San Diego Padres owner and chairman Peter Seidler has died at the age of 63, the club announced on Tuesday. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, Seidler were fighting an sickness for a while, and the circle of relatives has asked the reason for dying stay non-public at this time.
“The Padres organization mourns the passing of our beloved Chairman and owner, Peter Seidler,” Padres CEO Erik Greupner stated in a remark. “Today, our love and prayers encircle Peter’s family as they grieve the loss of an extraordinary husband, father, son, brother, uncle, and friend. Peter was a kind and generous man who was devoted to his wife, children, and extended family. He also consistently exhibited heartfelt compassion for others, especially those less fortunate. His impact on the city of San Diego and the baseball world will be felt for generations. His generous spirit is now firmly embedded in the fabric of the Padres. Although he was our Chairman and owner, Peter was at his core a Padres fan. He will be dearly missed.”
Commissioner Rob Manfred additionally launched a remark during the league:
“I am deeply saddened by the news of Peter’s passing. Peter grew up in a baseball family, and his love of the game was evident throughout his life. He was passionate about owning the Padres and bringing the fans of San Diego a team in which they could always take pride. Peter made sure the Padres were part of community solutions in San Diego, particularly with the homeless community. He was an enthusiastic supporter of using the Padres and Major League Baseball to bring people together and help others.
“On behalf of Major League Baseball, I ship my private condolences to Peter’s spouse Sheel and their circle of relatives, his Padres colleagues and the enthusiasts of San Diego.”
Seidler, a two-time most cancers survivor, released a statement through the team in September pronouncing that he had gone through a “scientific process” and was at that time “at the street to restoration.” It isn’t recognized whether or not his passing is expounded to these well being problems. The Seidler circle of relatives has confirmed to the Union-Tribune that the membership will stay beneath their possession “for generations” to come.
Home Plate Gate at Petco Park in San Diego will be open beginning on Tuesday afternoon for fans who wish to gather to pay their respects to Seidler. As well, the team’s managerial search will be put on hold temporarily.
Seidler had been part of the team’s ownership group since 2012 and assumed control of the team in late 2020 by buying out the shares of former chairman Ron Fowler. Since that time, Seidler distinguished himself by investing deeply in the on-field poduct and running payrolls that seemed out of scale with the Padres’ modest market size. For the 2023 season, the Padres under Seidler boasted the largest Opening Day payroll of any team not located in New York. Along the way, Seidler’s commitment to winning put the lie to the notion that small-market clubs can’t afford to field contending rosters.
Seidler’s aggressive approach had many critics, particularly those anonymously stumping for the non-competitive ethos common to many owners of small- to mid-market franchises. Of those perhaps contrived worries about the Padres’ “sustainability,” Seidler told reporters in February, “People love that phrase. Let’s discover a other one. Do I imagine our parade goes to be on land or on water or on each? Putting a super and successful workforce at the box in San Diego yr after yr is sustainable.”
True to his phrases, Seidler in what grew to become out to be his ultimate years as owner unleashed basic supervisor A.J. Preller to make headline-grabbing strikes like signing and re-signing Manny Machado, forging a long-term extension with Fernando Tatis Jr., signing Xander Bogaerts to a high-end free-agent contract, and buying and selling for Juan Soto. That’s however a partial list. The method did not yield the specified effects in 2023, however the membership in 2022 reached the National League Championship Series for the primary time in virtually a quarter-century.
While Seidler didn’t reside to peer the Padres win the World Series for the primary time in their historical past, he laid the root for his or her good-faith efforts to do exactly that. Thanks to Seidler’s stage of stewardship, uncommon inside his guild of homeowners, the ones efforts will proceed as each legacy and testomony.