At 96 years old, Berta Morrill still enjoys margaritas — light on the alcohol, heavy on the salt and tajín rim — and bowling. She makes tamales from scratch every Christmas Eve and is the last person to leave a dance floor.
She also loves her San Diego Padres.
On Wednesday, thanks to the power of social media and the of pitcher Blake Snell, Morrill crossed a lifelong wish off her bucket list: A trip to Petco Park to cheer her hometown team in a postseason game.
“I was so happy,” Morrill said. “I was just so thankful to go.”
Born and raised in National City, Morrill has followed the Padres since the organization began in 1969, rooting in the stands at the Mission Valley stadium and Petco Park (where she last attended a game in 2018). After getting married, she moved to Michigan and “missed out for awhile” before recently returning to San Diego. A devout Christian who’s endured decades of losing seasons, she often prays for players as she watches the games on television every night and coaches Manny Machado — one of her favorites — from the house, shouting at him to move closer to the plate (he’s off by “just a hair,” she says).
So when the Padres began playing postseason baseball at Petco Park last weekend in the National League Division Series, besting the detested Dodgers, she received calls from her granddaughters — also Padres fans, like the rest of their family — who regaled stories about the atmosphere, the sold-out stadium, the fans waving their towels, the chants of “Beat L.A.!” and felt, well, left out.
“I wanted to go so badly,” said Morrill, who had never attended a playoff game. “I was sad.”
Her granddaughter Anais Pauley, 34, looked for tickets to Tuesday and Wednesday’s NLCS games against the Philadelphia Phillies, but the selection was slim for seats that were wheelchair accessible and the few she found were going for hefty fees. Desperate to get her grandma to Petco Park, Pauley made a TikTok video she posted on Instagram, tagging several Padres players in the process. One of those players was Blake Snell, Wednesday’s starting pitcher.
“I could tell he saw the video,” Pauley said, but went to sleep without receiving any notifications.
She woke the next morning to messages from a Padres representative, who said Snell wanted to “take care” of the tickets and that she and her grandmother were invited to Wednesday’s game. Pauley immediately called Morrill to tell her the good news.
“Oh my grief, I could not believe it,” Morrill said. “I was going to get to go.”
Early Wednesday morning, Morrill dressed herself in a blue and orange pinstripe Padres top and did her hair and makeup before leaving with Pauley to the game. She held a cardboard sign made by her granddaughter, who had drawn a picture of a dinosaur-goose and written “LFGSD” on one side and “Got my wish thanks to Snellzilla” on the other. She sipped an ice-cold margarita and ate peanuts, Cracker Jack and hot dogs. Waving her yellow Padres rally towel, she watched in agony as Snell gave up four runs in a strange second inning and bowed her head in prayer — “I said Lord, please help us, I want to see them win one time” — before gleefully standing and high-fiving the fans around her as the Padres posted five runs in the fifth inning to take the lead in the game, which they went on to win.
“The people around her were calling her the mayor of the Padres,” Pauley said. “She was the belle of the ball.”
Morrill said she worked at Rohr Aircraft in her teenage years. She retired at age 72 from an accomplished career with the U.S. Navy. She is the fifth of 13 children by parents who immigrated from Mexico to the United States. Her nine-plus decades brought countless experiences and memories, but watching the Padres in the postseason is one she treasures.
“Before I died, I got to see them win,” Morrill said. “And I pray they go all the way.”
