Craig Stammen Reveals What He Told Heckling Padres Fan in Viral Confrontation

Following a frustrating loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, the San Diego Padres dugout was caught chirping at a section of fans at Petco Park.

The topic seemed to be around fans going after Padres star Manny Machado, and the dugout was defending the star player. Machado has had a rough year, and it seems that some of the fans decided to go after him in an inappropriate scene.

Broadcast got a quick shot of the Padres dugout chirping back at this fan https://t.co/KvG4B3lZZx pic.twitter.com/and27u65uY
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 10, 2026

Manager Craig Stammen seemed to be one of the main voices talking back to the fan, but it wasn't known exactly what was said or what happened. Stammen has now revealed a part of what he said to the fan in the viral confrontation.

“I would say the fans were saying things to us that were probably not appropriate,” Stammen told The Athletic. “Manny was walking down the dugout. Manny held his tongue, and for us as coaches, we’re going to take that bullet for Manny. We got Manny out of there and let the fan know what I thought about what he was saying to Manny."

Machado struck out in the bottom of the ninth inning with the bases loaded and one out in a tie game. The game ended up going into extra innings, and the Padres lost in the 11th, 5-3.

That led to some boiled over fustration from the fans.

“Being in that situation with our star player, Manny, who I think very highly of and I’ll protect in any way that I possibly can, I wanted to protect him from being on Jomboy and making something worse than what it needed to be," Stammen said.

To Machado's credit, he didn't go after the fan, which could have caused even more problems. But Stammen did what he could to help his player, which is what any player wants to see from a manager.

Machado's 2026 season has been one to forget all around, with the All-Star struggling to find any form of consistency at the plate. Overall, the veteran has hit .172 with 11 home runs and 34 runs batted in, while putting up an OPS of .598.

His lack of offense has hurt the Padres throughout the season, but Machado hasn't been too worried about his swing. Machado has chalked up his issues to "just baseball," and he has gone after the inclusion of analytics in the sport.

After a strong start to the year, the Padres have fallen in the standings, which has caused frustration with the fans. But thankfully, nothing else happened from this situation, and now all sides can move forward.

“I didn’t say one cuss word. You can look it up on Jomboy. I feel pretty proud of how I handled it" Stammen said. "I said it in a stern voice, similar to how I talk to my kids. … It was very short. I said three sentences, and the fan said, ‘I gotcha,’ and we both agreed that that was time for that to end.”

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