Throwback Thursday: Jack Murphy Stadium 1991

The news about Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego seems to have flown beneath the radar. I only learned about it last night from one of the Facebook baseball groups I belong to. The venue that elevated the city to major league status, first with the Chargers, then the Padres, had lost its main tenants. Local voters had said no to various expansion and renovation proposals over the years, leading the Padres to build their own Petco Park and the Chargers to join the Rams in L.A.'s Sofi Stadium. Finally, the remaining tenant, San Diego State University, chose to build a new (and smaller capacity) home for its football team. 

Three strikes, and hello wrecker's ball. Say goodbye to the venue where John Hadl and Dan Fouts lit up the skies every falls Dave Winfield and Tony Gwynn crushed baseballs during the summer. A nice enough multi-purpose facility for the everyday fan, just not sufficient to the luxury box crowd.

While hardly the equal of Shea Stadium for historic championships or Three Rivers Stadium for historic players, the ballpark named for influential local sportswriter Jack Murphy served its city well for more than 50 years.

I made my one and only visit there for a Mets/Padres game in May 1991.


 

Comments

lewis said…
I loved the place....especially before the expansion in the early '80s.
December 24, 2020 at 5:03 PM
Anonymous said…
Remember watching some games there when I lived in CA. Many of the parks I have seen games in have been replaced. Love all the information by day shown by this poster... not just this one about Jack Murphy.
December 28, 2020 at 11:34 AM
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