2003 was a pretty good year for stadium giveaways. There were a couple great retro bobbleheads given out, they had the ’84 replica caps, the Tony Gwynn Russian Nesting Dolls and they even had an Elvis night. Here is another one of the cool giveaways that year. It’s a mini replica of Qualcomm Stadium that holds the ticket to the final Padre game ever at Qualcomm Stadium (/Jack Murphy Stadium/San Diego Stadium). As you entered the stadium instead of ripping the ticket like they normally did they punched it with a “Final Game at Qualcomm Stadium I was there” stamp. It was quite an event that I will remember forever. The game wasn’t so great as the Padres lost to the Rockies 10-8. Jake Peavy pitched OK giving up 3 runs in 6 innings but the bullpen imploded as Jay Witasick, Mike Mathews & Scott Linebrink gave up 7 runs in an inning and a third. Trevor Hoffman did come in to throw a scoreless 9th in a non-save situation. I guess you can say he was “closing out” the Q. He came in to AC/DC’s “Shook Me All Night Long” instead of the usual “Hells Bells” since it wasn’t a save opp. After the game there was a big ceremony as tons of Marines came out and removed home plate so it could be transferred to Petco Park. Mayor Dick Murphy then drove it downtown and when he got there it was played on the big screen for all to see and it was placed in the new home for the Padres. Numerous former Padres were called out on the field in a celebration as well. Tony Gwynn, Ozzie Smith, Dave Winfiled, Randy Jones, Ken Caminiti, Steve Garvey, Mark Grant, Dave Dravecky, Wally Joyner and many others came out with Cami probably getting one of the biggest cheers of the night. Trevor even came out of the bullpen to “Hells Bells” one final time.
