While the Dodgers have had a dud to close out their series in West Sacramento, there are three important things to take away from the experience:
- The Dodgers will likely never play at Sutter Health Park again, barring something extremely unexpected this October, something unexpected happening with labor negotiations, or the Athletics fumbling their new planned stadium in Las Vegas, which would probably require even more baseball adjacent to River City. Honestly, I am not sure which scenario the Commissioner would hate more;
- The Dodgers will be homebodies until the All-Star Break. The Dodgers don’t hit the road again until after the All-Star Break, when they will live in New York and Philadelphia for the better part of two weeks; and
- The Dodgers have led MLB in road attendance every season since 2021. If you thought the past two series in San Diego and Sacramento felt more like home games than usual, you’re not alone.
Last call to Dodger Stadium South in 2026
Barring something unexpected this season, the Dodgers have made their final visit to San Diego in 2026. Unlike Ferris, Walker Buehler and the Padres had a day to forget against the Chicago Cubs as the death knell for their season continues to chime, before coming to Los Angeles for One Piece Night.
Jeff Sanders of the San Diego Union-Tribune broke the story on the Dodgers’ impact at Petco Park after the Dodgers left San Diego:
…[Padres pitcher Joe Musgrove] is a season-ticket holder now, too, so he understands why the crowds this weekend at Petco Park felt a bit more like the pre-2020 era of this rivalry than a team ranking second in average attendance this season and last season.
“I think it’s our season-ticket holders selling the tickets,” Musgrove said Sunday morning. “I’m not going to tell somebody that can make a lot of money or get some of their money back by selling tickets not to, but I think that’s the main reason. It seems like all of our fans that show up for every other series of the year and fill it out seem to sell their tickets when these series come around.”
Musgrove said Saturday night “was out of control. It was like the most I’ve ever seen Dodger fans in our stadium — 90% Dodgers fans.”
Petco Park averaged 42,434 fans per game last year and was sitting at 41,439 per game coming into Sunday. Both figures rank behind only Dodger Stadium (49,536 and 50,872 in 2025 and 2026, respectively) for most in the majors.
Crowds of 43,153 and 45,159 on Friday and Saturday easily trumped attendance for the Dodgers series here in mid-May, when neither crowd topped 42,000 and one (39,788) didn’t even register as a sellout.
[Emphasis added.]
Dodgers fans travel well, from Japan to Toronto and all points in between. It’s not exactly newsworthy, but further confirmation is always welcome. Once again, Mr. Sanders:
“If I lived in L.A., I would want to come down to San Diego too,” Padres reliever Jason Adam said.
Added Musgrove: “It’s just how it is, man. They’re so close. They got a lot of Dodger fans down here in San Diego already, and I know they’re always looking to fill out our stadium. I think partially because the atmosphere is awesome. It’s a great ballpark, good food, a fun place to watch a game, but also it’s close enough to (L.A.) to try to trump the Padre fans and fill it out with their fans.”
A larger population that’s nearish to a smaller population? It’s basic geography, people. Folks in Milwaukee get used to Cubs’ fans showing up all the time. Although reporter Jeff Passan seemed not to get that memo.
One trick to keep larger fanbases from swarming smaller locales (think Los Angeles to San Diego, New York to Philadelphia, Chicago to Milwaukee, etc.) is to use geolocking to slow ticket sales from the club. When I purchased my seats for the upcoming Dodgers/Phillies series months ago, I had to do the added step of calling the Phillies ticket office. It was a bit annoying, but I understood the logic. The Padres have employed such tactics before and are likely to do so again when they eventually return to the postseason. For a final time, Mr. Sanders:
Former Dodgers ace Walker Buehler had become accustomed to seeing Dodgers fans take over places like Petco Park, Angel Stadium and Chase Field in Phoenix over the years, but even he noted the drastic difference in the composition of the crowd on Friday and Saturday compared with even just the May series here.
“I think here and Anaheim; Arizona always big,” Buehler said of Dodgers fans in visiting parks, “but this weekend was freaking crazy.”
It won’t be that way should the two teams meet in October, as the Padres have taken to limiting postseason ticket purchasers to those in certain ZIP codes to maintain a home-field advantage.
This issue at Petco Park is likely moot for the rest of 2026, but stranger things have happened.
Making (Good) Trouble in River City
Why one would report in a narrow aisle is beyond me, but as you can see above, Sacramento showed up when the Dodgers came to the Sacramento area. As we covered in “Trouble in River City,” John Fisher was likely salivating at the start of the series.
I did try to warn everyone. As I figured, Sacramentans and others showed up, as writer Molly Knight and other journalists reported. Ohtani being in town as opposed to the other side of the state or 1-2 hours away has gravity that is hard to resist. I understand the impulse quite well; I just wish everyone did not have to pay out the nose to experience it.
Unless someone was actively ignoring the last three games or was trapped in a well, the Dodgers effectively had three extra de facto home games this week. Whether MLB will also use this fact to cudgel the Dodgers in the ongoing labor negotiation is an open tongue-in-cheek question for another day.
Reeti Malhotra and Evelyn Ronan of the Sacramento Bee noted the outpouring of Dodgers fans in Sacramento:
Downtown Sacramento was awash in Dodger blue as thousands of fans poured into the capital city for a three-game series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the A’s that concludes Wednesday. The Los Angeles Dodgers opened the series against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park on Monday, winning the sold-out opener at the minor league stadium as Dodgers fans packed the stands. By Tuesday afternoon, the Dodgers’ effect continued, as downtown and Old Sacramento more closely resembled Chavez Ravine, with fans clad in green and gold standing out amid a sea of Dodger blue baseball caps and L.A.-emblazoned jerseys…
…Ben Cove, a Los Angeles resident and Dodgers fan who flew in for the series, said his trip had been “really all about baseball” and that between games, visiting a sports bar and seeing a local sight or two, he had been hanging out in the Kimpton lobby to see players pass. “We were so fired up to see them in a minor league park, to see Shohei in a minor league park,” Cove added.
[Emphasis added.]
It is nice to know that the article confirmed my hypothesis about where the team was staying while staying in the region. Ms. Malhotra and Ms. Ronan also documented the impact the Dodgers had on local businesses during their stint in River City:
Local business owners welcomed the boost in business as Dodgers fans filled restaurants, hotels and entertainment districts throughout Sacramento and West Sacramento. “You can see it downtown, the restaurants are full, the hotels are busy, and you know, the businesses are busier during those times,” said David Eadie, chief sports and entertainment officer of Visit Sacramento. “With the Giants and the Dodgers being California-based as well, we get a lot of folks traveling in from Southern California and from the Bay Area for those games.”
Bear & Crown owner Jesse Ledin said his British pub-style restaurant in Old Sacramento was “slammed” Monday with Dodgers and A’s fans alike, with levels of foot traffic he usually sees only when the Giants or Dodgers come to town. He said he expected the crowds to continue through Wednesday, when the series concludes.
If patterns hold, one would expect Las Vegas to have similar circumstances and energy once that new venue opens in 2028. As things stand under the current system, the A’s would visit Dodger Stadium next year.
