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April 14 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Designated hits: The jury's still out on whether Padres management did enough during the off-season to strengthen the team for a run at a playoff berth. But it's clear that some folks at Petco Park were busy during the down months – making smart trades, beefing up the lineup and working on improving averages.

April 7 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
'Major league' progress: A year after Petco Park opened in downtown San Diego, city officials and business leaders say the ballpark continues to have a huge impact on reinventing the once-blighted warehouse district it occupies.

April 7 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Fans should plan early arrival: Take the trolley and get there early. That's what officials say is the best plan to get to tonight's San Diego Padres home opener in time for the scheduled 7:05 p.m. start against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

April 3 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
NCTD has trains, buses ready for Padres fans: How much does it cost? North County Transit District operates passenger trains to downtown San Diego on weeknights that the Padres play at Petco Park and express buses on weekends.

March 21 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Covering bases: In Peoria, Ariz., Padres players are loosening up their arms. In the Gaslamp Quarter, restaurant owners are warming up a new marketing strategy. At City Hall, officials are fine-tuning traffic plans.

Dec. 26 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Ballpark district focus of new pitch: The development company of Padres' owner John Moores is proposing seven acres of condominiums, retail space and possibly offices and hotels just southeast of the downtown San Diego ballpark.

Sept. 14 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Fans on their feet at Petco: On a recent weekend at Petco Park, Omar Cavallero saw a baseball game, caught a home-run ball and got a free piece of cake.

OCEANSIDE, Dec. 4 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Ballgames to affect Coaster night schedule: Monday through Thursday next year, late night Coaster trains probably will run only when there's a Padres baseball game at Petco Park.

Nov. 12 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Results of Petco Park recycling study vary: The San Diego Padres did better with aluminum cans, but lost ground on cardboard. They added 150 recycling bins around Petco Park as last season wore on, but fell way behind rounding up peanut shells.

Sept. 28 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Petco peeves: Traffic was going to be a nightmare, with the powerful receding riptide of workers going home slamming up against the wave of Padre fans coming in for the game.

Oct. 9 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Scorecard on Petco Park: The Tivoli, an off-the-beaten-path bar on the fringes of the Gaslamp, has not traditionally been considered among the more popular downtown watering holes. Then again, traditionally it hasn't been in the shadow of a downtown ballpark.

Oct. 3 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Ballpark brass looks to off-season: They say the baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. But Petco Park's inaugural season didn't feel that way to Erik Judson.

Sep. 19 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
The show at Petco: Brian Giles' swing was robust, his timing perfect and the baseball was on an unmistakable journey into the right-field stands. "OK, watch what happens," Erik Meyer said, straining to be heard above the crescendoing cheers of 36,000 fans.

Fireworks exploded beyond center field; a pounding rock beat boomed from 560 strategically placed speakers; a grainy video of the Padres right fielder smacking a ball appeared on the big Matrix screen followed by a replay of Giles' actual home-run swing on the giant, high-definition FriarVision; other scoreboards flashed "WOW!"

Sep. 19 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Baseball promotions can sometimes strike out: Whether it's high-tech entertainment or freebie nights, the goal of professional baseball is to put fans in the seats. And when it comes to promotions, it's hard to top the creativity and often questionable taste of fan-starved minor-league baseball teams.

Sept. 6 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Petco's army: A half hour or so after the final out of every Padres home game, Harvey "Ski" Sniegowski looks toward the Park at the Park for the "signal."

July 14 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Ballpark-area residents learning to live with their new neighbor: The new downtown ballpark is a little more than halfway through its inaugural season, and for nearby residents it's been kind of like a Clint Eastwood movie: There's been some good, some bad and some ugly.

HALF-WAY MARK, July 15 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Some hits, some errors: After a half season at Petco Park, one question remains unanswered: "Where is?"

July 11 (UNION-TRIBUNE)
Neighbors enjoy larks at the Park at the Park: June gloom and a chill wind off the bay had chased Antionette Van Horn and her two boys away the day before.

But the young mother vowed she'd bring them back to their new favorite place.