Look What I Found... A Guide To Finding Tony Gwynn sized deals on Padres Purchases

I love finding a good deal. Really, I do. I have slept on a tarp behind a dumpster to avoid paying for a hotel for a night. Yeah, I go that far.

 I don't expect you to exactly imitate my ways of finding the best deal, but I am hear to help those who want to listen how to find some fresh Padres threads so you can you can look just like me.

Macklemore wasn't too far off as he talks about poppin' tags, as I do the very same thing.  I hit up thrift stores and I dig and I dig, sometimes with the end result being a 99cent awesome product.

So, yes, the secret is out, thrift stores are the way to go. I have bought everything from t-shirts, visors, hats, flags, bobble heads, baseballs, jackets, posters. If it has a Friar logo on it, I am buying it up real cheap.  1998 Championship T-shirts? I have about 6 of them and I pay no more than $2 each. Where there is a deal, I will find it.

Vintage Tony Gwynn Bat Man Forever shirt and Padres Visor: $3 total

Throwback Padres Ticket Seller authentic jacket: $3

And yes, everything you see here is purchased from thrift stores. When it comes to the Padres,  I pop tags.

Its not always just on merchandise where I am saving a buck. You can also save money on tickets in a variety of ways if you are trying to catch a game that you know of ahead of time.

This season, the Padres have implemented the new "dynamic ticket pricing" where it pays to buy your tickets early.

"We wanted to provicde discounted seats across the ballpark to fans that purchase in advance." said president and COO Tom Garfinkel. "Over time, as the games get closer, ticket prices will normalize, but generally, fans who buy early save money."

Basically what Tommy G is getting at is the Padres want your money now and they are willing to give a discount to get your money. For those big games like Chase Headley bobble head night, Dodgers, Yankees, and other big nights, get down to the park ahead of time to purchase your tickets. Also, remember, if you are trying gain access to the oh so precious park passes, they only go on sale 14 days prior to the game, so mark your calendars and head down to Petco two weeks early, and maybe catch a game while you are there.

For the fans who cannot stand paying the prices at the gates, I have recently been openend up to a new way of buying tickets called SeatGeek.com.

My friend, who works for Apple, came raving to me about this app boasting how it makes StubHub look like a red headed step child, and man was he right. This site combines all major ticketing websites (Ebay, StubHub, TicketsNow, TicketCity) and puts all in one search to find the cheapest prices for you. Not only does it show the cheapest pricing, it also sorts by the best deals in the house to let you know how good of deal you are getting relative to other tickets in the area. Basically find best seats for cheapest price in your favorite area of the park all in one convenient place.

"Found these on StubHub for $2"

This app allows price not to be as big as factor when coming to games so it can get more fans into the park. Last year, the Padres ranked 21st out of 30 teams in attendance. It would be awesome to see this number jump. More people in crowd, more money Padres make, better players Padres can (hopefully) buy or re-sign (Yes, this includes Chase Headley).

Baseball games are much more exciting when the fans get into it. If you don't believe so, go attend a game at Fenway Park, or even a SDSU basketball game. Full crowds make fun games. Rant over.




Why not save some cash this year and follow those easy steps to becoming a better Padres fan without breaking the bank. I feel this is an investment well worth it.