Tom DeLonge was just another San Diego Padres superfan on Tuesday night (Oct. 6) when he made his way to Petco Park to watch his favorite team try to avoid elimination in game three of their NLDS playoff with the dominant Milwaukee Brewers.
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But, as is customary at home games for the Padres, when the home team is in the lead going into the eighth inning, the stadium announcer cranked up Blink-182‘s “All the Small Things” to get the crowd hyped. Except this time, DeLonge got a bit emotional about the sweet tribute to his band, who formed just outside of San Diego in Poway, Calif. in 1992.
Right on time, the strains of the No. 6 Billboard Hot 100 hit bubbled up in the bottom half of the eighth on Tuesday — which the home team entered with a 4-3 lead — and the Fox Sports cameras caught lifelong Padres booster DeLonge getting a bit misty-eyed hearing the 43,000-plus fans sing his song back to him.
As DeLonge nodded his head and got emotional, the on-air broadcast team set the scene for viewers at home. “What a cool moment, here in San Diego … Blink-182, especially for those of us of a certain age, we all know they have an extensive, very impressive catalog of late 90s, early 2000s pop-punk music,” said the announcer. “But to be in the ballpark when 43,000-plus are singing one of your biggest hits to you … can’t imagine the feeling.”
And right on time, as the camera panned to the crowd waving their yellow rally flags and DeLonge bopping along with a look of pride on his face, one of the other game callers added, “that’s gotta be like a musician’s World Series right there.” Smiling, DeLonge then spun his own yellow towel and, on cue, shouted the iconic line “Work sucks! I know” right into the FS1 camera while throwing up the metal hand sign.
DeLonge has never been shy about supporting his home team, who have never won a World Series and last made it to the championship in 1998, when they were swept by the Yankees. In the past, he’s grabbed the mic to lead sing-alongs to “All the Small Things,” thrown out first pitches and even released exclusive Padres merch in collaboration with his To the Stars brand.
For the record, the Padres held on to that lead and won the game 4-3; game four is tonight (Oct. 7) at Petco Park.
