Petco Park is a baseball stadium located in San Diego, California. It is the home field of the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB).
The ballpark opened in 2004 to replace Qualcomm Stadium, which the Padres shared with the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League (NFL).
Petco Park is named after the pet food company Petco, which is based in San Diego and is a major sponsor of the Padres. The park is located downtown, adjacent to the San Diego Convention Center. The stadium is also adjacent to Interstate 5.
The ballpark was constructed using public funds from a hotel tax increase and from private investments by the Padres organization. The total cost of construction was $458 million.
The park has a natural grass playing surface and seats 42,445 fans for baseball games. The park dimensions are as follows: left field – 330 feet (100 m), center field – 395 feet (120 m), right field – 320 feet (98 m), and foul territory – very large.
Some unique features of Petco Park include a roof over most of the seats in left and right field, which protects fans from the sun and gives them shade during day games; a “Park at the Park” area beyond center field where fans can watch games for free; and a section of seats in right-center field that are colored blue, representing the ocean.
Why is Petco Park a pitchers park?
Petco Park is often referred to as a “pitchers park” because it is seen as being more favorable to pitchers than hitters. This is due to several factors, including the large size of foul territory, the deep dimensions of the outfield, and the fact that there is a roof over much of the seating area which can keep balls hit into it from being home runs.
