Nieto
is a retired preschool teacher and president of the San Diego Madres who lives in Temecula. Visit sdmadres.org for more information.
I have been a Padres fan since I was a young girl watching the Pacific Coast League with my father and brothers at Westgate Park (where the Fashion Valley Mall is now). I still remember the sound of foul balls hitting the tin roof and playing in the grassy right field. I lived in Mission Village and, when I was older, I would walk down Mission Village Drive to watch the Padres at Jack Murphy Stadium aka “The Murph.” I remember the gates would be open after the seventh inning and we would go and watch the end of games. My brother Mike and I got season tickets in Loge section 31 in the late 1970s. I learned to keep score from another Padres fan and since then, I find it helps me keep my head in the game.