Richard Andersen, executive v.p. and managing director of Petco Park for the Padres, says many changes have taken place since the ballpark opened, including the size of the cups. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

We are “below water,” which is Padrespeak for behind the scenes. In a meeting room on the business side of Petco Park, about 50 employees are undergoing a mandatory training session on improving customer service. On an easel they read, “Treat every customer as though they were your favorite celebrity…or grandma.”

Making fans feel even more welcome is one of the many missions of this year’s Padres as the team and its management settle into the third year of baseball in Petco Park. In 2005 alone, the park hosted its first playoff game, its last Phil Nevin tantrum, was selected to host the first ever WBC (World Baseball Classic) and featured a “this could be the last time” concert by the Stones.

“It’s like any home,” says Richard Andersen, Padres executive vice president and managing director of Petco Park. “The first year you’re trying to unpack the boxes, the second year you think this would look a lot better if we moved it over there, but by the third year you have an idea of where things are and how they work. Now we have a very clear vision of what we want to become.”

Andersen speaks with an easy ballpark familiarity, the result of almost three decades of baseball management with the Braves, Pirates, Marlins and for the last three plus years with the Padres. He is now well versed in the gospel of Sandy Alderson, the former Oakland A’s exec brought in last year by owner John Moores to oversee the entire Padres enchilada.

About changes to the Park in the Park, Andersen quotes Alderson; “Before we make a lot of wholesale changes, let’s master plan this.” Alderson’s Padres are all about “creating great guest experiences,” remembering that “good teams stick to the fundamentals.”

“Sandy says if we say we’re about doing the right thing then we ought to do the right thing most of the time,” Andersen says.

The Padres moved Petco Park’s right center field fence in about 11 feet in hopes of boosting home run production. (photo/lambertphoto.com)

This season, what every true fan will first notice is that the right center field fence has been moved in about 11 feet from 411 feet to 400. This is one way Alderson and Co. hope to boost the Padres power production. In 2005, Ryan Klesko’s 18 round trippers led the team. The other way Alderson is master planning more scoring is by bringing in veteran third baseman Vinny Castilla to replace the frustrating Sean Burroughs, replacing Dave Roberts in center with Mike Cameron (Roberts moves to left field), and picking up catcher Mike Piazza after Ramon Hernandez flew to Baltimore. Whether any of the three can hit more than 20 homers is debatable, but at least they’ll have a shorter distance to clear.

OK, so can I get a beer and a hot dog, please?

The lowly hot dog became a big deal in 2005. The Padres took so much grief over the quality of their frankfurters and how long one had to wait for same that the team organized caravans where fans rated sample dogs. So now Padres’ dogs are grilled. This year, Petco is tackling the line dance by adding 40 portable beverage stands throughout the park.

“A lot of times someone just wants a beer or a soft drink and they’re stuck standing in a general concession line,” Andersen explains.

Even the cups have been scrutinized. “We bit the bullet on this one,” Andersen says. “We’re selling our souvenir cup for 50 cents less, and we’ve reduced the cup size from 44 ounces to 32. Candidly, who can drink a 44 ounce soft drink?”

But what jazzes Andersen most about these cups is that they take less time to fill. “That’s why we did it, speed of service,” he says. Filling smaller cups faster fits in with the Padres’ new goal of serving a fan in 90 seconds or less.

And premium beer, which costs more than premium gas, will be available throughout the park, and not just in private clubs.

But don’t even think about bringing smokes to the game anymore, unless you’re the kind of smoker who likes a nice, long hike before you light up. Petco is now a smoke-free facility which means smokers will have to take it outside to one of four designated smoking areas by the Gaslamp, East Village, Home Plate and Park Boulevard gates. At the gate, an attendant stamps the smoker’s hand for re-entry. “It’s a relatively simple process. It just means longer walks for smokers,” Andersen says.

Last year, some fans used the flower beds to dispose of their smokes because they couldn’t find designated smoking areas in the building. So what if someone lights up on the concourse? The Padres are going to arm their attendants with ashtrays so the weed can be extinguished immediately. This may necessitate training on how to put out garbage can fires.

Some other reasons to cheer:

• Eight day games (not including weekends) this year instead of seven. One more opportunity to turn that one-hour client lunch into a much more meaningful three-hour “guest experience.”
  
  
• More and bigger televisions. Four new 50-inch, high-definition monitors padding what Andersen says is National League HD supremacy and more than 600 TVs total in the park, in a “deep partnership” with Cox and Sony.
  
  
• Restrooms in the Western Metal Hall of Fame Bar & Grill (this place really needs a nickname). But the lockers of Tony Gwynn, Randy Jones and Jerry Coleman still look lonely, with no surrounding Wall of History, like the one at the 3-year-old Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

One reason to boo:

• Parking is increasing from $17 to $20 in the tailgate lot.

Then again, if one can afford $17 for parking, a $3 increase hardly seems to matter. Also, the city has lowered the price of selected meter parking, and extended the normal two-hour parking maximum. While maps are at ccdc.com, in general you can park along G and F streets east of Ninth Avenue for four or more hours at 50 cents to $1 an hour. Get to that 7 p.m. game early enough, drop a few bucks in a meter and consider the cost of your first pre-game appetizer and beverage at a local restaurant covered.