San Diego salutes runner-up Padres
Posted: Friday October 23, 1998 11:41 PM
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Gwynn and his wife saluted the many Padres fans that honored their NL champions AP |
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- You'd never know they came in second.
Thousands of fans packed the sidewalks of downtown San Diego Friday for a
parade saluting their beloved Padres, who were swept this week in their
second-ever World Series appearance by the New York Yankees.
The celebration came just days before voters decide whether the
city should help pay for a new ballpark for the team. "Imagine
how it would be if they'd won," an astonished Ronnie Cornell, 22, said
while surveying the sidewalks, which were crammed 10 fans deep in some
places. Some in the crowd -- estimated at 100,000 -- left work
early to attend the 4 p.m. parade. Decked out in Padres T-shirts and caps,
they chanted "Here we go, Padres! Here we go!," blew long plastic horns and
sprayed silly string into the streets. They cheered loudly as
each member of the team -- riding atop Corvette convertibles -- passed. The
crowd erupted in earsplitting applause, whistles and screams of "Tony!
Tony!" with the approach of eight-time NL batting champ Tony Gwynn, who
wore a three-piece gray suit and a baseball cap. To the disappointment of
many, Ken
Caminiti did not attend. The celebration was a much
smaller version of the one thrown Friday in New York, where hundreds of
thousands of fans crowded Manhattan's famed Canyon of Heroes for a parade
for the Yankees. Then again, the Yankees did win.
After the Padres, their coaches and several marching bands finished the
17-block parade route, team president Larry Lucchino stood on a stage and
presented the National League champion trophy to Mayor Susan Golding and
the city. "This is awesome!" manager Bruce Bochy told the
jubilant crowd. "Never, never in all my years of baseball have I ever seen
anything like this." Fans said they would've turned out for
the Padres no matter what. "They're my team," said Alex Silva,
34, who stood on the 5th Avenue sidewalk with his wife and 7-year-old son.
"I've got to be here, even if they came in second. Even if they came in
last place, I'd still be here." "In my heart, they're the
best," said William Reimund, 45, an emergency room nurse who switched his
work hours to attend the parade. Some fans and players used
the parade as an opportunity to promote Proposition C, the November 3
ballot measure for a new, downtown ballpark. One man hoisted a
sign that read "City Buy the C." Padres slugger Mark Sweeney
told the crowd: "Vote yes on C." If approved, the city would
pay $275 million for the new ballpark: $225 million through hotel taxes and
$50 million from the Centre City Development Corp., the city's downtown
redevelopment agency. The San Diego Port District would chip in $21 million
for pedestrian bridges, street widening and improved intersections.
The Padres would raise $115 million in private money, up to $40
million from selling a company the naming rights to the stadium. The team
must also recruit developers to establish office space, hotels, shops and
restaurants near the ballpark, investments worth at least $400 million.
A poll published Friday in The San Diego Union-Tribune
showed 60 percent of voters support a new ballpark, 31 percent plan to vote
against it and the remaining 9 percent were undecided. The telephone survey
of 365 likely voters was conducted October 8 to 17, and showed little
change in opinion from August.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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