What is PS on Padres uniforms? Explaining the meaning behind San Diego's yellow heart jersey patch

Sarah Effress

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What is PS on Padres uniforms? Explaining the meaning behind San Diego's yellow heart jersey patch image

Including the 2024 season, the Padres have advanced to the MLB playoffs eight times in franchise history.

Peter Seidler owned the San Diego team for two of those runs. After purchasing the Padres in 2012, he grew into a beloved member of the community and became the Padres' controlling owner in November 2020. It wasn't uncommon to see Seidler strolling around Petco Park on game day, conversing with fans, introducing himself, taking pictures and more. 

Throughout his time with the Padres, Seidler survived two battles with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. On Sept. 18 of last year, the owner announced he had undergone a medical procedure the month prior that would prevent him from attending any games for the remainder of the 2023 season.

Unfortunately, what he didn't know was that he had attended his final game in downtown San Diego. Seidler died just under two months later at 63, and the Padres did not disclose the cause of death.

Seidler never witnessed a Padres World Series run, but he has certainly been watching over the team this year. From turning a playoff-clinching triple play — at Dodger Stadium no less — to the rise of a young star in rookie Jackson Merrill, there's no doubt the late owner is present at Petco. In tribute to Seidler, this year the Padres have donned a yellow patch on their uniform with his initials.

“One day soon the baseball gods will smile on the San Diego Padres, and we will have a parade," Seidler once said, and if they do it this year, it will all be for him. 

Here's everything to know about the Padres heart patches, including how the team pays tribute to its late owner with a yellow "PS" logo.

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Padres "PS" heart patches, explained

Present on every Padres jersey worn this season is a yellow heart with the letters "PS," representing Seidler's initials.

The patch is placed on the left side of the front of the jersey, directly over each player's heart.

The team has also traveled with a plaque of the same logo that they've displayed in the dugout during every away series. It is carved into center field at Petco Park, and in March of this year, the organization revealed a permanent replica of the logo on a facade at the stadium.

A giveaway this season featured towels stating "Compete for Pete."

San Diego mayor Todd Gloria even named a street near the ballpark as "Peter Seidler Way." In contrast to some other owners (specifically one hailing from northern California), Seidler was loved in his city like no other, and the jersey patches are just one of the many ways San Diego and the Padres chose to honor his legacy.

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Who is Peter Seidler?

Seidler is the grandson of famed Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley and grew up around baseball. He was born in Alhambra, Calif., in November 1960 and started a career in private equity, serving as a managing partner at a firm in Marina del Rey, Calif. The company partnered with MLB in 2018 to purchase Rawlings.

In 2012, Seidler, his uncle Peter O'Malley and Ron Fowler formed the O'Malley Group, which bought the Padres from John Moores for $800 million. In November 2020, the league allowed Fowler to transfer the role of chairman to Seidler, who bought his partner's stake in the team to become the largest stakeholder.

Among several accomplishments made by Seidler at the helm of the team was increasing spending and taking risks, eventually paying off with several postseason appearances. He is credited with green-lighting transformative free agent contracts for Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts, all while retaining talent like Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego native Joe Musgrove and Merrill. 

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Under Seidler's watch, the Padres made the playoffs for the first time in 13 years. They lost the Divisional Series in 2020 but advanced to the Championship Series in 2022 after upsetting a historic Dodgers team at a sold-out Petco Park. 

To put into context how influential Seidler was on the Padres' recent turnaround, it's worth remembering San Diego is a bottom-third television market with a fanbase most other cities view as apathetic at best. That couldn't have been further from the truth when Seidler came around — the Padres set a new attendance record in 2023 and exceeded it in 2024, drawing 3.3 million fans to home games over 80 games, good for fourth in the MLB.

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Peter Seidler net worth

Known for spending big when it came to the Padres roster, Seidler's private equity firm, Seidler Equity Partners, based in California, was reported in February 2023 to hold more than $3 billion in assets globally.

That is right around the same amount as his estimated net worth.

Overall, Seidler spent about $251 million on the Padres ahead of the 2023 season, a payroll only smaller than the Yankees and Mets. 

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Who is the Padres current owner?

Majority ownership of the team will remain with the Seidler family. Peter is survived by his wife, Sheel, his mother, Terry, his three children and nine siblings. Sheel continues to attend Padres games and interacts with fans just like her late husband, representing his interests and passion for the team with love and grace.

Among Seidler's various escapades for the Padres, he was an avid philanthropist. He formed the "Tuesday Group" eight years ago, a network that addresses homelessness issues throughout San Diego — home to one of the largest unhoused populations nationwide, with many residing near Petco Park downtown. 

He also helped raise over $18 million through the Padres' "Pedal the Cause" campaign for local cancer research. After Seidler took over the team in 2012, the Padres say their foundation donations have grown "by more than 10-fold," per ESPN.

Simply put, there are few humans like Seidler, let alone professional sports owners. 

Sarah Effress

Sarah Effress Photo

Sarah Effress is an editorial intern for The Sporting News. She is a recent graduate of Northwestern University, and loves to talk soccer and women's college sports.