For the third year in a row, the San Diego Padres have made the playoffs, marking a huge accomplishment. As a native San Diegan, I am very proud of my home team.
There aren’t many things that I enjoy more than when a San Diego team does well in something, especially when it’s a college or a professional team. I grew up at Petco Park, so I know my way around there very well and it’s everything I want in a stadium. The Padres hosting the Chicago Cubs for the wild card games of the playoffs sold out the stadium, which has a maximum capacity of 39,860 people.
I think the series the Padres played against the Cubs had more anticipation than the one against the Milwaukee Brewers. It wasn’t that I didn’t want the Cubs to advance past the Brewers, or that I wasn’t sad when they didn’t, but the Cubs games felt more personal.
The Cubs beat the Padres 23–3 in the regular season back in June, and it was a day that I was not happy to be from San Diego, because how do you lose that badly in the regular season? That game followed a 15–2 loss, so I was out for blood. But to watch the Padres sweep the Cubs in the wildcard games so easily, brought everyone’s spirits back up. That doesn’t even include the atmosphere of Petco Park which was filled with excitement of what was to come.
The atmosphere throughout the series could not be matched, primarily seen when relievers Mason Miller and Joe Musgrove took the pitcher’s mound. Miller had a San Diego dedication called “Miller Time,” with his walk up song “Blind” by Korn, and Musgrove returned to the field for the first time in two years following an injury. We haven’t seen this kind of excitement or energy in the park since former Padres pitcher Trevor Hoffman made his walk to the mound to ACDC’s “Hells Bells.”
Following their sweep of the Cubs, the Padres flew out to American Family Field to start the National League Division Series (NLDS) against the Brewers. Though the Padres put up a fight, they lost the NLDS four games to one.
In an early tone-setting moment in the series, during the first game, Padres fans were very disappointed that a roof ball, a hit where the ball flew so high it bounced off the roof of the field, was considered “still in play” and not a “dead ball.” Had it become a dead ball, the Padres wouldn’t have made an out and could possibly have been in a better spot for the rest of the game. However, it might not have mattered as the Padres were already down in the game.
Game three, returning to Petco Park, brought excitement like we had never seen before, considering this is further than the Padres made it in the playoffs last year. Though the score and excitement of game three was atmospheric, just being home again, to win, was everything the San Diego fans were wanting. Unfortunately though, game four led to a loss for the Padres and a win for the Brewers, and game five meant an NLDS loss for the Padres.
Though I am sad that the Brewers beat the Padres, they turned around and swept the Los Angeles Dodgers 4–0 and have made it to the World Series for the first time in 44 years, an accomplishment that any baseball fan would be proud to see. And as a Padres fan, I am even happier that the Dodgers are not going to the World Series.
Though these games didn’t go exactly how the San Diego fanbase wanted, given that the Dodgers are eliminated we are all very excited to see what will happen in the final few games the Brewers play against the Tampa Bay Rays. The next game will be played on Oct. 26.
