"I wouldn't be lying to say that when he steps to the plate here he's going to probably feel like he's at home," said Padres reliever Cla Meredith, who's been disappointed with the dwindling crowds during San Diego's dismal season. "There's no doubt about it."

Meredith seems fascinated by what he called "one of these rare occasions" in which a player has drawn interest "over this event that's really negative and detrimental to himself and the game. It's really kind of taken on a new life of its own. I've never seen, really, something like this.

"Fans like him," the sidearmer said. "And so he's never really had too much negative stuff about him. He's kind of done his own thing in his career ... And fans are drawn to him. I can see why."

San Diego has provided several footnotes during the steroid era.

Padres fans loved to hate Barry Bonds, who routinely punished San Diego pitchers during his pursuit of Hank Aaron's record. Bonds is under federal indictment and says he never knowingly used performance-enhancing drugs.

Bonds tied Hammerin' Hank's record of 755 at Petco Park on Aug. 4, 2007, when he homered off right-hander Clay Hensley. Two years earlier, Hensley was one of four Padres farmhands who were suspended for 15 games for using performance-enhancing substances.

In April 2006, a fan tossed a syringe near Bonds as he came off the field in between innings at Petco Park. The syringe apparently did not have a needle. Bonds picked it up with his glove.

In 2002, Ken Caminiti told Sports Illustrated he used steroids during his MVP season in 1996 with the Padres. He estimated half the players in the big leagues were using them.

Caminiti died in October 2004 of a drug overdose at age 41.

"Ken Caminiti broke my heart," Maker said.

Last November, former AL MVP Jose Canseco was in federal court not far from Petco Park to plead guilty to a misdemeanor of trying to bring HCG across the Mexican border into the United States illegally. He was sentenced to 12 months' unsupervised probation. He said he needed HCG to boost his testosterone level, low after years of admitted steroid use.

On June 3, reliever J.C. Romero returned to the Philadelphia Phillies following his 50-game suspension for testing positive for a banned substance.

AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.