After the San Diego Chargers became the Los Angeles Chargers in 2016, the professional sports community in our city hasn’t been the same. With the loss of football, San Diegans have turned to our only other mainstream professional sport: baseball.
Historically, the Padres haven’t been great. With only two World Series appearances and no championships in their 55-year existence, they aren’t the first organization that pops into sports fans’ heads when they think of good teams. But with three postseason appearances in the past five years, the Padres have been giving fans something to root for.
And, a lot of San Diegans have taken notice.
Recently, there has been a surge of interest in the Padres. Students are wearing Padres jerseys to school in greater numbers than ever before. Additionally, Petco Park attendance numbers are at an all-time high with 56 sellouts during the regular season. During this year’s postseason run, the team’s success was a daily conversation all over town.
I’m a strong believer that being a fan of a sports team is one of the most effective ways to foster a sense of community. Growing up, I would always see my dad wearing his favorite teams on baseball caps and sporting them on the t-shirts that made up 90% of his closet. I never paid much mind to it until I decided to start following sports myself, a decision that taught me so much about being part of a community and sharing my passions.
Baseball is such a huge part of my life, yet I never thought that I would ever be the type of person to follow sports so closely. A few years ago, I began volunteering at a Little League snack bar organization and discovered how much I truly enjoy watching the sport. This created my surge of interest in the Padres and major league baseball in general.
Not only have I connected to my community by getting to meet and grow close with families and kids near me, but I’ve also grown closer to my dad; we’ve bonded over watching the Padres game every day during baseball season. Before leaving the car in the mornings to drop me off, my dad would ask me what time the game started and we’d plan excitedly so that we could have our special few hours to sit down and enjoy it together.
Some of my closest friends now are people with whom I’ve been able to discuss baseball. I’ve grown to appreciate how I can maneuver a conversation from non-meaningful small talk to something that I genuinely care about and enjoy speaking about.
For example, one of my closest friends now is someone who I rarely talked to before and I now talk to every day. He replied to an Instagram story of mine about the Padres and we’ve grown closer ever since. Although we’ve known each other for years, we didn’t begin to grow closer until we found this common interest that bonded us together.
Coming from personal experience, being a fan of a team brings people together. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that so much good can come out of being passionate about something.
