A Years-Long Dodger Dog Feud Erupts At Pups In The Park

THE VIDEO SURFACED ON Instagram earlier this month: two men yelling at each other in the Dodger Stadium concourse.

“That’s what you deserve! You deserve an ass beating because I had to take my dog to the fucking hospital,” yells the man behind the camera. “Your dog bit my dog! He shouldn’t fucking be here!”

The other man, wearing a medical walking boot and holding a muzzled dog on a leash, calls out for security. Nearby fans look like they would rather not get involved.

Fiery exchanges between fans are hardly unusual at Chavez Ravine. But this fight involved a feud that began not with people but with a bite between two of the Dodgers’ most famous canine fans — The Great Bambino, a Shar Pei, and Dodger, a German Shepherd mix  — several years back. And this year’s fracas happened at the team’s annual Pups in the Park event, a celebration for pet owners.

The situation has attracted attention from the subculture of fans who love the idea of taking their dogs with them to the ballpark. “It’s not a Dodgers game without a little fight,” said Alma Lam, a longtime Dodgers fan who attended Pups in the Park with her Poodle, Poochie, and witnessed the confrontation. “Oh my God, even at Pups in the Park. The culture is too deep.”

IF YOU WENT TO A DODGER GAME in the last decade, there’s a good chance that you saw The Great Bambino on the stadium video board. The service dog was a mainstay at the park, famous for wearing blue sunglasses, a flat-brim Dodgers cap, and sometimes even a jersey.

“He was the most famous Dodger dog of all time,” said owner Mark Morocco.

Morocco, 41, a landscaper by trade and a third-generation Dodgers fan with a Vin Scully tattoo on his ribs, said that he brought Bambino to more than 100 regular-season games and 35 playoff games between 2015 and 2024.

 "We hold it down in the pavilions,” said Morocco, about the outfield area where he and his dogs regularly sit. Morocco, who lives in Palm Springs, drives several hours each way to see his favorite team in person. “I love the energy. When I pick up my dog like a baby, I start a chant and everybody starts going, ‘Woof woof!’"

In 2022, at that year’s annual Pups in the Park, Morocco and Bambino met another man-dog pairing who were becoming regulars at the stadium: Jaime Rovero and Dodger.

Rovero, 56, a FedEx employee who works part time as a dog trainer, adopted Dodger as a 6-week-old puppy in 2021. He had lost two beloved dogs, Jane and Chico, the year before, and consulted with a pet medium to make sure they thought he was ready to get a new one. (They approved.)

Within days of the adoption, Rovero was posting photos of the tiny puppy to his local Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park group on Facebook. Baby Dodger was wrapped in a blue jersey: “He’ll be at the park as soon [as] he’s all vaccinated and cleared to socialize and play,” Rovero promised.

Rovero started bringing Dodger to games, including the Pups in the Park event, where Dodger won a year’s supply of dog food in a show competition — a prize that Bambino also took home three times. In 2022, Dodger also competed under the category of “Best in Ears” on Hulu’s The American Rescue Dog Show. And in 2023 during a spring training game in Arizona, Dodger came up with a home run ball hit by Dodgers infielder Michael Busch.

But Dodger was also earning a reputation at the Sepulveda Basin Off-Leash Dog Park, where multiple owners accused Dodger of unprovoked attacks on other dogs. On September 6, 2023, Miriam Preissel, the admin of the Sepulveda Basin Off Leash Dog Park Community Facebook group, posted an extremely graphic photo on behalf of another member. The photo showed a dog with a large chunk of its skin ripped off, exposing bloody red tissue. 

In that post and another from August 29, 2024, several members of the Facebook group accuse Dodger of various attacks, including one that required 66 stitches and another where a member said that she saw Dodger "rip open a Boston terrier's throat."

Rovero said he was a responsible dog owner and has a muzzle and a shock collar for Dodger, who has grown into a calm and focused dog. He acknowledged that Dodger bit a dog at the park, but said it happened when he was training his dog to “crash down.” “One time he chased after a dog and he got some skin,” he said. “I took care of it.” He added that the dog park, which he said he has not visited in three years, is frequented by “too many Karens” and “too many dog walkers. They think they own the park.” 

It was at a different park, this one located at 1000 Vin Scully Ave., where the Dodger dog beef began. 

Around the first inning of a Dodgers game in 2023, Bambino and Dodger ran into each other in the outfield area behind the Dodgers bullpen. Morocco said the owners greeted each other as they always did.

"I said,  ‘Hi,’ and our dogs were just standing there,” he told L.A. Material. “I noticed his dog's tail was tucked, but I didn't think nothing of it, because the dogs had met each other and there was no incident."

Then, according to Morocco, Dodger attacked The Great Bambino. 

"All of a sudden, he lunges and bites Bambino. He picked his head up and shook it like a death shake,” he said. “The owner had no control. My dog was crying and not fighting back. I pulled back and the owner did too, and the dog let go."

Bambino had multiple puncture wounds in his skull, Morocco said, adding that he was incensed that Rovero and Dodger were not even asked to leave the stadium after the fight, while a security guard treated Morocco like he “had started a drunken fight” with Rovero.

Bambino was treated at a Pasadena emergency animal hospital later that night for his wounds. 

When L.A. Material spoke to Rovero about the incident, he confirmed that Dodger had been the aggressor, but insisted that the attack was not as serious as Morocco made it out to be. “Maybe I accidentally stepped on my dog’s tail,” he said. “It didn't look that bad. The wounds were not that deep."

Rovero agreed to contribute money towards Bambino’s vet bills, though communication between him and Morocco became so heated that Rovero sent money orders through a third party: Morocco’s mother. 

Following the incident, Rovero said stadium staff asked him not to bring Dodger back to the stadium. But two weeks later, he said they changed course: according to Rovero, Dodgers lawyers contacted him and told him he could return to Chavez Ravine with his service dog, but only if Dodger wore a muzzle.

Although Morocco said he was “traumatized” by the fight, he and Bambino also returned to the park. “It's home,” he said. “I was born a Dodgers fan. My mom was raised a Dodgers fan; she kept a scorecard with my grandpa. It was tough to go back, trust me. But I had to keep the movement going.”

Both dogs and their humans continued their attendance at Dodger games. But when the 2024 Pups in the Park event rolled around, The Great Bambino was attacked again. 

In Los Angeles, the first Pups in the Park — formerly called Bark at the Park and sometimes referred to as Pups at the Park — was held at Dodger Stadium in 2010. Joey Herrick, the owner of SoCal-based Lucy Pet Foods, convinced then-Dodgers owner Frank McCourt to hold the event during a less profitable era of Dodgers baseball. The company even hired Dodgers broadcaster and former pitcher, Orel “Bulldog” Hershiser, to serve as an ambassador to the pet food brand.

At least half of Major League Baseball stadiums across the country hold some version of a bring-your-dog-to the park event. Entrance rules vary by team; the Dodgers require that the dogs have proof of three vaccinations. Dogs do not have to be service animals for this event, a certification Morocco and Rovero’s dogs need in order to attend regular games. 

Morocco and Bambino were waiting in line to enter the stadium. Another dog, a Labrador mix, lunged at Bambino. That dog had a muzzle on, so Bambino was not hurt, although a chunk of his fluffy Shar Pei hair went flying. 

Morocco flew too—into a rage. He said he began swearing and shouting at the dog owner. 

Following the incident, the aggressor dog and his owner were allowed to enter the stadium, while Morocco was blocked by security, including the same security guard who was present the previous year when Bambino and Dodger had their altercation. 

The Great Bambino never attended another Pups in the Park event after he was denied entry in 2024. His final game ever was Game 1 of the 2024 World Series, which ended on Freddie Freeman’s dramatic walk-off grand slam.

After suffering recurring bouts of cancer, he died in July 2025. 

Morocco continued to attend games. He had acquired another Shar Pei three years prior, Bella Blue, who shares Bambino’s sartorial choices and calm demeanor.

"She kept the legacy alive from Bambino, who passed the torch,” Morocco said.

When it came time for this year’s Pups in the Park, Morocco suited Bella Blue up in her Dodgers outfit and brought her to the ballpark. 

Before the game began, the two were walking to meet Morocco’s mother at the Gold Glove Bar beneath the Left Field Pavilion when Morocco spotted Rovero and Dodger, this time wearing a muzzle, waiting in line for a commemorative trading card photo.

“I lost it,” Morocco said later. “I never thought I would see him again,” he added of Dodger and Rovero. “I told him he should've lost his service dog license. His (Dodger’s) tail was tucked between his legs and he was shivering.”

Rovero eventually yelled for Dodgers Security, who arrived and separated the two men.

Their dogs were not involved in the altercation. 

Lam, a real estate agent who had come to the park with her poodle, Poochie, witnessed the exchange. Lam said it was her first Pups in the Park. It would also be her last, she said, after Poochie was almost attacked by an aggressive chow chow, on a day when at least one other dog was bitten by another.

After the yelling broke out, Lam said she feared further escalation, “so I said to Poochie, ‘Let’s get out of here.’” 

Rovero said that after his confrontation with Morocco, he and Dodger returned to their seats in the Right Field Pavilion. 

"After three years, just let it go," said Rovero. 

"I feel sorry for the dog passing away, but the person who should be wearing a muzzle should’ve been his stupid ass."

Pablo Goldstein is the Creative Producer at L.A. Material.