On September 23, a few hours before first pitch at UNIQLO Field at Dodger Stadium, Manny Machado walked out to the first-base line and signed autographs for a line of kids wearing blue Dodgers caps. The same fans who would boo him from lineup introductions through his final at-bat that night.
That’s what @MartyCaswell captured on video before the series even started — and it tells you everything about what the Padres-Dodgers rivalry looks like in September 2026.
The Villain Everyone Wants to Meet
There’s a logic to the image that any baseball fan can understand: in this sport, the villain and the idol can be the same person depending on which side of the field you’re standing on.
For the kids in blue caps holding out balls and bats, Machado is one of the best third basemen in the active game. He’s carrying 29 home runs and 87 RBI in 2026, with 397 career home runs and more than 1,200 career RBI. That résumé earns a signature regardless of what uniform he’s wearing.
For the adults standing behind those kids, the history runs deeper. Machado arrived in Los Angeles as a trade deadline pickup in July 2018, helped the team reach the World Series, and then kicked Milwaukee first baseman Jesús Aguilar during that postseason’s NLCS — a moment that turned half the league against him. That winter he signed a $300 million deal with San Diego and became the official villain of Chavez Ravine. Every visit since has followed the same script: boos on the intros, boos every at-bat, and still the autograph line before the gates open.
A September Series That Feels Like October
This isn’t just any late-season series. The Dodgers entered at 97-60 with a magic number of two to clinch a first-round bye in the National League. The Padres, at 87-69, are fighting for wild card positioning. The stakes made every inning feel like playoff baseball.
The game on September 22 — the series opener — had already generated its own controversy: a section of the crowd applauded when a pitch sailed close to Machado’s head in the first inning, an image that spread across social media before the autograph video did and split opinions sharply.
On the mound, the matchup told its own story. Yoshinobu Yamamoto started for Los Angeles at 14-8 with a 2.51 ERA, leading MLB in innings per start (6.63 average) and carrying a 2-1 record with just three runs allowed in 20 innings against San Diego in 2026. The Padres countered with Robbie Ray — acquired at the deadline from San Francisco — who posted a 5.22 ERA in eight starts since joining the club, with 26 walks in 39.2 innings. The paper matchup wasn’t close.
This Pattern Has Eight Years of History
Sports Illustrated documented the exact same dynamic in 2023: Machado signing autographs for Dodgers fans before getting booed throughout the game, same stadium, same scene. Three years later, nothing has changed.
In July 2026, Machado hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning to help the Padres avoid a sweep in a four-game series at Dodger Stadium. The crowd booed before the swing and went quiet after it. That’s how this works.
What @MartyCaswell caught isn’t an anomaly — it’s the full cycle of the rivalry compressed into a single clip. The guy signing autographs for the kids in the afternoon is the same guy trying to beat their team that night. And at Dodger Stadium, that dynamic has been running for eight straight years.
The Numbers Behind the Name
Machado doesn’t show up in the conversation about the game’s best third basemen by accident. Here’s what Statcast has on him through the 2026 season:
- 657 plate appearances
- 29 home runs, 87 RBI
- AVG: .218 | OPS: .710
- xwOBA: .329 — what the quality of his contact says he should be producing
- Exit velocity: 90.1 mph average
- Barrel rate: 9.5%
- Hard-hit rate: 43.5% (balls at 95 mph or harder)
- Bat speed: 74.7 mph average — 81st percentile in MLB
- Sprint speed: 7th percentile (among the slowest in the league)
The bat still does the damage. The legs haven’t for a while. The kids with the blue caps know the first part. The Dodgers Stadium crowd knows both.
