San Diegans left feeling sad as 'The Murph' comes down

SAN DIEGO (AP) — The biggest piece of San Diego’s sports history is slowly being knocked down and ground to bits.

They’re tearing down the stadium once affectionately known as “The Murph.”

Every day, heavy equipment obliterates more and more of 70,000-seat SDCCU Stadium in Mission Valley, where Hall of Fame careers were born and most of the city’s biggest sports moments occurred.

Dan Fouts guided Air Coryell to takeoff there and Junior Seau stopped ball carriers with bone-rattling tackles.

Tony Gwynn wore out the “5.5 hole” between third base and shortstop and Trevor Hoffman first trotted out of the bullpen to the ominous gongs of “Hells Bells” at the big stadium on Friars Road.

The San Diego Chicken’s brand of fowl humor was hatched there during the rowdy ’70s.

Generations of fans are bummed that, due to the coronavirus pandemic, they didn’t get to say a proper goodbye to the place where they tailgated with gusto in the massive parking lot before cheering on the Chargers, Padres and Aztecs, or watched myriad other events and concerts.

It’s also melancholy for those who performed there.

“We didn’t even have one last house party for the place,” said Ted Giannoulas, 67, who is semi-retired as the San Diego Chicken after a career of making fans laugh by poking fun at umpires, opposing players and his favorite foil, former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda.

“To see The Murph being taken apart like that is a letdown, to be polite,” Giannoulas said. “I saw it as the heart of the town, the spirit of San Diego.”

San Diego State University is demolishing the 53-year-old stadium while building a 35,000-seat stadium next door as the first phase of a campus expansion.

SDCCU Stadium had fallen into disrepair and fans knew it...