Peter Seidler, a man who often walked around with a baseball in his hands, who dressed more modestly than his employees and who spent unprecedented amounts of money in a small media market, was no stranger to any major league franchise. was also unlike the other owner. He set himself apart from the beginning with the way he entered that exclusive club.
In an interview two years ago, Seidler recalled being “locked in my house” in late 2011. That year, he began chemotherapy and other home treatments for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She remembered feeling physically “fine” and “extremely bored.” A baseball team down the highway from a then-Los Angeles-area resident came up for sale. So Seidler, a successful private equity investor and scion of the family that moved the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Chavez Ravine, asked for more information about the San Diego Padres.
Curiosity soon turned into determination.
“When I saw the materials it impressed me,” Seidler said in a 2021 interview. “With my background in private equity, I have seen and been a part of a lot of great companies. But one thing about professional sports, to repeat what I first heard from Commissioner (Bud) Selig, baseball is a social institution, and it always has been. I believe that to this day it is America’s pastime, and the impact that the San Diego Padres can have on the city and county of San Diego can’t be had in any other business. And that was important to me.”
Seidler died Tuesday morning. He was 63 years old. He will be remembered as an owner who truly treated the Padres as a social institution, who led the franchise to unprecedented prominence, and who distinguished himself to the end.
“Peter was probably the most positive person I know,” Ron Fowler, who worked closely with Seidler to buy the Padres in 2012, said Tuesday afternoon. “To say that he saw the cup as half full is probably a misstatement. I think he saw it about three-quarters full. He saw the possibilities, the good side, in everything.
“He always said things could be fixed or ‘it will happen.’ He was extremely positive in the way he looked at people, problems, everything. He always saw the good. I think that’s the way he was in relationships, that’s the way he was in business and obviously it benefited him.”
My heart is saddened by the unfortunate news of Peter Seidler’s passing. I’m sure everyone who knew him will agree with me when I say that Peter was truly a wonderful human being, and his presence was always a blessing.
He was a teacher of life, and he taught me countless things…
– ダルビッシュル(Yu Darvish) (@faridyu) 14 November 2023
In an industry known for the pursuit of cold, hard profit, Seidler was a beloved figure, even as he helped transform Petco Park into one of baseball’s most popular venues. Several years ago, he emerged more courageous after a second battle with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
The Padres later signed Eric Hosmer to the franchise’s first nine-figure contract. He signed Manny Machado to San Diego’s first $300 million deal – briefly the largest deal in North American sports history – and later retained Machado with a $350 million contract. He has repeatedly demonstrated Seidler’s desire to win, with equally attractive commitments to Fernando Tatis Jr., Joe Musgrove, Yu Darvish and Xander Bogaerts. He fielded the franchise’s first nine-figure payroll, including $249 million on the previous Opening Day. (As recently as 2012, a few months before Seidler and Fowler purchased the team, the Padres had a $55 million payroll.)
Seidler’s big ups and downs led to high-profile misfires in 2019, 2021 and 2023, but his determination remained intact throughout. His increasing financial expenses proved this. His health struggles informed his approach. And his efforts away from the field provided further evidence.
Addressing homelessness in San Diego became Seidler’s personal mission. Some of those efforts were known to the public, such as his founding of the “Tuesday Group” and his involvement with the Lucky Duck Foundation. Some of his efforts were more personal. For example, Seidler developed a habit of taking late-night walks not far from the San Diego coast. Along the way, he stopped frequently to chat with the homeless – to listen and gain a better understanding of one of the community’s most pressing crises.
“He was passionate about it,” Fowler said. “Once I said, ‘Peter, I think it’s the government’s responsibility to do this clearly. … It feels like some days it’s one step forward and some days it’s two steps back. But you’ve got to make your The attitude has to be kept positive. Otherwise, I think he would have found it very disappointing, but he kept going after it.”
Of course, the Padres were Seidler’s full-time project. His passion was evident even before he purchased the team. In early 2012, when Fowler and Seidler met in person for the first time, Seidler had recently completed cancer treatment. He looked so weak that Fowler wondered whether Seidler would need immediate medical attention. Yet Seidler proved fearless, taking systematic notes on a legal pad while talking to Fowler, the Padres’ already-minority owner.
“My thought was, why is he trying to buy a baseball team right now? Why isn’t he trying to get better?” Fowler said. “But he wanted to buy a baseball team.”
Around the same time, Seidler attended his first game at Petco Park. In a 2021 interview, he recalled the weight he lost from chemotherapy. He remembered feeling cold.
He also remembered being charmed by the beauty of the ballpark and the surrounding town, which had never celebrated a major sports championship. He remembered feeling inspired.
Seidler later recalled, “That was probably the moment I got serious.”
In the years that followed, Seidler proved his commitment again and again. Along the way he became friends with the man who built Petco Park. They were connected by shared experience.
“He wanted to win because he was a great player, and great players want to win,” said former Padres president and CEO Larry Lucchino, who himself is suffering from non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. “But he unquestionably wanted to do something for the city.
“He was an amazing baseball player and an even more remarkable human being, and I am saddened that he was taken from us at such a young age.”
Peter Seidler never got the experience he so desperately wanted: San Diego’s first major sports championship. But on Tuesday, as Fowler and Lucchino and others around baseball paid tribute to a man who treated the Padres as a social institution, Seidler’s legacy was clear: In some ways, he was the ideal owner.
A very special moment, for which Yu Darvish expressed his respect #padres Owner Peter Seidler @CBS8 pic.twitter.com/wXsC0t6FYv
– Jake Garegnani (@Jake Garegnani) 14 November 2023
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(Seidler photo: Sean M. Hafey/Getty Images)
