On Monday, April 12, 2010, I went downtown with my buddy, Nick. He scored two tickets to the Padres home opener and invited me along. I have never been to an opening day before, so of course I was in. We hopped on the trolley around 11:30 to get downtown around Noon. There was a block party going on with vendors giving out free samples of food and drinks. From powerade to the nachos at the Rock Bottom booth, we tried them all. Then after the block party, we head into the game. The weather was flirting with rain all day, but we weren't going to not go due to rain. The moment we get to our seats. A beer in one hand and nachos in the other, it starts to rain. I had no jacket or sweater. My nachos were getting wet and my already weak bud light, was getting more watered down. I thought, "Great, it IS going to rain after all." Then they sing the national anthem in the rain and as soon as they yelled "PLAYBALL!" the rain stopped and the sun came out and started shining down on the glorious stage that is Petco Park. Our boys came running out and proceeded to shut down the Atlanta Braves. Our pitcher, Kevin Correia was on fire. Once the boys came up to bat, it didn't take them long to figure out what opposing pitcher, Jair Jurrjens, had to offer. We quickly got on the board with a triple by Will Venable who was batted in on a single by Nick Hundley in the second inning. Still up 1-0 in the 4th, our boys brought 14 men up to the plate during a 10 run bottom of the 4th that included 5 RBI's by Kyle Blanks including a 2 run HR. During the slaughter in the 4th, a Braves fan got up from his seat, took off his Atlanta hat and threw it over the edge of the overhang. He then grabbed his opening day Padres shirt and put that on. It was a glorious moment as a Padres fan. Tack on 3 more in the 5th and 3 more in the 7th as opposed to the 2 the Braves got in the 6th and it makes for the most memorable game I've ever been to. We couldn't be stopped on that day. I will always remember my first opening day as the day we set the highest runs scored record in Petco Park history* with our blowout victory over the Atlanta Braves 17-2. Thanks to my brother-from-another-mother, Nick for taking me down there. I know it is a day we both shall remember in our Friar's history. Here's to a great 2010 season. Go PADS!!
*Side note: On May 31, 2010, the Padres scored 18 runs against the New York Mets, re-setting the record to 18 runs.
