Padres News: Manny Machado Has Special Shout Out for Friar Fan Base

The San Diego Padres demolished the St. Louis Cardinals in their final game of the 2023 season in Petco Park, just the third time this season fans at the park have witnessed the Padres defeat a team by eight or more runs.

While the Padres did not set many records on the field this season, the Padres fans in the stands certainly did. Sunday's sellout crowd of 42,505 marked the 59th time Petco Park sold out this season and brought their 2023 ballpark attendance to 3,232,310 — a Padres franchise record. 

With two "home" games in a 20,000-seat stadium in Mexico City, the Padres will likely finish with the second-highest attendance in MLB behind the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“Glad we put on a good show for them on the last day,” Melvin said. “... You know, 61 sellouts out of 81, it’s pretty remarkable. (The fans) stayed with it the whole way even though our season was far from perfect. But they were here every night.” 

(Via Kevin Acee, The San Diego Union-Tribune)

As Acee noted in his recap of the Padres' win over St. Louis, the Friars averaged 29,585 fans per game in 2019. The smallest crowd at Peco Park this season was 29,581, just four fans fewer than their average in 2019.

“Just seeing the growth of this organization for the last five, six years,” Manny Machado said. “Seeing the fans every day — through the bad seasons, through ‘19 and seeing them in ‘20 when they couldn’t experience it and then coming out in ‘21 and in ‘22. … This fanbase is one of the best fanbases in the game. They showed it this year.”

(Via Kevcin Acee, The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Whether or not the Padres make the postseason — and it would take a near-unprecedented collapse from several of the teams ahead in the NL Wild Card standings — Petco Park has enjoyed success as the Friars' faithful continue to show out.