Dave Roberts, Dodgers twist knife by letting Padres owner's quote fuel their NLDS celebration

The Los Angeles Dodgers got the uniquely sadistic honor of popping champagne in a visiting clubhouse on Wednesday night, when they beat the Atlanta Braves 4-1 to clinch the NLDS.

Dave Roberts got his team's attention as they shook bottles and pulled ski goggles over their eyes. "There is no more talented team than the Los Angeles Dodgers," he said. "Best organization in sports, top to bottom. We're smarter, we're better, and we're tougher."

From somewhere in the crowd, Teoscar Hernández — clearly fine after a scary collision with the outfield wall just about an hour earlier — chimed in: "And we're dinosaurs!"

He was referring back to a soundbite from new San Diego Padres owner José E. Feliciano, who said ahead of Game 2 of his team's Wild Card series, "The owner of the Dodgers owns a lot of dinosaurs."

There's some disagreement about the context behind this quote. San Diego Union-Tribune writer Kevin Acee insisted that Feliciano was referring to Mark Walter's dinosaur fossil collection, but Dodgers fans haven't been so quick to concede. Feliciano asked multiple times if he was off the record before answering the question. At the very least, there was a double meaning there.

The Dodgers have taken it and run with it. Kiké Hernández posted a picture of himself, Max Muncy, Miguel Rojas, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman — LA's elder statesmen — with the caption "Los viejitos!" or "old men (along with a rather horrifying AI rendering of some dinosaurs).

Dodgers are using Padres' dinosaur dig as a rallying cry after NLDS clinch

Regardless which way Feliciano meant it, it's his team that's packing their bags for Cancun right about now. The Padres lost to the Milwaukee Brewers at home in San Diego on Wednesday night, 3-1.

Manny Machado fell victim to an impossible home run robbery at Petco Park, which conjured up eerie parallels to Adam Jones' famous catch in the World Baseball Classic, when Machado's Dominican Republic took on Team USA. (Seriously, it's almost the exact same place at the wall, at the exact same park).

Padres fans like to pretend their team is in the same echelon as the Dodgers, but the distinct lack of rings renders any argument moot.

The Dodgers now get three days off before they have to report to Milwaukee for a postseason rematch. The Brewers are confident there'll be no repeats of 2025, when they were swept, but Dodgers fans aren't so sure.

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