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Monday, Mar 18, 2024
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Fans Aren’t Saying Take Me Out to Padres Games

For a while, it almost seemed as if local fans weren’t buying into the San Diego Padres as winners. Despite the team’s surprising position in first place in its division, attendance at Petco Park lagged behind last year’s lackluster numbers.

Then the Los Angeles Dodgers rolled into town, and just like that, the gate average rose to about 25,000, some 2,000 fans more per contest than last year’s numbers for the first 19 home games. The Pads apparently gave thanks to their arch rivals for the three sold-out games, May 14-16, by losing all three.

But observers noted that many of the fans at Petco, maybe even half, were rooting for the Dodgers.

So why have local fans stayed away in droves?

Ted Leitner, who’s in his 31st year as a Padres radio broadcaster, says the Petco numbers aren’t as bad as some other small market teams such as the Tampa Bay Rays, who are drawing only about 23,000 a game while having the best record in baseball (29-11 as of May 20).

“When you look at what’s going on in Tampa, and given the state of the economy, if I was in the Padres’ management, I’d be pleasantly surprised,” Leitner said.

While Padre fan support doesn’t compare with the loyalty dispensed by Chicago Cubs fans, there is a solid base of incredibly loyal fans who have stuck with the team during the highs and lows, says Leitner.

One factor for not attracting better crowds could be the fact that this Padres team wasn’t expected to be good, and fans may still be doubting that they’re for real.

“Whenever you’re not picked to contend for the championship, it takes awhile for people to believe in you,” he said.

Another reason may be that fans are feeling a bit jaded about ownership’s intentions regarding its stars, specifically the team’s lone superstar, Adrian Gonzalez.

Though his contract runs through the 2011 season, Gonzalez could be gone before the July 31 trading deadline, especially if the Pads fall out of contention. That’s because the team has a history of not retaining its top stars due to its oft-stated limitations as a so-called small market team.

Leitner says if the team is anywhere near first, and continues its winning ways, look for the Padres to add talent, not subtract.

In the meantime, excepting if you go to a Dodger game or one of the give-away dates, enjoy the elbow room and shorter lines at a less-than-jammed Petco Park.

• • •

Grand Jury Report Might Help Chargers: On the same day that San Diego Chargers special counsel Mark Fabiani revealed more details about a proposed downtown stadium, the county grand jury released a new report on the losses the city is incurring annually by keeping Qualcomm Stadium operating.

According to the grand jury, while the Chargers pay the city $2.5 million a year in rent, the city stands to lose about $17 million this year, the panel said May 19. That number excludes rent the city may get for special events.

Fabiani says by relocating a stadium to a downtown site just east of Petco Park, the city could sell or redevelop the 166-acre Mission Valley site for much better uses.

The new stadium would be smaller, about 62,000 seats (some 8,000 fewer than Qualcomm’s capacity), and cost an estimated $700 million to $800 million. The Chargers have committed to investing $200 million, and an additional $100 million could come from the National Football League’s stadium loan program, whenever that fund gets replenished after New York and Dallas drained it.

The rest of the cash would come from public tax funds, primarily from the Centre City Development Corp., a part of the city’s Redevelopment Agency. This is much the same model that the Padres used in 1998 when the club and the city entered into a partnership to build Petco Park. About $300 million in tax money was used to build the $475 million ballpark.

Obviously, this number may be a tougher nut for many residents, even if they are hard core Charger fans, and especially when unemployment is at 11 percent.

But the Chargers are counting on the economy to be rebounding by 2012, the year they’re shooting to put the stadium issue on the ballot. By then, the team may have won, or may still be knocking on the door to get back into, the Super Bowl.

The Spanoses can only hope for the same kind of timing that Padres owner John Moores had when the team got into the World Series in 1998, just before a public vote on the ballpark. Nearly 60 percent of voters approved the deal.

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