Sports
From 1964–1968, the San Diego Chargers held training camp in Escondido.
In 1981, Escondido National Little League became the 19th team to make it to the Little League World Series from the state of California. The team was first District 31 champions, then District 8 champions. They then won the Southern California Divisional Tournament at Youth Athletic Park by beating San Bernardino Civitan 3-2 in the quarterfinals, then beating Granada Hills American 5-1 in the semifinals and then beating Ladera National 7-5 in the finals to earn a trip to the Western Regional. At the Western Regional in San Bernardino, the Escondido team won four straight games to earn the trip to Williamsport.
In October 2010, Merritt Paulson, owner of the AAA Portland Beavers franchise, announced that the team was being sold to the North County Baseball ownership group, led by Jeff Moorad, part-owner and CEO of the Beavers parent team, the San Diego Padres. The ownership group is in discussions to build a stadium in Escondido to become operational for the 2012 baseball season at the earliest. In December 2010, the Escondido city council voted to go ahead with the ballpark. The stadium is slated to open in April 2013.
However, the plan to move the team fell through in January 2012 and the current Tucson Padres are left on their own. It's possible a relocated team of the class A California League most likely a San Diego Padres affiliated team will play in Escondido next year.
Read more about this topic: Escondido, California
Famous quotes containing the word sports:
“It is usual for a Man who loves Country Sports to preserve the Game in his own Grounds, and divert himself upon those that belong to his Neighbour.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)
“Sweet smiling village, loveliest of the lawn,
Thy sports are fled and all thy charms withdrawn;
Amidst thy bowers the tyrant’s hand is seen,
And desolation saddens all thy green;
One only master grasps the whole domain,
And half a tillage stints thy smiling plain;”
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730?–1774)
“Guys do not have a genetic blueprint that allows them to understand or love sports.”
—Lesley Visser, U.S. sports reporter and announcer. As quoted in Sports Illustrated, p. 82 (June 17, 1991)