Padres' New Starter 'Shocked' With Atmosphere at Petco Park

When it comes to the Padres, San Diego shows up.

May 15, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres manager Mike Shildt (8) takes the ball from starting pitcher Michael King (34) during a pitching change in the sixth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports | Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Contrary to the narrative of San Diego being "chill," the Petco Park atmosphere has become one of the loudest in baseball. In a city of more than 1.3 million people, plenty of San Diegans can choose to visit the beach while others watch their sports teams. The latter group seemed to arrive to Padres games in droves around the time the NFL's Chargers left for Los Angeles.

Petco Park averages the second-most fans per game in MLB, at 39,422. The attendance and atmosphere has been so strong, it shocked first-year Padres pitcher Michael King.

King was used to big crowds from playing for the New York Yankees from 2019-23, but did not believe he'd see the same when he joined the Padres.

“I was incredibly shocked once I actually got here,” King said, via The Athletic's Dennis Lin. “It’s an electric atmosphere here almost every single day, and I was then thinking, ‘Oh, maybe it’s just (against) L.A.’ And on a Tuesday, we’re selling out against Cincinnati. It’s like, you come here and you look at the team that’s assembled and the expectations that are on us. And so you have the expectations, you have the players in the locker room, and you also have fans that sell out all the time. So, it’s a very comparable atmosphere that I saw in New York.”

The flip side to having huge crowds at home? The Padres heard loud "boos" several times earlier in the season when they weren't playing well in San Diego.

Still, once the game is over, San Diego remains a less intense atmosphere than New York. Players like King have more room to relax.

“It’s a nice thing to be able to decompress from the game, coming home to what I’ll call a vacation,” King said, via Lin. “Whereas in New York, just the lifestyle is so fast and everybody’s mean and angry and wanting to be somewhere quickly. And then you’re driving on the streets here and you’re walking on the streets, and yeah, it’s sunny, it’s beautiful. The beach is right there."