QUALCOMM STADIUM

Qualcomm Stadium was first known as San Diego Stadium before being renamed to Jack Murphy Stadium, in honor of the longtime sports editor of the San Diego Union, in 1980. Qualcomm purchased the naming rights in 1997, but they have retained the historical aspects of the name as the full name of the facility is now known as Jack Murphy Field at Qualcomm Stadium. The Q is only going to be around for 2 more seasons as San Diego has begun construction on "A Ballpark for San Diego" which should be ready in time for opening day 2004. 

Qualcomm is located just off I-8 in the northeast section of the city, about 20 minutes from downtown. Parking is $6, although you may prefer to take the Blue Line Trolley which stops there as well. If you are staying close to the stadium, you can park at Qualcomm in the morning, ride the trolley to the tourist spots, return to the stadium for the game and drive home after the game - you can save the parking fee that way.

From the trolley station

The stadium is another of the round, concrete-laden structures built in the late 60s. It is considered to be the first stadium built for both baseball and football. It is not pretty on the outside, and rather nondescript on the inside. There are 14 gates around the circumference of the stadium, although not all are used for baseball. The main ticket window is by gate C, the main entrance was at gate F, and the trolley station was at gate K. It is about a five minute walk from the trolley station to the main ticket window.

There are 5 seating levels in the stadium. The lowest level is known as field, and it lies below the main interior concourse, with the plaza level above the concourse. The second deck (third seating level) is the club/loge level, above that is the very small press level, and finally the view level. The field infield seats are the best seats at $26, but difficult to obtain. Field level down the lines, and plaza infield seats are $22, plaza down the lines are $20. Club seats are good as well, but at $24 not necessarily worth it as it seems like anyone can walk onto the club level from one of the circular ramps. Your seats may be padded and you get service to your seat as well, but really, this is a ballgame and you should be able to stand to get your own hot dog. The club level has a good restaurant where a hot dog and salad is only $4.75, and anyone can get in there, once you are on the club level.

The loge seats, along the third base line are $18 inside the base and $16 down the line, but avoid the last few rows of these sections - the press level overhang is a bit annoying. Press level seats are $14. Finally, the view level has lower view at $9 and upper view at $8. There are lots of $5 seats as well, if you just want to get into the ballpark.

Outfield seating

Each level has the same section numbers, starting from 1 in centerfield and going counter-clockwise to 61. The best sections are generally between 21 and 36. 

You may notice that the field level seats are above dugouts, so you are looking down at the action. If you are an autograph hound, head to these seats behind the dugout and sit down in the first row - you will not be kicked out, as long as you remain sitting. Underneath the field seats is a concourse with nothing on it other than some player photographs.

To walk around this stadium, you actually leave the seating area and go outside the walls. The entire main concourse is outside and is nice to wander around - it is not crowded and there are plenty of food options. There are escalators for the lazy ones, and ramps for everyone else. Ticket checkers are at the top of each escalator, so if you are trying to sneak in to a different level, use the ramp. Note that the upper level doesn't have as many food options as are available downstairs.

Some unique features of this park include the orange home run line atop the fence, palm trees beyond the fence, and some holes in the fences where anyone can stand and watch the game. A local radio station also hangs out a gold star whenever a Padre makes a fine play in the field. 

There are two scoreboards and two video screens - the scoreboard in right is typical, but does include the left-on-base numbers as well as the scoring plays after every play. Hanging from the roof above left field are the retired numbers, including one for the late Ray Kroc, one-time owner of the Padres. 

Overall, Qualcomm is the first stadium on this trip that we only visited once. I think that it is typical and worth seeing in the next couple of years before the new ballpark opens. But the main reason to see a baseball game in San Diego is the city itself, a great place to do some non-sports related tourism.