Padres Paradise Series


The Padres Paradise Series was a three-game Major League Baseball regular season series between the San Diego Padres and St. Louis Cardinals, held on April 19 and 20, 1997 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii, United States. These were the first regular-season major league games played in the state. The Padres were the home team for all three games. The Cardinals won the opening two games on April 19, winning the first 1–0 and the second 2–1. The Padres won the third game on April 20 by a score of 8–2. Reported attendances were 37,382 and 40,050.
The Padres front office saw the series as a test run for future exhibition games in Hawaii. The Padres had played an exhibition series at Aloha Stadium in 1975 against Japan's Seibu Lions. The Padres arrived in Hawaii with an 8–5 record. The three-game series began a stretch in which they lost 10 of 11 and dropped below.500 for the rest of the season.

Participating teams

The Padres first asked the Houston Astros to move a series from San Diego to Honolulu, but the Astros declined. The Padres then turned to the Cardinals.

Broadcasting

The Sunday game was nationally televised on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball.

Series summary

The series was composed of three Padres regular season home games relocated from San Diego.

Game 1

The first game was held on Saturday, April 19, 1997, at 4:09 p.m. HST.

Game 2

The second game was held on Saturday, April 19, 1997, at 7:17 p.m. HST.

Game 3

The third game was held on Sunday, April 20, 1997, at 2:05 p.m. HST.