Petco Park didn’t scare Mark Loretta. He never viewed himself as a home run hitter, so why would he sweat the expansive dimensions when the Padres moved downtown?
Yet the hometown team had gone five-plus games and 194 plate appearances at its new ballpark without a home run when Loretta hammered Hideo Nomo’s pitch in the bottom of the first inning on this date — April 15 — in 2004 for the Padres’ first home run at Petco Park.
It was fitting. The Padres second baseman was the last player to homer at Qualcomm Stadium the previous September.