we enetered we walked up a spiral ramp to get to the upper deck; it seemed to go on forever, or maybe we're just getting really lazy.
The Game
Signature menu item: fish taco
The player formerly known as Rob Beck
Every park has a "superfan"
