Press Release provided by the San Diego Padres Media Department.

SAN DIEGO, Calif., – The Padres return home Friday, June 24 to begin their final homestand before the All-Star break. The Friars open the six-game stretch with a weekend series against the Atlanta Braves, followed by three games against the Kansas City Royals. Highlights of the homestand include the third postgame Friday Night Fireworks show of the season, the annual Padres Scholars recognition night, and U.S. Marine Corps Appreciation Day. 

Home action begins Friday, with a 7:05 p.m. start against the Braves. Friday marks the Padres’ third College Night of the season. College students are eligible to purchase discounted tickets to Friday’s game in the Right Field Upper Reserved sections. Those tickets, normally priced $13.50, are available for purchase at a 40 percent discount ($8.00) to college students with a valid school ID. Seating in those sections will be General Admission, so students can sit with their friends.  A DJ will be spinning live music in the area from 6 p.m. until the end of the game.

Following Friday’s game, fans are invited to stay to enjoy the third spectacular Friday Night Fireworks show this season, presented by Northgate Gonzalez Market.

The first 25,000 fans in attendance at Saturday’s 5:35 p.m. game will receive a Padres beach towel, presented by San Diego County Toyota Dealers.

Prior to Saturday’s game, fans are invited to browse the Import Car Show on J Street just beyond Park at the Park.  Approximately 40 cars will be staged between 7^th Avenue and 10^th Avenue. Cars will be judged and the winner will be announced during the pregame ceremony.

Also Saturday, the Padres will recognize and celebrate the 17^th class of Padres Scholars. The class of 2011 is comprised of three newly selected Padres Scholars, outstanding high school seniors who are members of their school’s AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) program. Each Scholar will receive $30,000 over the course of their college education. Funds for the scholarships are donated by Padres players and matched by the club. This year’s class brings the total number of Scholars to 396, and represents nearly $2.3 million pledged toward college scholarships.

In conjunction with the Padres Scholars celebration, AVID will receive a donation from the Padres Foundation, thanks to the support of Qualcomm.

IB Posse, the local champion sand castle builders, will once again work their magic at PETCO Park Saturday, custom building a Padres sand castle at the Beach in right field. This is the eighth straight year IB Posse has built at PETCO Park. The team has placed in the top two at the U.S. Open Sandcastle competition in Imperial Beach for the past six years.

The San Diego Mormon Choir will perform the National Anthem Saturday, as the Padres welcome more than 1,000 fans for Mormon Night.

Following Saturday’s game, fans are invited to stick around to watch the Long Haul Bombers, a collection of the world’s greatest softball home run hitters, put on their one-of-a-kind home run derby.

Sunday, the Padres will honor the U.S. Marine Corps in the third game of the 2011 Military Appreciation Series, presented by USAA. Continuing a tradition that began in 2010, the Padres and USAA are proud to honor each branch of the military with dedicated appreciation days throughout the season. Sunday’s special pregame ceremony in honor of the U.S. Marine Corps will include the National Anthem performed by 1^st Marine Band and the presentation of “God Bless America” by Cpl. Lindsay Sayres, USMC, during the 7^th inning break. 

Also in honor of U.S. Marine Corps Appreciation Day, the Padres will host the United States Marine Corps Mounted Color Guard, the only remaining mounted color guard in the Marine Corps today. Since 1967, this unit has been stationed aboard Marine Corps Logistics Base, Barstow, Calif. The horses of the mounted color guard are wild mustangs, captured and adopted from the Bureau of Land Management’s “Adopt a Horse and Burro Program.”

Prior to Sunday’s game, fans with tickets are invited to enjoy Breakfast at the Park. Select gates will open to Season Ticket Holders with reservations at 10:00 a.m. Gates will open to the general public at 10:30 a.m. Special breakfast menu items will be offered for purchase along K Street at Park at the Park. In addition to seating at the Park at the Park, tables may be set up on the warning track, allowing fans to dine on the PETCO Park field. Field seating will be assigned on a first-come, first-served basis, barring batting practice.

From 11:30 a.m. to noon, Padres players Rob Johnson and Alberto Gonzalez will sign autographs at the Park at the Park for Jr. Padres Sunday Signings. A Jr. Padres membership is required to participate in the signing event. Membership is free, and kids can sign up online or in-person on the day of the event.

Also Sunday, the Padres will welcome approximately 100 little league players from Baja California. The players will be honored on the field before the game.

The first 8,000 kids 14 and younger to arrive at Sunday’s game will receive Padres batting gloves, presented by COX/Channel 4 SD. Following the game, kids are invited to put those gloves to good use by participating in a kids batting clinic. Padres legend and Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn will make a special appearance at the clinic and instructors from Baseball ASAP will give individual attention and instruction.

Continuing Sunday is Aaron’s Aces, Aaron Harang’s charity ticket program, designed to honor the local military community and show appreciation for their sacrifices.  Every Sunday home game this season, Harang will host 30 guests from the Armed Services YMCA to a behind-the-scenes day at PETCO Park.  The experience includes a customized t-shirt and goodie bag, a private meet-and-greet in the Padres bullpen, complimentary tickets courtesy of the San Diego Padres and the MLB Commissioner’s Community Initiative program, and concession vouchers provided by Aaron and Jennifer Harang.

On Monday, the Padres will welcome 10 artists from KÁ™ by Cirque du Soleil© at MGM Grand in Las Vegas to PETCO Park. The artists will present a pregame performance of traditional Chinese and Brazilian martial arts. As part of their first-ever performance at a Major League Baseball game, the KÀ artists will also participate in other pregame elements, including the Ceremonial First Pitch and the National Anthem, and will warm up the crowd during the 7^th inning stretch.

Specially priced game tickets in KÀ sections can be purchased at www.padres.com/promo, using the promotional code CIRQUE. Those who purchase their tickets through this offer will have the opportunity to take photos and interact with KÀ artists who will be roaming the sections during the game.

Also Monday, the Padres will recognize the local winner of MLB’s My Dad, My MVP contest, which was introduced this year to recognize extraordinary fathers and father figures as part of the MLB Father’s Day celebration. San Diego’s winner is Michael Alexander. Michael’s daughter nominated him because of his unfailingly positive and selfless spirit, even in the face of his battle with prostate cancer. Alexander was given a grim prognosis eight years ago, but continues to battle the disease today, and remains a source of inspiration for his friends and family. Alexander will be invited to watch batting practice, will be honored on the field during the pregame ceremony and will enjoy the game with his family as a guest of the Padres.

Tuesday is 2-for-1 Tuesday, presented by Coca-Cola. For five of the six remaining Tuesday home games this season (August 2 vs. Dodgers excluded), fans can purchase two tickets for the price of one in the Right Field Upper Reserved sections. Tickets normally priced $13.50 each will be available for $6.75 each for those eight games.

Wednesday, the Padres wrap up the homestand with a 12:35 p.m. start against the Royals on Youth Day. More than 4,000 kids are expected to attend the game through local youth organizations and summer day camps. The groups will be recognized during a pregame warning track parade, and will take part in FriarFit Instant Recess at Park at the Park.

Also Wednesday, the Padres will wish loyal fan Arnold Bergeson the very best, as he throws out the Ceremonial First Pitch on his 100^th birthday.

Wednesday’s game is not scheduled to be televised by Channel 4 SD. Instead, the game will be available online, free-of-charge, to those residing in the team’s home broadcast territory. The live video stream will be available exclusively on padres.com. In order to gain access to the free live video stream, fans will be required to complete a registration form on padres.com to validate their location. The online broadcast will feature video from the Royals’ broadcast and play-by-play from the Padres radio network, XX 1090 AM, with the call from Jerry Coleman and Andy Masur.

As a reminder, the Padres will be honoring Trevor Hoffman for his outstanding 18-season playing career, and retiring his iconic No. 51 in a special postgame ceremony on Sunday, August 21. Fans in attendance at that day’s game are welcome to stay to witness the ceremony.  For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.padres.com/trevor.

Tickets for all remaining regular season home games can be purchased online at padres.com, at the PETCO Park box office, by phone at (619) 795-5555 and at the Padres Store in Tijuana.