Best Sections To Catch A Foul Ball and Home Run

The ultimate souvenir. Feel like the chosen one. The 10th man. You coulda been a contender. What is more exciting than a piece of the game itself reaching out and touching your hands? Here are our tips for the best place to sit at Petco Park if you are hoping to catch a foul ball at a San Diego Padres game.

Never Tell Me The Odds

For starters, how many balls are we talking about? A typical MLB game has close to 50 foul balls, and roughly 25-30 of them make it into the stands. Add about a dozen balls tossed to the cutest fans at inning’s end, plus around two home runs a game, and you’ve got 40-ish souvenirs up for grabs. With Petco Park capacity sitting just under 40,000, the raw math puts your odds of coming home with a free souvenir ball at about 1 in 1,000 (or 0.1%). But don’t get discouraged. With a little strategy in your seat selection, you can swing the odds in your favor.

First, Know Where The Net Is

The protective netting at Petco runs from home plate past both dugouts, all the way through section 115 on the 1st base side and section 116 on the 3rd base side. Screaming line drives into those sections hit the net, not your glove. A pop-up can still drop over the top, but if a ball is the goal, check which seats are behind the safety net before you buy.

Best Section To Catch A Foul Ball

• Field Level 117-121 — Sections 117, 119 and 121 are the first open sections past the net on the 1st base side. Hard fouls down the right field line come in here with nothing in the way.
• Field Level 118-122 — Same deal on the 3rd base side in sections 118, 120 and 122. Bonus: this side gets shade first during day games.
• Toyota Terrace Infield — On the second level right behind the dugouts. Sections 207, 208, 209, 210. You know those tall towering foul balls that reach great height before hooking back and plopping into some lucky fan’s glove? This is the spot. And the netting stays down at field level, so nothing’s between you and the ball.

Note: Statistically, you are not likely to see many foul balls reach the upper deck. If you are near home plate, around say section 305, you may catch a surprise.

Tip For Catching Foul Balls

Watch whether the batter on deck is a righty or lefty, so you can be ready. If it is a right-handed batter, the foul is more likely coming to the first base side. A left-handed batter more often fouls to the third base side. If you are seated in those sections, get your glove / beer cup ready!

Roughly 1 out of every 6 pitches is fouled off. Fouls are more likely to come with 2 strikes, when a batter must protect the edges of the plate.

Best Section To Catch A Home Run At Petco

With only about two home runs per game, consider yourself truly lucky if you get your hands on one. You don’t need a glove, you need a four-leaf clover held by a rabbit’s foot wearing a horseshoe. Grab a seat in the Left Field Lower Box sections 126, 128 and 130. Section 130 will give you your best shot. Also don’t overlook sitting in the Padres Home Run Deck, or posting up on the front rail at Craft Pier, which hangs right over the right-center field warning track.