In the first inning of the September 22 Padres–Dodgers game at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium, Manny Machado stepped into the batter’s box and got the reception he always gets in Los Angeles: a sustained wave of boos. What happened next wasn’t scripted. A pitch came in dangerously close to his head, Machado ducked forward to dodge it — and the same fans who had just been booing him erupted in what can only be described as approval. The clip, originally shared by @TalkingFriars, captures the whole thing in about ten seconds.
From Boos to Cheers in a Matter of Seconds
Machado was hitting third in San Diego’s lineup, behind Tatis Jr. and Bogaerts. The moment his name came over the PA, the Dodger Stadium crowd responded the way it has responded since 2018: loudly, and not kindly. That’s been the ritual every time #13 visits Chavez Ravine — a tradition that traces back to the year Machado came to the Dodgers, kicked Milwaukee first baseman Jesús Aguilar during the NLCS, and then signed with San Diego to become the official villain of the NL West.
The video doesn’t need much explanation. Machado leans away from a pitch that clips the edge of the danger zone near his head, the catcher with #33 holds onto the ball, the umpire watches — and the crowd that was booing him seconds earlier lets out a cheer. The scoreboard showed Machado hitting .219 on the season, though that number doesn’t tell the whole story: over his previous 15 games he had batted .344, and he was sitting at 32 home runs on the year.
Why Dodger Stadium Is the Toughest Venue Machado Visits
The L.A. fan base’s feelings toward Machado have a long shelf life. It started with the Aguilar incident in 2018 and has only intensified since he signed with San Diego. Every time the Padres head north, Machado becomes the focal point of whatever tension is running through the stadium. He’s addressed it in his own way: «They boo me wherever I go. Great players get booed,» he said in a postgame press conference quoted by CBS Sports on May 27, 2019.
The rivalry escalated from words to benches-clearing in June 2025, when a Dodgers rookie hit Fernando Tatis Jr. in the wrist and both managers were ejected. Machado was vocal in his criticism of Dave Roberts after that incident.
This September 22 series arrived with the Padres having won six of their first seven September matchups against Los Angeles — a run that added a layer of anxiety to the stadium’s hostility rather than pure confidence. The Dodgers entered at 96-60, already NL West champions but chasing the best record in the league to secure a first-round bye. The Padres came in at 87-69, winners of 9 of their last 10, with a chance to clinch a playoff spot in this very series. This wasn’t a throwaway August series. Every pitch mattered.
The Line the Cheering Crossed
Cheering a strikeout, a big out, even a heated moment — all of that is standard stadium behavior. Cheering because a pitch nearly hit someone in the head is a different conversation entirely.
Padres manager Mike Shildt put Machado’s ability to handle these situations simply: «Manny is human, but he can separate worlds,» he said at a press conference in Milwaukee on June 7, 2025, as quoted by MLB.com.
The clip went viral because it captured something baseball rarely shows this cleanly: the moment when dislike for a player outpaces basic human instinct. Whether the pitch coming inside was intentional is impossible to say — the Dodgers were running a bullpen game with Roki Sasaki in a limited role due to blisters, and pitching inside is part of the game. What got recorded was the crowd’s reaction, and that’s what’s going to keep circulating.
Machado finished his at-bat. The Padres kept being the Padres. And Dodger Stadium reminded him, in case he’d forgotten, that in Los Angeles the only applause he gets is when the alternative is worse.
