Padre Fans Are in Postseason Form at Home Opener

It may take the designated hitter, the American League’s 10th man, six weeks of spring training to get into shape for the baseball season.

However, it only took the Padres’ 10th man a matter of hours to get into postseason form before Monday night’s home opener against the San Francisco Giants.

Padre fans have been preparing for the home opener since the National League champions headed for Detroit and Games 3, 4 and 5 of the 1984 World Series.

Fans mailed in for opening night tickets as early as December. Diehard fans in motorhomes began arriving at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium on Sunday night.

By 1 o’clock Monday afternoon, the parking lot at the stadium was already filling up. By 4, it was packed.

Fans wearing “10th Man,” “I Survived Tiger Stadium” and Padre World Series T-shirts were partying to the sounds of rock ‘n’ roll, jazz, a mariachi band and the Tuba Man quartet.

Ushers wearing white tuxedos welcomed ticket holders into the refurbished stadium. One usher even used his dapper outfit to try and line up a postgame date.

As if this was a re-enactment of late October, San Diego radio stations broadcast live from outside the stadium.

The signs in the parking lot almost outnumbered the Padre bumper stickers.

“Play it Again Padres, You Make Us Proud” was in the side window of one car. In the back window, eight Padre hats depicted the different eras of baseball in San Diego.

This was definitely unlike any other opening night in San Diego.

“I was at last year’s opener,” said Jim Preston of Santee, “and there is no comparison.”

April 15th was a magic day in San Diego, and it had virtually nothing to do with income taxes, the Boston Marathon or the Marvin Hagler-Thomas Hearns fight.

“I started hoping for opening night right after the World Series,” Preston said.

Preston was one of a group of 10 fans who made sure to spend Monday afternoon in their customary tailgate position in section G-3 of the parking lot.

“No work today,” said Willie Moore of San Diego. “I just wanted to head to my favorite parking spot, break out the beer, and celebrate.”

To many fans, celebrating consisted of dancing the swing and running around with yellow Padre balloons.

To Skip Chesser, celebrating meant walking around the parking lot in his authentic Padre uniform. Despite holding a bat, Chesser looked more like the religious Padre than the baseball version.

“I liked the robe so much that I bought it after last year’s playoffs,” Chesser said. “And now look what happens. The Padres do away with their logos.”

Other fans were more up to date. They were already wearing pinstriped T-shirts.

However, don’t fear. Everything hasn’t changed. There were still some “I Hate the Dodgers” T-shirts.

Most fans admitted they were almost at the feverish pitch that put them on the map at last year’s playoff series against the Cubs. But some said they still needed a little time to get into shape.

“At last year’s playoff series, we played a lot of Trivial Pursuit,” said Dave Brooks of San Diego. “Now we’re playing crazy eights. We start off the season slowly.”

There were many fans who admitted this was the first Padre opening night they had attended. Yes, they admitted sheepishly, they jumped on the Padre bandstand at the end of last season.

But they added that they were here to stay. Monday afternoon and evening, they blended with the long-suffering fans who had dreamed of seeing a championship flag in Mission Valley since the Padres joined the National League in 1969.

“A friend of mine told me that last year couldn’t be duplicated,” said Jeanne Hammon, a longtime Padre fan from El Cajon. “I said you’re wrong. This is the most exciting thing around.”