The Dream Died in Petco Park

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⚾️ Brushback — WEDNESDAY

🟡 “The Dream Died in Petco Park”

⚾️ The Rise
Peter Seidler sold a vision that made San Diego believe. He told fans he’d spend whatever it took to beat L.A.—and for a minute, he did. Manny, Tatis, Xander, Darvish—the Padres became something wild and beautiful: a small-market team that stopped acting small.

Then Peter died in late 2023, and something in the city died with him.

💭 The Fallout
Now it’s chaos. Ownership strife between Seidler’s widow and his brothers. Debt whispers—four hundred million worth. Lawsuits. Sale talk. And in the middle, A.J. Preller trying to field a team with limited resources and twice the uncertainty. The dream feels fragile. The promise—that San Diego could be bold—has been replaced by accountants with red pens.

🕰️ The Reckoning
What happens if the Seidler dream really dies? Do the Padres get stripped down to save cash? Can anyone even buy the team amid the legal drama over ownership? San Diego deserves better than a return to irrelevance.

The fans showed up. In 2025, they drew over three million—second only to the Dodgers. Petco pulsed. Hope lived. They bought the jerseys, believed in the fight. If this ends with another “small-market reality check,” it’ll be an insult to everything Peter Seidler built.

Because make no mistake—he changed baseball’s math. He proved heart could trump market size. And if that spirit dies with him, the whole sport loses.

John Boxley
High N Tight

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