The Padres of San Diego

As always, it was a hectic, crazy, and adventure filled past two days. I’m not short on stories, so I should probably get right started.

The day started out with an early morning ride down to San Diego, Petco Park, and back to Solana Beach. The ride was great, riding into downtown San Diego is a gorgeous ride which took me through the campus of University of California- San Diego, along with plenty of bike paths. San Diego is a gorgeous city, and obviously contains some incredible weather. Though, some locals, still managed to complain that the water was too cold and the sun was too hot. Being from Wisconsin, I reminded them of what the temperatures they could experience in the winter months if they weren’t living in Southern California.

I rode up on Petco Park in the morning, and took plenty of pictures. Stadium No. 4 is off the list. Got some great pictures courtesy of local passerbys and another stadium is down. Only 26 more to go.

As some of you know, I don’t like to leave my bike locked up at the ballpark during the game itself. I simply would not be able to enjoy the game, wondering if someone is potentially messing with my bike. Thus, I rode back to Solana Beach, where my hotel, courtesy of Lynne is located and eventually took the Coaster, a public transport train downtown for the game.

However, before I knew what hit me, Twitter was lighting up. In a matter of hours, I was able to set up some different interviews before and during the game. More on that in a bit. I arrived to Petco pretty early, in order to catch batting practice. Once again, thanks to B4B Supporter Brooks for helping set that up. It’s an incredibly cool experience that will never get old.

The Padres had a huge offseason. Undoubtedly one of, if not the biggest in franchise history. From Wil Myers to Matt Kemp to Craig Kimbrel in the bullpen, the Padres are serious contenders this season because of an incredible offseason. The fans know this too. They’re pumped up. They love their baseball in San Diego. Why wouldn’t they? With this kind of weather, they get to play ball all year round.

Before the game, I appeared on Padres Social Hour, a show that airs live before every Padres game. The guys were great, and so was the interview, it’s always a blast to talk about youth mentoring, the ride, and get people fired up about the ride. You can actually listen to the whole interview here, http://dds.mlb.com/mlb_podcasts/club/sd/050115_sd_stoltz.mp3

 

As the game began, I also had an in game interview with Fox Sports San Diego, which aired in the top of the 3rd. How cool is that?? I love it. I get to share some of my biggest passions with anyone who listens; biking, baseball, and most importantly youth mentoring. Thanks to Fox Sports San Diego for helping set it all up!

Oh wait, there’s more! Thanks to Jerry, one of the radio broadcasters with the Colorado Rockies, I was able to go up in the press box for a few innings and listen to a live radio broadcast of the game. I’ve listened to plenty of games of Bob Uecker back in Milwaukee, but it’s always incredible to see all the work going on behind the scenes to produce a flawless production of the game. It was a great view of the ballpark as well!

The game itself was an offensive beat down by the Padres. With a final score of 14-3, the Padres bats were on fire. Seriously, it was first responders night at the ballpark, with local San Diego firemen being honored. So, had the bats actually caught fire, I think we would have been in good hands. Interestingly, the Padres actually batted around in the bottom of the 8th without recording a single out. By the end of it, they hung up an 8 spot, all but sealing the win. The Friday night crowd at Petco was loving it. From the chorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrizo vendors, to the ushers, the crowd was more than entertained.

 

Petco Park is a gorgeous park, with great fans, who stand behind their team. It’s always nice to see a different team get involved in free agency besides the typical big spending teams. The Padres did just that, and hope it pays off with a deep postseason run. Petco is settled right in downtown, and offers a great view of the city. Clean, well kept, and a new jumbotron brightens the experience. Fans were incredibly friendly to talk to, and talk baseball with. Thanks for a great baseball experience Padres fans. You stay classy San Diego.

After the game, I hopped on the Coaster back to Solana Beach, where I returned to the hotel. The receptionist was from Kenya, so of course, I had to speak some Swahili with her. I don’t get to use it often, so I need all the practice I can get. I’ve already forgotten a great deal, but I still have enough for a short conversation. She light up when I greeted her in Swahili! Something like that, can be a perfect end to a great deal.

I woke up early in the morning to hop aboard the bike to head back up to the LA area for the Dodgers game on Sunday. Unexpectedly, I had a tailwind. I had been preparing for a headwind, since my ride down the coast thus far, and almost had winds from the Northwest. Today it was Southwest. I’ll take it. Thank you mother nature.

I was blown away by the number of cyclists in the area. Literally thousands of riders were out riding. You would have thought it was a race going on. Groups of 40+ riders were more than a common sight. Absolutely unreal. In fact, three cyclists rode up along side me and proclaimed that they saw me on TV and thought that it was really cool what I was doing. They wished me luck on the rest of the ride and promised to follow along. It’s not often that I get recognized on the street. So it’s a new, and odd feeling. However, it’s pretty cool how word can spread about this trip!

The rest of the ride went quite smoothly. The Saturday traffic wasn’t too bad, and I arrived to my host’s place in Huntington Beach. Paul, is a cool guy, who has done his fair share of adventures. He’s done a few bicycle tours, and he even ran from Huntington Beach to New York City. Yes, that’s running. With two feet. One after another. Unreal, and absolutely incredible. Way to go Paul! He’s also a heck of a homebrewer. I tried one of his beers right when I got in, and it’s one of the better beers I remember tasting in recent months. A great taste, that was a perfect post ride beer.

Paul showed me around Huntington Beach a little bit, and while we were driving around I saw my first Brewers fan of the trip. I’ve been alone wearing my Brewers hat proudly in the cities I’ve visited. However, when I saw a man representing my hometown club, I just had to give him a Hi5!

Finally, Paul’s dad is a huge Angels fan, and talked with me in depth about the team, and the different ups and downs. I’m excited to see Angel Stadium on Monday, and they’re playing the Mariners. I’ll get to see King Felix take the mound once again. Should be an exciting game. Here’s a fun fact for you. Thus far in my trip, the first six games, every single game will be interdivision. There’s some B4B trivia for ya! I’m not sure who the Diamondbacks are playing when I get to Phoenix so it may continue.  I also got to play some soccer with 12 year old Malichai, who just got back from playing in Barcelona. He’s a soccer stud. However, it was a lot of fun to get some physical exercise besides biking. Even if I did get beat by a 12 year old in some different soccer drills, it’s still a blast.

Well, in order to make it to Dodger Stadium in the morning, I’ve got to get up and on the road, really early. As in 5AM. So I’m going to bed. It’ll be a great day to watch baseball tomorrow, just like everyday. I’ll talk to you later.

 

Matt