STRANGE, NEW BEGINNING
Eerie home away from home: Empty streets, quiet ballpark greet Diamondbacks before season opener against San Diego Padres
SAN DIEGO – There was no traffic around Petco Park on Friday afternoon. Streets were not blocked off. Sidewalks were not crowded. The absence of sound was striking. There was no indication anything special would be happening a few hours later on the other side of the stadium’s beige brick walls.
The Diamondbacks opened their season in this city on Friday night, a fitting place for Arizona’s team to begin its summertime campaign. This is the place Arizonans have flocked for generations to escape the summer inferno. It is a sort of home away from home.
In some ways, it was the same as always. The sun burned through the Friday morning cloud cover. The temperature reached only the low-70s. The ballpark view, with descending airplanes vanishing behind high-rise condos, was its same, glorious self.
But so much else about the city felt off. Like everywhere else in the country, San Diego is not itself. San Diego Comic-Con was supposed to be this week. Opening Day is supposed to be an event.
But hours before first pitch most of the people wearing Padres gear were walking their dogs, ostensibly residents who live in the
neighborhood. There was not a Diamondbacks fan in sight; curiosity must not have been enough of a draw to bring them to downtown San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter.
“Typically, it’s one of our biggest (days of the year),” said Erik Tesmer, a part owner of Basic Bar & Pizza, located across the street from Petco Park. “There’s energy out there. People are talking about it; they certainly are excited for the games. Whether or not they’ll actually come downtown …”
There wasn’t much reason for them to. No fans were allowed inside Petco Park. The city park just beyond center field was closed. Local restaurants offered limited outdoor seating and takeout only.
There were signs of Arizonans throughout town. Coronado Island was littered with Arizona license plates on Friday morning. They were spotted around Mission Beach on Thursday afternoon. But in the same way that vacations don’t feel right, so, too, has life on the road for the Diamondbacks. Players describe it as being a shell of the experience to which they have grown accustomed throughout their careers.
“We’re used to being able to walk around and go to a restaurant,” Diamondbacks catcher Stephen Vogt said. “Everybody has their own spots that they like on the road in each city. You don’t have that opportunity to do that. It’s worth it, obviously, to keep everyone safe. It’s bigger than any one individual. That’s something everyone understands.”
The Diamondbacks stay at the Omni San Diego Hotel. It is located across the street from Petco Park, the two structures connected by a third-story walkway. Diamondbacks players began to congregate on the walkway a little before 1 p.m. Friday. At the top of the hour, they were administered temperature checks and other screenings before being let through the gate.
Inside, bunting was hung throughout the ballpark. The red, white and blue ribboning fluttered in the breeze. The park looked normal, with a few exceptions. There were shade structures adjacent to each dugout, erected so players and staff could distance themselves in what are otherwise small dugouts. And there were some areas around the park in which cutouts of fans were occupying otherwise empty seats.
For those involved, the strange circumstances did not seem to dampen the mood. Vogt described Opening Day as being akin to a national holiday. Lefty Robbie Ray declared that “baseball is back.” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said the hopes and dreams the day represents remained intact.
“Today had a different scent,” Lovullo said. “I knew it was Opening Day when I woke up today.”
But no one would have known from driving by.