San Diego Padres

#21 - Long wanted to see this park, did so on 4/15/15 (Tax Day!!!) with Trudii on the SoCal pt 2 trip. Fathers played the Diamond backs, Brandon Morrow v Chase Anderson. Kind of a slow game that ended with Justin Upton breaking a 2-2 tie in 8th with a solo HR to left center. Got to see Craig Kimbrell's 'act' again, he didn't disappoint and shut the D'backs down in the 9th. It was also Jackie Robinson day, which is extremely annoying for a visiting fan that doesn't know the team that well...Pulled up to this stadium featuring $20 parking.... NO tailgate scene, but tons of bars and restaurants surrounding. We didn't check anything out pre-game as we were hurting for time. Stadium is tightly built into downtown, surrounding buildings were very close by (one hotel connected by outdoor skyway). First thing we encountered when entering the gates was the 'park at the park', which featured a statue of Tony Gwynn. Probably one of the coolest features of a park I've experienced. A grassy hill in  left center that was place for folks to catch the game for $5. Later found out that the 'park' was open to the public during non-game times. Park led down to a GA bleacher section that ended in a sand box/beach right at center field fences. Stadium had 'mostly' open concourse (closed in certain spots). Had a craft beer corridor, taco bar, very cool ivy hanging throughout the concourse; tons of character throughout the stadium. Concourse also had a salute to the Navy which featured a smaller scale version of the USS Midway (I think). Inside, we sat row 1, 3B side right at the cusp of left field (fantastic seats). Stadium was tight, which was surprising given its stats as a pitchers park. 360ish in left, 400ish in center, 320ish in right. Padres just put in a new jumbotron in left which is enormous. Can't leave out Western Metal Supply in left. Awesome! We got to go up, sometimes it's reserved for private parties, but this night was open. Super good views of the stadium as well as the skyline. Only negatives I could think of are beer cost ($11.75 coors, $13 premiums) and no common areas outside of WMS, If I had the choice for my home ballpark to be any that I've been to to date, it'd be Petco. A+

Anaheim Angels

#20 - Attended a game here with Trudii on 4/12/15. Sunday afternoon game. Angels v Royals. CJ Wilson v Yordano Ventura. Ventura dealt early. Upper 90s fastballs, I think he hit 100 on the gun once. Royals won a lopsided 9-2 game. Pujols hit a bomb becoming him 18th on the all time HR list and there was a bench clearing moment when Yordano talked some trash to Mike Trout when scoring the Angels 2nd run. I was very surprised to learn that the stadium was the 4th oldest in baseball. Positioned out on the freeway, surrounded by parking lots on all sides there wasn't much going on (couple of tailgaters, but not a scene). Cool entrances which they clearly put some money into recently with some over sized bats and hats on the pavilion. Once inside the stadium it had a closed concourse that was pretty tight, but not bad considering it's 1966 bones. LOTS of concessions, pretty much all open space was consumed by a food or beer vendors. Not the least of which was Panda Express (TWO locations!). Coors light cost me $11.75, Corona's going for $13 Ouch!!! They had some patios and outdoor access from the concourse which I thought was nice. From inside the stadium, we sat 5th row 1B side trending toward right field. Seats faced dead center field. Had to do a major neck crane to view home plate, but the leg room was significant. Great batters eye, with the rock feature and waterfall, but pretty much no common areas that faced the fields. Other thing that stood out was that there were NO on foot beer vendors, that was a first. My head is kind of at a C- on this one. Nothing was horrible, but it wasn't average. It was plain and simple below average. Seems better because the team is sexy, but it's not a good stadium.