Padres Star Hopes to Bring Oakland’s Vibe to San Diego, and It Could Happen
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The energy of the World Baseball Classic has been one of the biggest selling points for the tournament thus far, and San Diego Padres star Manny Machado said recently that he wouldn't mind seeing this kind of atmosphere when his MLB team makes the postseason.
This sounds like a Tuesday night at the Coliseum. https://t.co/kTReQBFfOR
— Jason Burke (@ByJasonB) March 13, 2026
When asked to describe the atmosphere, Machado said, "Honestly, I can't because it was just insane. I mean, it was unbelievable. Both crowds non-stop for nine innings—even pre-game for BP was kind of crazy here. It was pretty special."
The Dominican Republic played their game against Venezuela at loanDepot Park in Miami, Florida in front of a crowd of 36,230. They approached the attendance record for the park, set back in 2017's World Baseball Classic when Team USA took on the Dominican Republic and drew 37,446. Those two teams will match up again on Sunday, again at loanDepot Park.
Machado was then asked to compare the atmosphere of the WBC to that of a postseason game. "It doesn't. I keep telling people we gotta bring this to the playoffs. Let fans bring drums, sets, whatever you can bring—guitars—and just start banging stuff and make noise. It just makes it more emotional...Everything that makes noise, bring it."
Just another game in Oakland
The type of atmosphere we've witnessed, and the type of atmosphere they're clamoring for more of was a nightly occurrence at the Oakland Coliseum, just with fewer fans most days. Yet, when there was a reason to show up in spite of their gripes about ownership, the fans would come, and bring that postseason-level energy.
When the A's were leaving Oakland, Danny Vietti of CBS Sports posted a video and said "this is how I will remember baseball in Oakland." It's a video of Grant Balfour coming in to close a game in the bottom of the ninth in Game 162 of the 2012 season. It's the year that the A's were only in first place for one day, and it was the final day of the season.
With Metallica blaring over the speakers and the fans in the stands doing the "Balfour Rage," the broadcast stayed with the action on the field to showcase the passion of the fans in between innings. It's the same level of emotion that we're seeing in the World Baseball Classic.
When the Houston Astros moved to the AL West, there would be a number of Astros fans on social media that would ask "what's that noise?" on social media, only for it to become known that it was fans in the stands banging on drums. Opposing fans hated watching games on TV that were in Oakland because of the extra ambience within the ballpark.
Bringing the noise—literally—could be one way to have a true home field advantage for the Padres.
San Diego set to bring the noise?
The difference for the Padres is that they have a packed house most games, ranking second in baseball in attendance behind the Los Angeles Dodgers due to the capacity of their parks. San Diego still averaged 42,435 fans per game, which is roughly the size of an Oakland postseason crowd if Mount Davis wasn't open.
The Padres are for sale, and one of the three remaining bidders to be the next steward of the franchise is Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob, who knows very well how rowdy the fans in Oakland can be. He also tried for years to get John Fisher to sell him the green and gold, to no avail.
If he ends up in control of the Padres, could we see a loosening on the restrictions of what fans can bring into the ballpark? If one of his star players is asking for more noise, and the club already has former A's closer Mason Miller on the roster, this could be one way to reach out to the abandoned fans in Oakland and give them a new team to root for.
Part of the reason that A's fans haven't been able to find a new team (for the most part) is that no club matches the vibe of going to an A's game. If San Diego adopted the WBC/Oakland atmosphere, former A's fans would certainly take notice pretty quickly.
For more A's news and insights, follow Jason @ByJasonB on X, or the site @InsideTheAs!
Jason has been covering the A’s at various sites for over a decade, and was the original host of the Locked on A’s podcast. He also covers the Stanford Cardinal as they attempt to rebuild numerous programs to prominence.
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