Padres Host Yankees – Day 1 Recap

August 3, 2013 by Rebecca Herman

We knew it was a sell-out and would be a crazy night in the Gaslamp – and that was certainly true. As usual, we entered early as season ticket holders. Thirty minutes later, the gates opened to the general public and it looked like ants swarming to a glob of sugar as they filed in and headed to the Yankees’ dugout.

Batting Practice 8/2/13 before the NYY @ SDP Game
Ron Fowler and Jerry Coleman among many on the field.

I can’t recall ever seeing this many people at batting practice! In addition to many Yankee fans, there was a true media frenzy going on as well – you would have thought this was the All-Star Game or the World Series! Granted, the Yankees haven’t been to San Diego since 2002 and this was their first visit to Petco Park – but still – it was crazy!

It was fun to see Graig Nettles and Dave Winfield throw out simultaneous first pitches … and yes … they got it to their marks!

I was so excited to learn that Trevor Hoffman would be presenting Mariano Rivera with the retirement gift from the San Diego Padres. When they were introduced, you could just see the mutual respect they have for one another. It was a “goosebump” kind of moment and one I’m not likely to forget.

Traditionally, the Padres have gifted custom made surfboards; however, for some odd reason, the Oakland A’s gave Rivera a surfboard earlier in the week. So, is there a lot of surfing in Oakland these days? Not sure if this foiled the Padres plans (we may never know) but they presented him with a custom Beach Cruiser … and not just one … FIVE! One for him, his wife, and each of his children. Pretty classy San Diego!

Corey Brock’s story and Padres Video HERE

As usual, the All-Star Padres Grounds Crew had the field looking fantastic! They even had the “SD” in the outfield … we usually only see that on Opening Day!  Again, it was a special night all around. The starting lineups were announced and we were ready for some BASEBALL!

This is what 44,124 people at Petco Park looks like courtesy of my iPhone’s panoramic photo feature!

It was a beautiful night and here are a few of my favorite scoreboard pics from the evening. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to snap one when Forsythe belted his HR in Left – too many fans jumping up and down!

Padres Scoring plays:

• B1: Alonso Walk; Cabrera Scores; Headley to 3B; Guzman to 2B
• B1: Gyorko Groundout; Headley Scores; Guzman to 3B; Alonso to 2B
• B4: Forsythe Home Run (Line Drive to Deep LF) VIDEO
• B4: Cabrera Triple to CF; Cashner Scores VIDEO
• B6: Denorfia Singles to RF; Hundley Scores; Cabrera to 3B; Denorfia to 2B/Adv on throw VIDEO
• B7: Gyorko Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep CF) VIDEO
• B8: Venable Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep RF Line) VIDEO (as part of recap)

For the complete box score, visit Baseball-Reference

Also, always great game notes and recaps by Bob Scanlan

OK – Game #2 tonight – we will be there … will you?

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Rebecca Herman, TheBaseballPHD

Wayne McBrayer, TheCasualFan

For Padres360

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