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Monday will mark the 20th anniversary of the Padres’ first game at Petco Park, a 4-3 victory over the Giants decided on Sean Burroughs’ walk-off single in the 10th inning.

There will be a reunion of those involved in the development of the ballpark. They will gather to tell tales, share memories and delight in how the ballpark has become a centerpiece of San Diego life, just as they hoped.

And they will share their sadness at the fact Larry Lucchino will not be among them.

Lucchino, the driving force behind the planning of Petco Park as president/CEO of the Padres, died Tuesday at age 78. He left a legacy of success, having run franchises in Baltimore, San Diego and Boston. But he didn’t just run ballclubs -- he elevated the ballpark experience.

Lucchino was central to building Petco Park and Oriole Park at Camden Yards before that. He spearheaded the refurbishment of Fenway Park in Boston, not only preserving the oldest venue in the Majors but finding new ways for the Red Sox to benefit from it on and off the field.

“It is undeniable that Larry did more than anyone to change the game of baseball, with ballparks teams play in today,” said former Padres executive Erik Judson. “That alone makes him worthy of Baseball Hall of Fame induction.

“I believe his marketing genius, community engagement, instincts on the baseball side of the business and eye for talent deliver secondary reason for his induction. I have been around the business of sports since Larry hired me in 1996, and I have never met someone as capable in leading an organization.”

Judson’s Hall of Fame argument isn’t an outlier. There are Lucchino acolytes throughout baseball.

“Larry leaves behind a giant baseball legacy full of historic accomplishments with three different organizations,” former Red Sox and Cubs executive Theo Epstein said in a statement. “… He made a profound impact on many in baseball -- and on the game itself.”

Epstein and Judson, colleagues in San Diego, were both spotted early in their careers by Lucchino. Long before breaking so-called championship curses in Boston and Chicago, Epstein went from Orioles intern to Padres media relations assistant to Padres baseball ops wunderkind while studying for a law degree.

Around the same time, Lucchino hired Judson as a special assistant, with the overarching goal of convincing San Diego a new ballpark was necessary and beneficial -- and then making it happen. That means Judson was on the front line when Lucchino was at his most impatient, his most demanding and his most ambitious.

Judson learned how to get things done in a boardroom, a City Council chamber or wearing a hardhat at the construction site. Now he works for the man who brought Lucchino to San Diego in 1994, former Padres owner John Moores. Judson is CEO of JMI Sports, which has developed venues for college and pro teams and expanded to brand management and media rights.

There’s a lot that goes into getting a shovel into the ground.

“Larry led all facets of the Padres organization, including baseball and business, to achieve incredible success,” Judson said. “His vision, passion for the game of baseball and his relentless pursuit of greatness was an inspiration to all of us at the Padres. And it was that relentless pursuit of greatness that he spread to everything we did with the ballpark and in the community.”

It says something that Lucchino was inducted into the Padres Hall of Fame a year before Moores -- and that’s not a slight on Moores. It’s an indication that late owner Peter Seidler and the current Padres leadership felt a debt to Lucchino for the ballpark.

“Larry was a brilliant man who had an intellect that always separated him,” Judson said, “but he also had a huge heart and a love for the people he worked with that made him very easy to follow. “