The Padres MUST Do This in 2018 (Bring Back the Murph)
Credit: Jerry Reuss
I have a really, really good idea.
So, this is an open invitation to the Padres to steal this idea.
I am putting it in writing: please steal this idea. I don’t want any kickback or finder’s fee. Just take this idea.
Here goes:
The Padres should play a 3-game series in 2018 at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium. And now that the 2018 schedule has been released, I have the absolute perfect weekend series for it to take place, but more on that later.
I can think of a billion reasons why this a great idea.
The first is the most obvious: the cement bowl in Mission Valley will be torn down sometime in the next 24 months. It will no longer be the place the Padres used to play because it won’t be anything any longer. Let’s make use of it while we still can.
Secondly, I promise you fans will pack that place to reminisce about the summers of their youth spent inside that circle of concrete. Literally hundreds of thousands of people have seen a baseball game there and I predict a large percentage of them would enjoy the thrill of seeing a game there one last time.
Nostalgia is all the rage these days, and here’s your chance to get us all misty-eyed:
—Play “Let’s Go Padres” before each game.
—Bring back Bruce Binkowski to be the public address announcer. On a side note, I love Bink. I can’t tell you how many times I heard his voice as a child. “Now batting for the Padres, Number 21, third baseman, Ken Cam-in-itti!” (Side note- his son, Rocky, writes for EVT)
—Bring back the chicken, hold the KGB Skyshow, have a beach towel giveaway.
—Let the fans tailgate, for crying out loud!
You’re getting goose bumps just thinking about this, right?!! This would be off-the-charts awesome.
Now, the all-important question. When can the Padres, realistically do this? I have looked at the schedule and I have the absolutely perfect weekend series. In fact, I’ll go a step further: if the Padres don’t do this, on this exact weekend, I’ll be very unhappy and bordering on ticked off.
Seriously, how perfect is this: the weekend series before the all-star break is against the Chicago Cubs!
Are you kidding me? The opponent for the greatest accomplishment of all time, the 1984 NLCS, is in town the weekend before the break? How perfect is that? That break gives them plenty of time to clean up the Murph after the series. The players have plenty of time to move their stuff back over to Petco.
And against the Cubs? The team that travels fans with the fervor of a honey badger? The weekend attendance for a 3-game set with the Cubbies will top 200,000, book it. Think about the buzz in the stadium with all those Cubs fans at their obnoxious best and Padres fans re-living the glory days of the team. I’m not saying the Cubs fans are bad by any stretch. They’re actually some of the more polite fans in baseball… they’re just loud.
Man, I want this to happen so bad. I would attend at least two of those games, and possibly all three. I know it would be a hassle to move all that stuff over to Mission Valley but it would be worth it. The Padres would be the talk of the town for weeks before and shortly after.
Padres brass… please do this. If I’ve built up any equity with you by going to games for 35 years, I’d like to use all of it now to make this happen.
See you at the Murph!
Baseball is the greatest athletic endeavor we have. It is a sport of poetry, beauty and nearly imeasurable levels of skill. The Padres are my team, my only true team. They are the expression of my love for this grand game.
Lol I came up with this idea about a year ago except mine had some differences. The Padres would wear their three most iconic uniforms in qualcomm. The first set being the 1969 uniform, second being the 1984 uniform, and lastly, the 1998 uniform.
we can only dream
I just got goose bumps. Lets make it happen. Who do we need to email?
Look: the Dodgers played a game a game in the Coliseum just a few years ago. It went amazing. This is important to San Diego baseball heritage. They must do it.
PHENOMENAL idea !
I would attend the entire series.
I vividly remember watching “San Diego Stadium” being built when I was a kid. Will be forwarding this to the Padres brass for good measure.
This HAS to happen !
I think this is a great idea. I would love to see one more Padres game at the Murph before it is gone forever. They could also invite players from that years team for a reunion kind of thing!!
I like it. But, you have to have the palm trees back up over the fence.
I’m a lifelong Dodgers fan … but served in the Navy and attended plenty of Chargers and Padres games there … we would definitely consider flying out from the Midwest for that …
I met my wife at the Murph so we need to come back to visit from Texas before it’s torn down. We’d fly out to see this series. It’s a great idea. Let’s get it done so I can make reservations early.