Peter Seidler

Peter Seidler

• School University of Virginia, UCLA

• Born November 7, 1960, in Alhambra, CA USA
• Died November 14, 1983 in San Diego, CA USA

Biographical Information

Peter Seidler was a part owner of the San Diego Padres starting in 2012, then became team President and the face of the ownership group from 2020 until his death in 2023.

The grandson of Los Angeles Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley and nephew of Peter O'Malley, he was the principal of a successful private equity investment firm, Seidler Equity Partners, and very involved in community initiatives in San Diego, CA, including those designed to combat homelessness. Along with hs uncle Peter O'Malley, he joined the ownership group that acquired the Padres from John Moores in 2012, although at first he took a back seat to Ron Fowler, who was the group's principal. Fowler became increasingly frustrated by the team's lack of on-field success, and in 2020, he passed the baton to Seidler, who was named team President and took the team on a different course.

After spending the previous two decades behaving as a small-market club with limited ambitions, the Padres under Seidler's stewardship became bold players on the free agent market, with a number of high profile signings including Eric Hosmer and Manny Machado. The made the postseason during the topsy-turvy pandemic season of 2020, and returned in 2022, when they made it all the way to the NLCS, having eliminated their main rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers along the way. Among the many key moves that season were the acquisition of OF Juan Soto and closer Josh Hader at the trading deadline as the Padres were aggressively pursuing a pennant and a first World Series title. They did more spending before the 2023 season, highlighted by the signing of free agent SS Xander Bogaerts. Considered pre-season favorites by many, the team failed to jell until it was too late and missed the postseason altogether. By then, they had assembled one of the biggest salary mass in the majors, leading observers to question where they thought they would find the revenues to pay all of these expenses. That said, the approach worked in that the Padres drew a record 3.7 million fans to their ballpark that season.

Following the disappointing 2023 season, Seidler passed away suddenly in November. He had fought earlier bouts of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and had undergone a surgical procedure late that season, and it is possible that he knew his time was limited, hence the urge to push the team over the brink before his passing. He was mourned both by members of the team's front office, but also by current players including Yu Darvish and Matt Carpenter.

He was a friend of NBA star Ralph Sampson from his days as an undergraduate at the University of Virginia and Sampson was a frequent visitor to Petco Park during his ownership tenure.

Further Reading

• Anthony Castrovince: "A believer in the best of us, Seidler leaves lasting legacy in San Diego", mlb.com, November 14. 2023. [1]
• Shaun O'Neill: "Padres mourn passing of owner Peter Seidler", mlb.com, November 14, 2023. [2]