I Own the Padres
My relationship with the Padres has been rocky, but aren’t all relationships that way?
I live in San Diego. Been here since 1977, almost two thirds of my life, so I consider myself a San Diego native now. Up until I was 27, I was a serious Dodger fan. Grew up idolizing Duke Snyder, Don Drysdale, Dusty Baker, Maury Wills, Sandy Koufax, and of course I worshipped Vin Scully.
Once I relocated down south and started a new life, I adopted all of the local franchises as my home teams: Padres, Chargers, and a year later, the San Diego Clippers. It was a rough road to hoe, because they were all pretty lousy teams. Bad ownership, recycled players and poor stadiums.
But I have stuck it out all these years. Now, after decades of frustration and despair, when my team succeeds, victory is sweet!!
I left LA seeking a better life. I will never go back. I avoid it like the Plague. It became an abusive home: Too much inflation, traffic and toxic influences. I had to emancipate myself and like the Early American Pioneers, struggle to find sanctity in a foreign land.
Along with that I had to leave my love for the Dodgers behind. I had to build a new support system, a new family. One way to do that is to embrace the local sports teams. Join a group of fans with similar values and aspirations.
My relationship with the Padres has been rocky, but aren’t all relationships that way? You have to forgive and forget. The Padres front office was for years totally schizophrenic. It was hard to trust ownership wasn’t going to leave town, as both the Clippers and the Chargers ultimately did.
When I arrived in San Diego in 1977, Ray Kroc (McDonalds fortune) had just bought the team. He was demanding but had little knowledge of the game. Then the team went through a series of rich owners with similar weaknesses, TV producer Tom Werner, and then software mogul John Moores. At least Moores had the smarts to bring in Larry Lucchino as a part owner, and he was effective at building a fan/player relationship that has survived to this day.
The 2025 season was a great year, coming off last years playoff disappointment, we fans had high hopes. Petco Park sold out 72 times, drawing just under 3 ½ million fans to home games. But once again, we fell short, losing the wildcard series with the Chicago Cubs. Then, at the beginning of October, team manager Mike Shildt resigned. A knockout blow from out of left field. Unexpected, to say the least.
So now, I own the Padres.
I have to interview and hire a new manager. I have hundreds of candidates. So where do I start? Before I start that process, I think it is necessary to ask myself, “ Who am I? What do I expect from myself? Do I have the qualities I am looking for in a new manager? If not, how would I recognize them in somebody else?”
I will start every interview like this:
Q. “Who are the San Diego Padres to you?
And who are they in the minds of baseball fans, in general?”
Q. “Why should I believe you?”
I am hoping to find someone who can articulate the values and goals of my team. Kinda like Donald Trump did with Make America Great Again. As a candidate, he made his goals and aspirations very clear. Put America first, always. Protect our integrity. Provide security, and rebuild our talent.
I will be looking for the next manager who can Make the Padres Great Again.
Baseball teams are, in a microcosmic way, a family. A state, a nation, a culture, and an attitude. Just like most Americans believe in the founding principles of freedom of speech, of property ownership and giving every citizen ownership in the team, I believe professional sports teams, and all teams, need to have players invested in their future.
In business, historically, those that give their employees some equity, have a better long-term chance of survival. We call that ‘stock’. We learned that when the workers have stock in the effort, they work harder. When the business succeeds, they prosper. It is only logical. Unfortunately, in my mind at least, Big Sports has established a different mentality: Give the players huge chunks of cash, most of which is guaranteed in long term increments, and then ‘hope’ they will give 110% on the field.
That compensation ship has sailed. Fans have nothing to say about that business model. All we can do is hope the players have enough self respect and integrity to motivate themselves to play at the highest level they are capable of for 162 games, or more, every year.
The team manager is caught in the middle of that conundrum…
So, how do we, the San Diego Padres, select a new team leader? How do we find the right guy to lead us into battle on the playing field? Will that new manager be able to get his players invested in the health and performance of the team, day after day, month after month, year after year?
Q. “How do you keep motivated to be the best you can be?”
Q. “Do the players who play the hardest always win? If not, why not?”
I have often said, Professional Sports reflects the worlds condition.
Teams work to improve, week to week, season after season. All the Nations of the World do the same thing, but their measure of success is how well their citizens live. Do they have enough food, decent health care, good transportation,and most importantly, an investment in their own future?
Americans, unlike most of the World, have been well compensated. No one is starving (72% are obese). Our median income is over $80K a year. Home ownership is 65% and nearly 90% of Americans over 25 have at least a high school degree. So we Americans are fielding a pretty good team.
The past election demonstrated a desire to Make America Great Again. We fans felt like with the talent we have, our nation was underperforming. So the nations owners hired a new manager.
As an owner, invested in my Nation and my Padres, I have one goal in mind: Hire the best players I can find, put them on the field in circumstances that give them the best chance to succeed. Give them the tools they need, and one of those is a manager with leadership qualities, and the courage to use them.