Dodgers And Giants And Houses Divided
Futbol may be life, but playoff baseball ain't far behind
“My husband and I met on the Hinge app last year. I jokingly say that I only swiped right on him because there were no pictures with him in Giants gear — had there been, it would have been an automatic swipe left.
Last year, our rivalry was a non-issue because it was all about the Dodgers, but this year, we’ve been trash-talking each other’s teams nonstop. We went to one game early in the season where the Giants beat the Dodgers in extra innings. It was a great experience.
With this upcoming series, I’m not sure how we’ll be able to keep the peace. It will be the first real challenge as a married couple.”
Who doesn’t love a good rivalry, right? Yankees-Red Sox, Vikings-Packers, Cubs-White Sox, Bruins- Rangers, Canadiens-Maple Leafs…and those are just in professional baseball, football, and hockey. There’s a boatload of other sports and rivalries which spark passions- from the pros down to the high school level. The biggest day on the sports calendar here in Oregon is the Civil War football game between the University of Oregon and Oregon State University.
(Little known fact: In 1983, the Civil War game became known as the worst college football game EVER- the Toilet Bowl. In a game well-deserving of that moniker, the Ducks and Beavers played to a 0-0 tie in a near-freezing driving rainstorm. You can probably find it on YouTube, though I wouldn’t recommend it- unless you enjoy fumbles, interceptions, and punts.)
Ah, but I digress….
The reason for this screed is tonight’s Game 1 of the National League Division Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants. It’s a best three-of-five series that’s notable for a few reasons. One, it’s the first time the California-based Dodgers and Giants have ever met in the postseason. Seriously.
Second, the Dodgers (106-56) and the Giants (107-55) finished with the two best records in Major League Baseball (MLB)…and by a fair piece. Only one other team, the Tampa Bay Rays (100-62), finished with triple digits in their win column.
If MLB had any flair for the dramatic, the Dodgers and Giants would be playing in the World Series. The drama and the storylines alone would be epic…but that’s not how these things work. LA had to survive a one-game, winner-take-all wild-card playoff with the St. Louis Cardinals, who’d won 18 of their last 21 regular-season games, including 17 in a row. Chris Taylor hit a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Dodgers a 3-1 win over the Cardinals.
Oh, yeah; let the drama begin.
“Our son at 6 years old one day piped up from the back seat of the car that he decided he was a Giants fan.
I told him that it was fine and we’d love him even with this decision. The only problem was we couldn’t have a Giants fan living in our household.
I promised we’d find him a nice home with a Giants loving family who would treat him well and who also would love him very much. After a few minutes of tears he decided he didn’t want us to find him a new family and thankfully still roots for the Dodgers.
While we’re a USC family, we’d have no problems with him rooting for UCLA. As Lakers fans we’d even get by with him rooting for the Celtics. But rooting for the Giants is definitely over the line.”
Full disclosure: I’m a Giants fan. Well, truth be told, I’m a lifelong Minnesota Twins fan. I grew up living and dying with the Twins. With one of the smallest payrolls in MLB, though, even in the years the Twins win their division or make the wild-card game, they have ZERO chance of winning anything…though they did win the World Series in 1987 and 1991, two of the greatest moments of my life.
Of course, it’s a different economic era now, and Minnesota is a minuscule fish in an immense pond. Minnows don’t last long in the postseason- if they get there at all.
Ah, but again I digress….
I’ve been to AT&T Park in downtown San Francisco twice now. For my money- San Francisco’s odd, sometimes frigid climate aside- it’s the best experience in baseball. Pay $100 for a seat behind home plate, look out over San Francisco Bay…and watch the seagulls descend on the poor suckers in the left-field bleachers in the bottom of the eighth inning.
(I’ve forgiven Erin for not wanting to go to a Giants game on the day Tim Lincecum threw a no-hitter…but it took a while.)
At the end of August, I made a pilgrimage to Dodger Stadium with a couple of close friends who are rabid Dodgers fans. I don’t hate the Dodgers, but I wouldn't be crying if they went 0-162. Still, Dodger Stadium had been on my bucket list, and it was a great experience.
I was smart enough not to wear my Giants cap because I know some Dodgers fans don’t take kindly to such gestures. Why poke the bear during a regular-season game when not much of anything is at stake? It would be a much different story if it were a playoff game, like tonight, f’rinstance.
(If anyone asks, yes, you can feel the history all around you in Dodger Stadium. Honestly, though, the place is kind of a dump. It needs a new coat of paint, the seats aren’t comfortable, the concessions are inconvenient and rather slow, and the parking lot…well, the less said about that, the better. Nevertheless, the experience was worth it, though. Baseball in Los Angeles is all sorts of fun…but it’s no AT&T Park.)
Ryan and Sara Scheid (Courtesy Sara Scheid)
As I said, I don’t hate the Dodgers, but there will be no doubt about my allegiance over the next few days. The souvenir Dodger cap I picked up at Dodger Stadium will remain in the back of my closet. Erin and I are going out to dinner with one of my Dodger-fan friends and his wife…and you can bet I’ll be wearing my Giants’ cap. He HATES the Giants (the “f*****g Giants” as he lovingly refers to them), so it’s an excellent way to (affectionately) aggravate him.
It’s all in good fun, which is what makes sports rivalries interesting. Of course, it’s the playoffs, which means that for a few days, my friends and I will be on opposite sides of the fence…but we’ll still like one another. We’ll have a few good-natured back-and-forth conversations via text message that will resolve exactly nothing. Then, in February, spring training will start, and the cycle begins all over again.
Buddhists believe that existence is an endless cycle of birth, death, and re-birth. So it is with sports. Sure, your team might win a championship (or finish in last place) today, but in a few weeks or months, a new season will roll around, and everyone will once again be 0-0 as it starts all over again.
Rivalries make things interesting and fun…but in the end, they’re just games. They distract us from life for a few hours, but in no way are they substitutes for anything. Not that there’s anything wrong with distractions. Lord knows we need them now more than ever.
You can bet that at 6:37 pm PDT tonight, when it’s time for the first pitch, I’m going to be hoping the restaurant we’re in has a TV…and that it’s tuned to the Dodgers-Giants game.
Hey, it’s the playoffs…and I’m a Giants fan. It’s what we do.
Game on, eh??
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