Where the Padres Played Before Petco Park

SAN DIEGO'S HIDDEN GEMS

Where the Padres Played Before Petco Park: Finding Lane Field's Hidden Home Plate

Long before Petco Park.

Long before Qualcomm Stadium.

And even before San Diego had a Major League Baseball team, fans were already cheering for the Padres.

Their ballpark sat right on San Diego's downtown waterfront.

Today, the stadium is gone.

Hotels and a public park occupy much of the site.

But if you know where to look, you can still stand at home plate.

Welcome to Lane Field — one of the coolest pieces of San Diego sports history hiding in plain sight.

Wait — There Were Padres Before the Padres?

Yes.

And this is where the story gets interesting.

The San Diego Padres most baseball fans know today joined Major League Baseball as an expansion franchise in 1969.

But San Diego had a professional baseball team called the Padres decades earlier.

Beginning in 1936, the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres played professional baseball here.

Their home?

A downtown waterfront ballpark called Lane Field.

Lane Field Was Right on the Waterfront

Picture downtown San Diego in the 1930s.

The skyline looked nothing like it does today.

San Diego Bay was dominated by ships, piers, warehouses and waterfront industry.

And near the foot of Broadway sat a baseball stadium.

Lane Field occupied the northeast corner of Broadway and Harbor Drive.

Baseball fans could watch a professional game with San Diego Bay practically next door.

The Ballpark Actually Predated the Padres

Lane Field was built in 1925.

It later took the name of Bill Lane, the baseball owner who brought his Pacific Coast League club from Hollywood to San Diego.

In 1936, the team became the San Diego Padres.

And Lane Field became their home.

The Pacific Coast League Was a Big Deal

It's easy to look backward and think of the old Padres as simply a minor-league team.

That misses some important context.

Before Major League Baseball expanded westward, the Pacific Coast League represented some of the highest-level professional baseball available on the West Coast.

Cities such as San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Sacramento and Portland developed passionate baseball followings.

For San Diego fans, Lane Field wasn't a curiosity.

It was their ballpark.

And One of Baseball's Greatest Hitters Played Here

This is where Lane Field's story becomes much bigger than San Diego.

A young local baseball player joined the Padres in the 1930s.

His name was Ted Williams.

Williams grew up in San Diego and attended Hoover High School.

Before becoming one of the greatest hitters in Major League Baseball history, he played professionally for his hometown Padres.

Which means the young Ted Williams once stepped into the batter's box at Lane Field.

Imagine Seeing Ted Williams Before He Was TED WILLIAMS

This may be our favorite part of the story.

Today, Williams is a baseball legend.

Hall of Famer.

Boston Red Sox icon.

The last Major League hitter to finish a season above .400.

But San Diego baseball fans got to see him before all of that.

A local kid beginning his professional career at a waterfront ballpark in his hometown.

Lane Field Wasn't Exactly Petco Park

Today's Petco Park is consistently celebrated for its architecture, amenities and downtown setting.

Lane Field belonged to another era entirely.

The park was comparatively simple.

Wooden seating.

Advertising signs covered the outfield walls.

The industrial waterfront surrounded it.

And yet thousands of San Diegans came here to watch baseball.

The Padres Played Here for More Than 20 Years

Lane Field served as the home of the Pacific Coast League Padres from 1936 through 1957.

That's more than two decades of San Diego baseball history.

Generations of fans walked through its gates.

Kids watched their heroes.

Players chased their dreams of reaching the major leagues.

And the Padres became part of San Diego's identity.

Then San Diego Outgrew Lane Field

By the 1950s, San Diego was changing rapidly.

The city's population had exploded.

The waterfront was evolving.

And the Padres needed a newer baseball facility.

After the 1957 season, the team left Lane Field.

In 1958, the Padres moved to Westgate Park in Mission Valley.

Lane Field Became a Parking Lot

This part hurts a little if you're a baseball fan.

The old stadium was dismantled.

The place where generations of San Diegans had watched professional baseball became a parking area.

For decades, you could drive past the site without realizing a ballpark had ever existed there.

But San Diego Didn't Completely Forget

Eventually, redevelopment came to this section of the North Embarcadero.

Hotels were planned for portions of the former stadium property.

But the redevelopment also created something important:

Lane Field Park.

The approximately two-acre public park opened in 2015 and deliberately incorporates reminders of the site's baseball history.

And That's Where You Can Find Home Plate

Walk through Lane Field Park and look carefully.

The landscape contains baseball references representing the historic field.

You'll find:

A historic home plate marker
A pitcher's mound
Markers representing the bases
Historical information about Lane Field
A tribute to Ted Williams

Suddenly an ordinary waterfront park becomes something completely different.

Stand at Home Plate and Look Around

This is the moment we think makes the visit worthwhile.

Find home plate.

Stand behind it.

Then forget the hotels, streets and modern buildings for a moment.

Imagine wooden grandstands filled with baseball fans.

Imagine advertising signs lining the outfield.

Imagine the noise of the working waterfront nearby.

And imagine a teenage Ted Williams stepping toward the plate.

You're standing where San Diego baseball history happened.

The Ted Williams Connection Makes This Place Special

Lane Field Park includes a tribute to Williams for good reason.

His San Diego story sometimes gets overshadowed by his legendary career in Boston.

But before Fenway Park...

Before the batting titles...

Before the Hall of Fame...

There was San Diego.

And there was Lane Field.

So Is This Really the Padres' "First Home Plate"?

There's an important distinction.

The Port of San Diego describes Lane Field Park as the location of the Padres' first home plate.

That's true in the context of the Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres.

The current Major League Baseball Padres franchise began play in 1969.

So Lane Field wasn't an MLB Padres stadium.

It's the home of the earlier professional Padres team that helped establish the baseball tradition and name San Diego still carries today.

From Lane Field to Petco Park

San Diego baseball moved several times after Lane Field.

The Pacific Coast League Padres moved to Westgate Park in 1958.

Major League Baseball arrived in 1969.

The MLB Padres played for decades at San Diego Stadium in Mission Valley — later known by names including Jack Murphy Stadium and Qualcomm Stadium.

Then in 2004, the Padres moved downtown again.

This time to Petco Park.

In a way, San Diego baseball had come home.

And Petco Park Is Only About a Mile Away

That's what makes this especially fun for baseball fans.

You can stand where San Diego's early Padres played...

...and then walk through downtown toward the home of today's Padres.

Two completely different ballparks.

Two completely different eras.

Connected by San Diego baseball history.

Nancy's Hidden Gem Tip: Do This on Game Day

Nancy's Hidden Gem Tip

Going to a Padres game at Petco Park?

Start your day at Lane Field.

Find the old home plate.

Read the history.

Check out the Ted Williams tribute.

Then walk south along the waterfront and through downtown toward Petco Park.

You'll literally walk from one era of San Diego baseball into another.

It's Also a Great Waterfront Stop

You absolutely don't need to be attending a baseball game to visit.

Lane Field Park sits along one of San Diego's best walking corridors: the North Embarcadero.

Nearby you'll find:

Broadway Pier
San Diego Bay
Maritime Museum of San Diego
USS Midway Museum
Waterfront Park
Little Italy
Portside Pier

It's easy to incorporate Lane Field into a larger downtown day.

And Our Last Hidden Gem Is Nearby

If you've been following our San Diego's Hidden Gems series, you may notice something.

Just south along the waterfront is The Headquarters at Seaport.

That's the former San Diego Police Headquarters where historic jail cells remain preserved inside today's commercial complex.

Put these two stops together and you've got a surprisingly good hidden-history waterfront walk.

Our Ideal San Diego Baseball History Day

Start at Lane Field Park;
Find the historic home plate;
See the Ted Williams tribute;
Walk south along the Embarcadero;
Stop for lunch downtown;
Continue toward the Gaslamp Quarter;
Walk into Petco Park for a Padres game;
Watch today's Padres play just a short distance from where the name began.

Baseball fan or not, that's a pretty fantastic way to experience downtown San Diego.

What to Know Before You Go

Location: Lane Field Park
Address: 1009 North Harbor Drive, San Diego
Area: North Embarcadero / Downtown Waterfront
Historic team: Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres
Padres played here: 1936–1957
Famous player: San Diego native Ted Williams
What remains: Historic home plate, pitcher's mound, base references and baseball-history displays
Cost: Free
Best for: Baseball fans, history lovers, families and waterfront walkers
Time needed: About 20–45 minutes
Best combined with: Waterfront Park, Little Italy, USS Midway, Embarcadero or a Padres game at Petco Park

Why Lane Field Made Our Hidden Gems List

Today, this stretch of waterfront is surrounded by hotels, cruise ships and modern downtown San Diego.

It's easy to walk straight through without thinking twice.

But that's exactly why Lane Field belongs in this series.

History doesn't always survive as an enormous historic building.

Sometimes it's a small marker in the ground.

And unless somebody tells you what happened there, you'll walk right over it.

The next time you visit the waterfront, find the plate.

Stand there for a minute.

Look toward San Diego Bay.

And remember that decades before Petco Park...

San Diego was already a Padres town.

🌴 Nancy's San Diego Hidden Gems

This article is part of our San Diego's Hidden Gems series — unusual places, neighborhood restaurants, secret bars, hidden trails, fascinating history and local experiences many visitors never discover.

After more than 25 years welcoming guests to San Diego, we've learned that some of the city's best stories are hiding right beneath your feet.

Discover San Diego Beyond the Ballpark

Cheer for the Padres at Petco Park.

Explore the Gaslamp.

Walk the waterfront.

But while you're downtown, take a few minutes to find the place where an earlier generation of Padres fans once cheered.

At Nancy's Vacation Rentals, we love helping guests discover both the famous San Diego attractions and the stories hiding between them.

Find your San Diego vacation rental and start exploring beyond the obvious.

SEO Information

SEO Title:
Lane Field: Where San Diego's Padres Played Before Petco Park

Meta Description:
Before Petco Park, San Diego's Pacific Coast League Padres played at Lane Field. Find the historic home plate, discover the Ted Williams connection and explore this hidden piece of waterfront baseball history.

Suggested URL:
/blog/lane-field-san-diego-padres-home-plate

Primary Keyword:
Lane Field San Diego

Secondary Keywords:
Lane Field Padres, old Padres stadium San Diego, Padres first home plate, Ted Williams San Diego, San Diego baseball history, Padres before Petco Park, Lane Field Park, San Diego waterfront history, San Diego hidden gems

Featured Image Concept

Create a cinematic then-and-now composition of Lane Field. In the foreground, show the modern Lane Field Park home plate marker with a baseball resting beside it. Behind it, transition into a historically inspired 1930s waterfront baseball scene with wooden grandstands, players on the field and San Diego Bay beyond. Modern downtown should subtly appear on the opposite side of the composition to reinforce how dramatically the location has changed.

Series Marker:
SAN DIEGO'S HIDDEN GEMS

Main Headline:
BEFORE PETCO PARK...
THE PADRES PLAYED HERE

Supporting Line:
Lane Field • San Diego Waterfront

Bottom Hook:
Find Home Plate • Discover Ted Williams • Step Into Padres History