Padres fans did their part. Of course they did.
They filled the seats at Petco Park, while thousands of others filled Gallagher Square, peering into sunlight, some 600 feet from home plate, just to get a glimpse of the Padres’ 2026 season opener.
“I don’t think it’s something that anybody in here ever takes for granted — especially with the way that we haven’t been able to finish off the season these last couple of years,” said Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove. “It’s great the way these guys show out and support us.”
The business of baseball has become so very, very good for the Padres. I doubt even Ray Kroc could’ve imagined the gold mine his former team has become.
Thursday, the announced crowd of 45,673 began the procession of dozens of capacity crowds to come this season. No one will be surprised if the small-market club sets a third consecutive attendance record.
Or if the Padres, for the third time in five years, outdraw everyone but the Dodgers.
A sale of the club is expected soon. If the winning bid comes in at about $3.5 billion, and apparently there’s a good chance it will, it would be the most ever spent for a baseball team.
These days, even former Padres pitchers are hitting the jackpot.
James Shields and his wife, the Wall Street Journal reports, seek $23 million for the home they built on 2.44 acres in Rancho Santa Fe in 2022.
If I told you there’s a bowling alley on the grounds, would you meet the Shields’ price?
As for the Padres’ baseball-playing the fans witnessed Thursday, it probably didn’t dazzle the mysterious multi-billionaire who soon will buy the club.
Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal pitched like Tarik Skubal — the athletic, large lefty who this year can join Greg Maddux and Randy Johnson as the winners of three consecutive Cy Young awards.
Nick Pivetta did not pitch like Nick Pivetta. The Padres’ 2025 ace, Pivetta missed his target at a high rate.
All but doomed by six quick runs, the Padres lost 8-2.
It was the first official game that Craig Stammen managed at any level, and Stammen was pretty much helpless to change the outcome.
As Pivetta searched for his accuracy in the first inning, neither the former reliever Stammen nor pitching coach Ruben Niebla had success in getting the righty on track. Niebla, presumably after chatting with Stammen, visited the pitcher after the Tigers loaded the bases via two walks and a single, all with one out.
Nothing changed. Pivetta went ball, ball, ball, ball, bringing in the season’s first run.
When he got the ball back, Pivetta called timeout, walked behind the mound and took a slow, deep breath.
Next up: Kevin McGonigle, the Tigers’ top prospect. A hand-eye marvel, McGonigle had more walks than strikeouts in three minor league seasons.
The 5-foot-9 lefty hitter hammered the first big-league pitch he saw, pulling it for a two-run double.
Pivetta, who would allow three more runs, said he had a good bullpen session before the game but felt “disconnected” and unable to fix the problem. “Kind of let it snowball on me,” he said.
Offensively, Xander Bogaerts had a fine game. Batting second, the Padres’ shortstop put four hard shots into play, a category in which he finished in the bottom third last year. Two went for hits against Skubal.
“I’m very excited about where Xander Bogaerts is, and what kind of season he’s going to have this year,” Stammen said.
Padres cleanup man Jackson Merrill, 23, won’t soon forget the education Skubal dealt him.
The fellow lefty struck him out three times, getting him with two changeups and then a fastball that caught him looking
But the game’s top performer was also the youngest one.
McGonigle, 21, even made a smart choice in socks, going with an old-style, striped look.
The rookie — who was drafted out of Drexel Hill, Pa, by former Padres scout Mark Conner — went double, double, single to begin his big league career. At third base, he made sharp plays. As a baserunner, he read a blooped single better than many big leaguers do, enabling him to score from second base.
Next, we’ll see if Padres starting pitcher Michael King can find his footing Friday.
Normally, I’d point out that the second game is Tony Gwynn Opening Day. Gwynn loved the second home game, saying only the real baseball fans — his people, he called them — showed up for the Padres’ second home game.
But in this amazing Padres era of popularity and brisk commerce, it’s 81 days of baseball Mardi Gras in the East Village.