Fiesta Becomes a Siesta

MONTERREY, Mexico —  The San Diego Padres learned the hard way Saturday night: History is never as sweet the second time around.

In the second major league regular-season game south of the border, the Padres had to settle for just that, losing to the New York Mets, 7-3, in their new home away from home.

Fireworks again lit up Monterrey’s Sierra Madre behind center field after the game. But gone was much of the hype, hoopla and “Fernandomania” of the Padres’ euphoric victory Friday.

Gone too were the frenetic chants, shouts, cheers and five home runs that lit up Estadio Monterrey in major league baseball’s season debut in Mexico.

And so were a few thousand fans, in what many Monterrey baseball experts called a more accurate acid test of major league baseball’s future in Mexico.

Mexico’s favorite son, Fernando Valenzuela, Friday night’s starter and top draw, was in the dugout, 2,826 fewer fans were in the stands and the 20,873 who paid their way into the 25,644-seat stadium were a second-night crowd.

The Monterrey fans still favored their “home team” Padres, cheering heartily for Tony Gwynn’s three hits and two runs batted in. And they were generous in excusing the many Padre mistakes--two misjudged line drives that led to Met runs in the top of the third, and Greg Vaughn’s double-play ball with the bases loaded in the bottom of the third, to name only two.

But through most of the three-hour game, the stadium was considerably more peaceful--and polite--than the packed soccer stadium nearby.

San Diego’s losing starter, Tim Worrell, who had a tough act to follow and left trailing, 5-0, after five innings, summed it up before the game: “There’s not going to be another first time.”

To be fair, there was stiff Saturday night competition for the second of what major league baseball is marketing as “The First Series.”

Cuban singer Pablo Milanes was headlining at Monterrey’s Coca-Cola Auditorium, and the Nuevo Leon University soccer team was playing a few blocks away.

“There are a lot of options in town tonight,” said Marco Almaraz, Monterrey’s premier Mexican baseball commentator. “It’s a good test for Monterrey.”

This weekend’s series is seen not only as an important test of baseball’s popularity in a city that has applied for the first major league franchise in Mexico. It’s also testing the players’ off-field endurance.

The Padres’ Australian-born second-baseman, Craig Shipley, was diplomatic. Asked if he would want to play for a franchise in Mexico, he said, “I’m lucky. By the time there’s a franchise here, I won’t be playing anymore.”

But some players seemed more comfortable here than others.

“Everything’s great. The fans are great. The hotel is great. It’s great to be in a Latin country,” said Met infielder and former Padre Roberto Petagine, a Venezuela native.