An hour or so before first pitch at Petco Park, Andy Hochman and his son Aidan toured the Padres Hall of Fame located beyond left field in the shadow of the Trevor Hoffman statue.
Stopping in front of the display highlighting the 1984 team that went to the franchise’s first World Series brought back immediate memories.
“I’ve been going to baseball games since I moved here in 1983,” Andy Hochman said. “I remember when (Steve) Garvey hit the home run and I just completely lost it, and then the next day to see them win it was insane.”
Andy, who moved to San Diego from Miami, said the only other sports moments that matches it for him was when he attended the Chargers’ epic 1982 overtime playoff win over the Dolphins.
“I levitated off the ground,” he said. “Seriously.”
Back to the ’84 Padres…
“That year was so special,” Andy said.
Can this year match it?
“This season is special because there’s so many stories,” he said. “You have a rookie (Jackson Merrill) who has been unbelievable. You have the trades to get (Luis) Arraez and (Dylan) Cease. And also all the comeback wins. Everyone is contributing. That’s how I knew this team was special. Something’s different here. You felt it.”
There’s a lot of special memories for the Hochmans at Petco Park, beginning with Aidan’s very first game there in 2014.
“We got invited to get down on the field before the game,” Andy said. “He meets a player who shakes his hand. That’s kind of cool.
“Then a guy walks up to us who gives him a ball. It turned out to be Peter Seidler. How about getting a ball from the owner?
“I had no idea who he was at the time because he wasn’t really well known. We talked with him, and he was so nice.”
Then they did one scratcher card for the Padres’ “Shirt off their backs” fundraiser. And won.
They received a 2014 game-used Will Venable jersey that included memorial patches honoring Jerry Coleman and Tony Gwynn.
“I framed it,” Andy said. “It’s in his room. How cool is that? For his first game. I’m like, ‘Dude, it will never get better than that.’ ”
Unless something special unfolds over the next few weeks.
“I think this team has heart,” Andy said. “They’re so focused and the way they believe in each other, you can feel energy.
“The other thing is, Petco Park rocks like no other ballpark. So I think the energy of the fans is absolutely going to carry these players.”
Speaking of rocking ballparks …
They say the crowds take it up a notch during playoff baseball, so the Union-Tribune put Padres fans to the test.
A decibel meter app downloaded to an iPhone measured crowd noise during the game (noise comparison in parenthesis):
The biggest roar came on Fernando Tatis Jr.’s first-inning homer, with the noise level rising above 80 decibels (loud music). It was matched in the eighth inning on Kyle Higashioka’s solo shot to left.
When Atlanta went to the quick hook of starting pitcher AJ Smith-Shawver in the second inning, the video board implored “Padres fans make noise.” Their collective response touched the 70 dB level (hairdryer/noisy restaurant).
Inning-ending strikeouts elicited mid-70s roars from the crowd. So did the cheers for Padres broadcasters Don Orsillo and Mark Grant when the videoboard pictured them In the stands in the bottom of the third inning.
Boos for Braves players generally were in the 60s (busy street). The sound level in the Braves dugout most of the game was in the 30s (whisper) and 40s (library). OK, just guessing there.
There’s a chance Padres fans could get to 90 dB (bass, drum) by the end of the series.
Reaching 100 dB (subway train) or 110 dB (chainsaw)? That’s probably Game 7 stuff.
Park and ride — free
There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but fans can get a free ride to Game 2.
Wednesday’s game coincides with Free Ride Day in San Diego. All MTS Trolleys and buses along with the NCTD Coaster, Sprinter and Breeze will be free to ride throughout the day.
More information is available online at sdmts.com/free-ride-day.
Delay of game
Padres starting pitcher Michael King was standing on the mound waiting to throw his warmup pitches in the first inning, but there was a full-on crowd scene in the batter’s box.
Braves manager Brian Snitker and Padres manager Mike Shildt were surrounded by six umpires.
Lineup cards already had been exchanged but plate umpire Nestor Ceja was going on and on about something with Snitker. Ceja pointed to the backstop area, pointed toward the Braves dugout, pointed toward the foul area down the left-field line, pointed toward right-center — everything but Balboa Park and the Coronado Bridge.
Apparently, someone finally let Ceja known it’s not polite to point and the game started.
Jeering a jersey
Mark Flowers of Los Angeles was waiting in line at the Lane Field Lemonade stand in Gallagher Square with Valerie Carrillo when he started getting grief for the jersey he was wearing.
It read McGriff on the back, which conjured fond memories of Fred McGriff’s all-too-brief time with the Padres (1991-93).
The friction was with what was on the front of the jersey.
Atlanta.
“This dude was like, ‘You can’t do the Crime Dog like that,’ ” Flowers said. “Yes, I can, because I’m a Brave fan, and he has the hardware with us.”
McGriff helped the Braves win the 1995 World Series.
Atlanta acquired McGriff from the Padres during a midseason trade two years earlier, getting Vince Moore, Donnie Elliott and Melvin Nieves in return.
Padres fans still haven’t gotten over it.
Rock on
The Padres brought in a pair of rock stars to kick off Tuesday’s playoff game.
Miles Doughty of Slightly Stoopid rang the mission bell to signal the start of pregame ceremonies.
And following a national anthem by Cassie B of the Padres’ house band, Blink 182’s Tom DeLonge threw out the first pitch. (We’ll give DeLonge credit for rocking a Padres home jersey with the number 182 on the back).
Slightly Stoopid was discovered in Ocean Beach by Sublime frontman Bradley Nowell, who signed them to his label in the 1990s. Blink 182 was founded in Poway by DeLonge, who met bandmate Mark Hoppus through a friend.
Even Padres organist Bobby Cressey got into the distinctly San Diego tunes. An hour before first pitch, Cressey played San Diego ska band Buck O’Nine’s “My Town, My Street” while the videoboard showed photos of Padres fans.
Walk this way
A save was recorded three hours before first pitch at the intersection of 10th and J.
That’s where a seasoned citizen wearing a Randy Jones jersey was so preoccupied with his cell phone that he nearly crossed the street into oncoming traffic.
A driver honked his horn, prompting the man to come out of his trance and step back on the curb before he met his maker.
Jones would have appreciated the situation. He hated it when someone walked.
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