SAN DIEGO — One of Fernando Tatis Jr.'s biggest fans was in Sacramento when Tatis began a minor league assignment earlier this month.
"I wanted to see him play," Peter Seidler said.
And you think you're excited?
Seidler will be at Chase Field on Thursday when Tatis plays in his first major league game since the end of the 2021 season.
The Padres' chairman has been waiting along with everyone else for what will happen in Phoenix.
He is also the guy who met with a 22-year-old Tatis on the night of Feb. 17, 2021, and talked about the next 14 years and all the great times they would enjoy and how thrilled he was to give him $340 million and the accompanying responsibility. And he is the guy who met with Tatis last August, shortly after the player was suspended 80 games for a failed PED test.
To be sure, Seidler has a soft spot for Tatis.
"I've known him since he was a teenager and was the shining light in our organization," Seidler said Wednesday morning. "I know he's a good person. He treats people well. He's a respectful person."
The Padres' primary owner is, foremost, a fan of people and what they can accomplish. From the start, after Tatis was suspended, Seidler has focused on what good can come from something bad.
"Strong human beings come back from difficult circumstances," he said. "I think he's going to come back strong."
Seidler said he was never angry at Tatis.
"I was not mad," Seidler said. "I just don't get mad over stuff like this. We're all human. But it was obviously important to see how he was going to handle things going forward. He made a mistake that's very serious and regrettable. But people bounce back from those things. It can make them strong. Or the opposite sometimes happens. In this case, I believe it made him stronger."
Seidler, the primary owner of the Padres and the namesake of a $3 billion private equity firm, did not get where he is by being naïve. But neither did he get there by sweating the small things or, really, sweating much of anything.
"I'm 62 years old," Seidler said Wednesday morning. "I've been around the block enough to know good and smart people sometimes do things they wish they hadn't done. It was a couple days after the suspension when Fernando and I met. He loves this game and he respects this game. He just felt awful. He felt he had let so many people down, let the organization down, teammates, the fans. We got through a few awkward minutes, and then we started talking about how you can't change the past. It's about, 'How do you feel today and what's next?' He told me he was going to take it one step at a time thinking things through and do what's best for himself, the fans and his teammates, his family. And he started doing that."
It would be an understatement to call Seidler an optimist and a believer in people. Happy is his default.
Plus, like all those who occupy the big chair, he has other people in his employ to drop the hammer.
By the time Seidler met with Tatis in August, the player had already gotten some firm feedback from Padres President of Baseball Operations A.J. Preller. Tatis knew what he had to do.
"He told me what he expected from himself," Seidler said. "I trusted him. I believed in him, and he's done everything and more that he told me he was going to do. I respect that and admire it."
Tatis agreed to undergo the labrum repair surgery he had balked at a year earlier. He acquiesced to more frequent, transparent offseason communication with the organization. He came to San Diego at the beginning of January to work out. He moved to the outfield with a good attitude.
"He did a lot of reflecting on what can be ahead for him," Seidler said. "Fast forward to the game coming up tomorrow, and he's been magnificent in my opinion. You can't jump from the starting point of a marathon to the finish line. You've got to put in all the steps. I think that's what he's done. He's always been a very committed baseball player. He grew up around the game. He loves the game, loves playing the game. And I think today he's more committed than he's ever been. I really applaud him for that. … It's tough when you've been in the spotlight and something negative happens. Words don't mean anything. Actions have to speak for you. His actions have spoken with conviction."
"I've seen the under-the-radar, quiet work he has done to get himself prepared for the next step. He's ready to apply all his skills and ability, bring joy to the game, all the things he has done for San Diego since he first arrived. … I think he got a punch to the jaw, so to speak. He wants to show himself as much as anything — as well as perhaps others — that he's Fernando Tatis Jr. and was born to play baseball, loves performing and is going to come back stronger."
