SAN DIEGO–Last night’s Padres opening night crowd of 45,567 set a new Petco Park attendance record. The previous record of 45,496 was set on opening day in 2009, April 6, also vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Also last night, the Padres’ Mission Bell debuted in its new location, at the Kona Cove in left field. In an effort to incorporate the Mission Bell more regularly into the Petco Park experience, it will be rung by a special guest, Padres alumni or fan, to signify start of each Padres home game. In addition, the Swinging Friar will take his place at the Mission Bell during the ninth inning of each home game. In save situations, he will ring it once for the first out, twice for the second out and three times after a Padres victory. Or, in the event of a walk off win, the Friar will ring the bell three times. Last night’s bell was rung by Antoine Predock, the design architect for Petco Park.
