San Diego native suits up for Game 3 at Petco Park… but with rival

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Major League Baseball center fielder Tommy Edman grew up watching baseball at Petco Park.

The San Diego native is suiting up Tuesday night to play postseason baseball at Petco Park, but with the ‘wrong’ team, many San Diegans would say.

While he has played postseason baseball as a St. Louis Cardinal at Petco before, this will be the first time he plays postseason baseball at Petco as a Dodger, with a rivalry that’s unmatched.

“Tommy was inducted into the Country Day Hall of Fame as a player,” John Edman said. “He was part of developing this field as it is so it was really cool.”

He shared more about Tommy Edman’s four-year varsity career at La Jolla Country Day School.

“He was our short stop as a freshman and lead-off hitter as a freshman and pretty much was that all four years,” John added.

John Edman has been the baseball coach at La Jolla Country Day School for 26 years and counting. He was also Tommy’s math teacher.

Oh, and his dad.

“I think his friends called me dad more than he called me dad at school,” said John Edman, adding that if people didn’t know, you wouldn’t be able to tell Tommy was his son, because the family kept a healthy balance between coach, teacher and dad.

With those three titles, it’s clear John is incredibly proud of his son, in all aspects.

Tommy graduated in 2013, went on to play college baseball as a Stanford Cardinal and was drafted in the sixth round in 2016 as a Cardinal.

“It was awesome we were down in downtown PB at a restaurant with his agent and a handful of friends that were there and it was very exciting,” John said, recalling the moment his son was drafted.

He was called up to the majors in 2019, and played several years with the redbirds, when right before the trade deadline, they traded him to a California team. He’s closer to his family, but many would say, in the wrong colors. He made his Dodger debut on Aug. 19.

“Really neat for us that we were getting them back to the West Coast, very cool that his wife’s family is from Poway so she is thrilled,” John said. “And obviously we were thrilled because we get a chance to see them way more frequently.”

“He grew up in this area going to a lot of Padres games and I know when he first came back when he was with the Cardinals it was kind of surreal for him to think, ‘Wait a minute I’m not going to watch somebody play there, I’m going to play,'” John added.

Tommy has played against the Padres this postseason, but at the Chavez Ravine. On Tuesday, he’s starting at Petco Park, as a Dodger, and from Tommy himself:

“I’ve got a lot of friends who are still Padres fans, so I’m really hoping we can beat them so I can talk trash to them this offseason,” Tommy Edman said during a weekend post-game presser at Dodger Stadium.

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