Most of us in the Eastern and Central time zones don't get to see a whole lot of baseball that's played on the West coast. Games typically start at 10:00 on the East coast, which means the highlights don't get caught on the first Sportscenter before we're all going to bed. So, there's a number of ballparks out there that most of us don't get to see a whole lot of on television, much less in person given the amount of travel involved. Since 1998, four of the six teams in the Pacific time zone (including Arizona, which is on Pacific time during baseball season) have opened new ballparks, and all four have qualified for the postseason since. However, only the Giants and Diomondbacks have played in a World Series, thus keeping the slightly smaller market Mariners and Padres a little further from the spotlight. That's a shame, because Seattle and San Diego play in two of baseball's hidden gems, Safeco Field and Petco Park. The Cardinals finished up their West coast trip two weekends ago at Petco, and didn't fare so well. But it was a lovely Memorial Day weekend in "America's Finest City", and between that and the ballpark it kept this tourist happy during an ugly weekend of baseball.

I've been to a lot of ballparks, including some considered among the best in the business (Camden Yards, PNC, Kaufmann, Wrigley). But I am now of the opinion that Petco Park is the best of the post-1990 ballparks I've seen, just a notch above the Yards because of its fresh look. It's everything that many of the newer ballparks have strived for - a baseball and fan-friendly facility located in an area of town booming with energy and redevelopment. That, and it's an architectural gem.

First off, the concourse areas are like nothing I've ever seen at a ballpark. Obviously, being in a climate like San Diego's helps to create an atmosphere like this, but the combination of the plants and the sandstone facade is striking. Here's some pictures:

Another architectural feature of the ballpark that I enjoyed was the integration of the old Western Metal Supply office building into the outfield wall. The building dates to 1909, which may not seem old by our standards, but the 1910 census estimated the population of the city of San Diego at 39,578. By comparison, the population of the city of St. Louis was estimated at 687,029 by the same census, making it the fourth-largest city in the United States. So 1909 makes it one of the older buildings in the area. Thus, the structure was retained as part of the ballpark in a similar fashion to the B&O Warehouses in Baltimore. The WMS building, however, was used in a little more fan-friendly way, creating luxury suites as well as a San Diego baseball museum (yes, it was small) in addition to a rooftop party suite complete with bleacher seats similar to the rooftops adjacent to Wrigley Field. Here's a look:

The view from the top isn't bad, either (it shows the light towers, which are another striking feature of the ballpark):

Beyond centerfield, there's a little park area that is a popular spot for families and others to sit on towels and watch the game. Adjacent to that is a youth field that's similar to ones I've seen in Milwaukee and Kansas City (and I'm sure there are others elsewhere). In addition, as you can see, there's plenty of construction going on beyond the outfield walls:

Other intangibles: the Andoullie sausage I had Sunday afternoon was among the best ballpark food I've ever had. Also, the Nacho Libre mask giveway on Saturday was definitely the coolest giveaway day prize I've ever seen.

The only thing I didn't like about the ballpark really didn't have a whole lot to do with the ballpark itself, and perhaps is just a result of circumstance. San Diego's baseball tradition is pretty non-existent, although none of the class of '69 (Padres, Pilots/Brewers, Royals, Expos/Nationals) has done a whole lot, with one world championship and only five pennants between the four teams in 37 seasons. So there's not a whole lot to root for, and the laid-back SoCal attitude doesn't help things, but I was pretty surprised at how uninterested the San Diego fans seemed. A weekend series against the best team in the league drew 110,942 fans, or just under 37,000 a game. They're averaging 30,651 a game, 13th in MLB, despite the great new ballpark. In addition, the fans just kind of sat there during the game. There was a distinct delayed crowd reaction when anything happened, and unlike the fans at the Big A (where I went Saturday night after the Cards game), it took the stadium graphics proclaiming "MAKE NOISE" to get anyone to do anything unless the Padres scored a run. Perhaps some explanation of the lack of interest is that San Diego, like Phoenix, is one of those transplant cities where a large percentage of the population is originally from somewhere else. And there's a large military contingent, which was out in force on Sunday afternoon:

All in all, I greatly enjoyed the weekend at Petco, despite the ugly baseball that the Cards played. Hopefully for the citizens of San Diego, the Padres will get good someday and baseball fans everywhere will recognize what a gem of a ballpark they have out there.