The Padres will not be letting Tuesday night be a repeat of Sunday.
In an alternate universe, Anchorman takes place in Los Angeles rather than San Diego. Ron Burgundy tells the City of Angels to “stay classy.” The infamous events of Sunday night might never have happened. Now, the San Diego Padres are doing everything they can to ensure the play on the field is the only thing to take away from the game on Tuesday.
Sunday night’s game at Dodger Stadium in Game 2 of the National League Division Series got out of hand — both on and off the field. The Padres launched a postseason record-tieing six home runs in an ambush of Los Angeles Dodgers pitching staff to tie the series at one game a piece. However, that was not the story of the night.
The Padres and Dodgers are long-time division rivals; there’s no question about that. When they meet in the regular season, things get chippy. But when they match up in the playoffs, everything intensifies. Emotions got the best of both the players and fans on Sunday.
After a few innings of some back-and-forth between the Dodger fans in the stands and the Padres players on the field, the fans began to throw objects onto the field in the direction of the Padres players. The game was stopped for several minutes as the umpires and Dodger Stadium security attempted to regain control of the event.
Unfortunately, these two franchises have a history of things spilling out past the playing surface when they get together. It was definitely a sore spot on a night that should have been positively memorable for the Padres. But the San Diego front office is getting ahead of things before both teams take the field at Petco Park.
Mike Shildt and Padres front office give strong message to fans after mishap in Los Angeles
After what took place on Sunday night at Dodger Stadium, San Diego Padres CEO Erik Greupner is getting ahead of things by pleading with fans to be loud and rowdy but respectful as they prepare to face the Dodgers in Game 3 at Petco Park. In a letter to fans, Greupner says baseball peaks when the fans and players go all-out for their team in a respectful manner, and that’s what they intend to see starting on Tuesday.
Echoing this, Padres manager Mike Shildt says it will be great to be back home in front of their fans. While they will be loud and aggressive, he knows they will “stay classy” when cheering the Pads on.
Shildt also mentioned how hungry this fan base is. He isn’t wrong. The Padres have only reached the World Series twice in franchise history, and have never one it. This team looks just as good as any other they’ve had; if not- better. Step one to reach their goal is to get over the events of Sunday and build on the momentum of the win.
