Location in California Location in the United States | |
Address | Friars Road at State Route 163 San Diego, California US |
---|---|
Coordinates | 32°46′9″N117°9′48″W / 32.76917°N 117.16333°W |
Owner | C. Arnholt Smith |
Capacity | 8,268 |
Record attendance | 15,154 |
Construction | |
Opened | April 28, 1958 |
Closed | 1967 |
Demolished | 1969 |
Construction cost | $1 million |
Tenants | |
San Diego Padres (PCL) 1958–1967 |
Westgate Park was a ballpark in San Diego, California. It was the home of the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1958 to 1967. The ballpark was located in the largely undeveloped Mission Valley region of San Diego. The location was on Friars Road at US Route 395 (now State Route 163), in the northeast corner of what is now Fashion Valley Mall. [1]
Westgate was built to replace the deteriorating Lane Field, where the minor-league Padres had played since 1936. Constructed for $1 million in private funds by Padres owner C. Arnholt Smith, Westgate was a modern ballpark with a capacity of 8,268 fans, with an eye to be expanded to major league size (up to 40,000) if necessary. [2]
In 1958 when it opened, "Not even Yankee Stadium or Boston's Fenway Park can surpass the comforts and conveniences of the Padres' new home. ... This is a real ballpark, built for the game of baseball, a ballpark in which the city of San Diego can take great pride." [3] It was named for the Westgate-California Tuna Packing Corporation. [4]
The first Padres games played in Westgate were on April 28, 1958, a day-night doubleheader versus the Phoenix Giants. [2] Actor William Powell threw out the first pitch. [5] San Diego won the first game, 5-3, and the second, 3-1. The afternoon game attracted 4,619 fans, while the nightcap attracted 7,129 fans. [2]
The American Football League's San Diego Chargers demanded a new stadium to replace Balboa Stadium, a structure dating from about 1915. With major league baseball soon to arrive, the city decided to build a single, multi-purpose stadium for both baseball and football. The new facility was initially called San Diego Stadium. This ended the possibility of expansion for Westgate.
The minor league Padres played the 1968 season in the new stadium, knowing they were a lame duck, with the major league San Diego Padres set to begin play the next year. Plans for Fashion Valley Mall were unveiled in December 1967, and Westgate was razed by 1969 to make room.
The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The team plays its home games at Petco Park in downtown San Diego. Founded in 1969 as an expansion franchise, the Padres adopted their name from the Pacific Coast League (PCL) team that arrived in San Diego in 1936. The team's name, Spanish for "fathers", refers to the Spanish Franciscan friars who founded Mission San Diego in 1769.
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San Diego Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in San Diego, California. Opened in 1967 as San Diego Stadium; it was renamed Jack Murphy Stadium for sportswriter Jack Murphy from 1981 to 1997. From 1997 to 2017, the stadium's naming rights were owned by Qualcomm; it was known as Qualcomm Stadium. The naming rights expired on June 14, 2017, and were purchased by San Diego County Credit Union, renaming the stadium to SDCCU Stadium on September 19, 2017; those naming rights expired in December 2020. Demolition of San Diego Stadium began in December 2020; its last freestanding section was felled on March 22, 2021.
Petco Park is a ballpark in San Diego, California. It is the home of the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). The ballpark is located in the East Village neighborhood of downtown San Diego, adjacent to the Gaslamp Quarter. Petco Park opened in 2004, replacing San Diego Stadium as the Padres' home venue, where the team played from their inception in 1969 to 2003.
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Mission Valley is a wide river valley trending east–west in San Diego, California, United States, through which the San Diego River flows to the Pacific Ocean. For planning purposes the City of San Diego divides it into two neighborhoods: Mission Valley East and Mission Valley West.
The Los Angeles Angels were a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles that played in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1903 through 1957.
The San Diego Padres were a Minor League Baseball team based in San Diego, California, that competed in the Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1936 through 1968. The team became the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB).
Kino Sports Complex is a multiple-use sports complex in Tucson, Arizona. The Arizona Diamondbacks and Chicago White Sox formerly utilized the complex's main ballpark, Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium, for Cactus League games each March and had their minor league complexes on-site. The ballpark was also home to the Tucson Sidewinders of the Pacific Coast League for the team's last decade in Tucson, running from the stadium's 1998 opening season to the 2008 season. The ballpark was a temporary home (2011–2013) to the Tucson Padres of the Pacific Coast League during the team's relocation to El Paso, Texas. It is also the regular season home of the Pecos League's Tucson Saguaros baseball team since 2016. It seats 11,500 fans, and hosts concerts in addition to its primary function as a baseball park.
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Lane Field was a ballpark in San Diego, California. It was the home of the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) from 1936 to 1957. The ballpark was located in downtown San Diego, at the end of West Broadway near the waterfront. Broadway bounded the park to the south. Its other two close bounding streets were Harbor Drive and Pacific Highway. There were various buildings to the north between the ballpark and Ash Street.
Timothy Earl Flannery is a former Major League Baseball player who spent 11 seasons with the San Diego Padres, from 1979 to 1989. He was the third base coach of the San Francisco Giants from 2007 to 2014. He is the nephew of former Major League Baseball player Hal Smith.
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The following is a franchise history of the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). Prior to joining Major League Baseball as one of four expansion teams in 1969, the San Diego Padres were a Minor League franchise in the Pacific Coast League.
Sports in San Diego and its surrounding metropolitan area includes major professional league teams, other highest-level professional league teams, minor league teams, and college athletics. San Diego hosts two teams of the major professional leagues, the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB) and San Diego FC of Major League Soccer (MLS). The city is home to several universities whose teams compete in various NCAA Division I sports, most notably the San Diego State Aztecs. The Farmers Insurance Open, a professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour, is played annually at Torrey Pines Golf Course.
Mike Dee is an American sports and media executive who is currently president of Sports for Audacy, Inc., the largest audio rights holder of professional teams and sports talk radio in the United States. He is the former chief executive officer of the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball and the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League. Dee also served as the chief operating officer of the Boston Red Sox and as president of Fenway Sports Group. While with the Red Sox, the team won two World Series titles.
Fernando Gabriel Tatís Medina Jr., nicknamed "El Niño" or "Bebo", is a Dominican professional baseball right fielder and shortstop for the San Diego Padres of Major League Baseball (MLB). He is the son of former MLB player Fernando Tatís Sr.