Padres practice at Fowler Park

San Diego Padres injured reserves and top prospects used USD’s baseball stadium for summer training camp

Maria Watters / Asst. Sports Editor

Beginning the first week of July, the San Diego Padres made a home at the University of San Diego’s Fowler Park to run their summer training camp. 

Although the Major League Baseball team has never used the USD facilities in the past, the relationship between the University of San Diego and the Padres dates back to the construction of the stadium in 2013. The executive chairman of the ownership group of the Padres, Ron Fowler, and his wife Alexis Fowler made a generous donation toward the new ballpark, and in turn, the stadium was named after the couple to honor their contribution.

Seven years later, the impact of COVID-19 brought the Padres back to Fowler Park, this time to play on the field itself.

“It just made a ton of sense,” the Director of Baseball Operations for the University of San Diego Will Gaines said. “But part of that was the relationship with Ron Fowler being tied into both the school and the Padres. It just made a ton of sense.”

In accordance with the MLB’s operations manual for 2020, the Padres separated their players into smaller groups for summer training camp. The main roster of players continued to practice at the Padres’ home field, Petco Park. Meanwhile, players on injury reserve as well as top prospects made use of USD’s facilities. 

With other major league baseball teams utilizing local colleges for summer training, both the Padres and the Toreros jumped at the opportunity to use Fowler Park. 

“It was brought up, probably, the second we started hearing wind of other teams playing at colleges,” USD Baseball assistant coach Matt Bergandi said. “I reached out to my contacts with the Padres … and then around the same time the Padres actually reached out to Bill McGillis and asked about using the field. It was kind of a weird coincidence. It seemed like all of us had our same thoughts in the same place.”

But while the Padres had secured Fowler Park as a location for their most promising prospects to practice and players on injury reserve to rehab, it was imperative that the safety of all those involved be the primary concern. Therefore, the players were tested for COVID-19 three times a week, gloves and masks were used as much as possible, and the entire facility was sanitized. In addition to these measures, the practices were tightly closed off from the public, and the Toreros avoided the park while the Padres practiced. 

The steps taken proved to be successful as there was not a single case of COVID-19 reported while the Padres trained at USD.

Though they were unable to watch the Padres practice, the impact of the professional baseball team’s presence at USD was highly motivational for the Toreros.

“In our locker room we have a huge wall of all the guys that have signed out of here and so when players come here they want to go professionally,” Bergandi said. “This is just another thing to show them that professional players are playing here and they all just get to look up to them, and be amazed that people get paid to do what they love. It’s all a dream of theirs so … it’s another motivating factor for these guys.”

Now that the Padres’ summer training camp at USD has ended and the Toreros have returned to practice on their field, the two baseball teams head their separate ways to focus on their upcoming seasons. Having clinched the fourth seed in the playoffs, the Padres have given themselves the opportunity to achieve great success in their first postseason appearance since 2006. Meanwhile, the Toreros continue to practice in anticipation of getting back to baseball in the spring. 

Though the two teams are no longer using the same field, the Padres and the Toreros have mutually contributed to each other’s successes, but more importantly, the relationship between the University of San Diego and the San Diego Padres has a strong foundation, which both teams can continue to build on in the future.