San Diego’s new Padres ownership group has barely settled into the job, but it has already embraced one of the unwritten rules of running the team: never miss a chance to needle the Dodgers.
José E. Feliciano and Kwanza Jones spoke with reporters on the field before Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series against the Cubs when an Associated Press reporter asked Feliciano about the Dodgers and their owner, Mark Walter.
“I don’t know,” Feliciano said at first, then asked the reporter if they were “off the record.” They were standing on a baseball field, surrounded by reporters, cameras and photographers at the time.
Smiling and laughing, Feliciano went ahead with it anyway.
“The owner of the Dodgers owns a lot of dinosaurs,” Feliciano said, before walking away with Jones.
“On the field?” the reporter shot back, which drew a laugh from Jones as she turned around.
Feliciano did not elaborate on what he meant, but Dodgers fans wasted little time deciding it was a jab at an aging Los Angeles roster that includes several prominent veterans in their mid-to-late 30s.
The comment quickly spread on social media, feeding a rivalry that rarely needs much help. Some Dodgers fans countered that the team is “living rent free” in the new owners’ heads, while others joked that Dodger Stadium should be renamed “Jurassic Park.” A few warned Feliciano not to tempt baseball’s unforgiving fates.
Padres fans know that warning well. During the 2024 NLDS, San Diego displayed a meme of a crying Clayton Kershaw, then blew a 2-1 series lead as the Dodgers won Games 4 and 5 and went on to win the World Series.
There’s an added layer to the Feliciano-Walter dynamic beyond baseball. Feliciano, a co-founder of Clearlake Capital, recently purchased Walter’s stake in Chelsea Football Club.
If both teams keep winning in October, the two owners could find themselves crossing paths again — this time with the Padres and Dodgers meeting in the National League Championship Series, and a trip to the World Series on the line.
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