You love to beat L.A.? Giants vs. Dodgers in NLCS would be treat
“Shouldn’t #sfgiants fans be rooting for #dodgers for an all-California NLCS?”
Few tweets have generated more venom among the faithful followers. I tweeted it Saturday night shortly after the Giants’ 18-inning history book in Washington and Matt Kemp’s eighth-inning homer against the Cardinals.
The reaction was clear: “no” Or put another way, “ewww gross no” While we’re at it . . . “are you sick or just not aware of the animosity between my #SFGiants and the hated #Dodgers?”
“My 2 favorite teams: SF and & Whoever’s playing the Dodgers.”
“i don’t want the dodgers to win anything ever.”
“NEVER!!!!”
Of course, calmer voices will point out that
there is still work to do.
“Wait did I miss something? Is the Nationals series done? Wonder if the Reds were talking like this two years ago ...”
Fair enough. But c’mon folks: Open your hearts, for the cause, to Dodger blue. Embrace what would be the most epically billed National League Championship Series ... well, ever. Only Yankees-Red Sox would come close, those teams meeting three times in six years in the American League Championship Series.
This wouldn’t be a madefor-ESPN production. This is deeper rooted, more organically generated, so many downto-the wire skirmishes, each team taking pleasure in knocking out the other, neither team going 85 years without a championship, a la the Red Sox.
It has more bad blood per square vial than any other sports rivalry, and who wouldn’t want to withstand the first Giants-Dodgers postseason series in history?
“for me personally it has to do with not wanting to deal with dodger fans should the Giants lose”
“don’t want any part of Kershaw/Greinke”
Not the right attitude. Never mind the Dodgers won the season series 10-9, finished six games ahead of the Giants, out payrolled them by $80 million and would own the homefield advantage.
Giants fans need to pull for the Dodgers and a black-andblue NLCS, and here’s why: Hasn’t happened before: The teams twice met in bestof-three series to determine the pennant after finishing the season in a first-place tie (1951 and 1962), but those were considered regular-season games. The Giants won both series, each going the distance.
The face-offs brought us the “Shot Heart ’Round the World,” the most theatrical homer in history, Bobby Thomson’s at the Polo Grounds that won the ’51 pennant. And the Giants’ first World Series on the coast, in ’62, courtesy of a four-run rally in the ninth (Willie Mays driving in the first run) for a 6-4 win in the clincher.
If so much late-game theater could be staged in a Game 3, imagine the impact of a Game 7. Enough of the Cardinals: The Giants already played them three times in the NLCS, losing in 1987 (the cowbells) and winning in 2002 (the walk-off ) and 2012 (the rain). Been there, done that. Giants fans get it. St. Louis is a fine baseball town. Can’t despise it like L.A. Kershaw’s kryptonite: The Giants can’t beat Clayton Kershaw between April and September, but the second coming of Koufax is vulnerable in October. He has a career 2.48 regular-season ERA and 5.20 in 10 playoff games, including Friday’s eight-run clunker. No better time than now to beat Kershaw. The Peavy factor: Jake Peavy is the Cody Ross of 2010, a late-season pickup, and, to boot, a Dodger-nemesis. He went seven innings in the 5-2 win at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 22, and he’s 14-3 with a 2.30 lifetime ERA against the Dodgers. Peavy will be a free agent, and he’s not a resource to waste. The Bumgarner-Puig thing: It’s a cleaner version of Juan Marichal-Johnny Roseboro (thank goodness), but the Madison Bumgarner-Yasiel Puig feud is as hot as it gets in modern-day baseball. If Bumgarner welcomes showdowns with Puig and the Dodgers, so should Giants fans. Bonus Scully: The most lovable Dodger is 86, still the best in the business. Vin Scully calling Giants-Dodgers in October? Can’t beat it. No matter your affiliation. Bragging rights: The biggest reason. The Dodgers dominated the rivalry’s West Coast edition in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, and the Giants finally gained an edge in the late ’90s and especially in the 2000s. The Dodgers still lead five world championships to two, but the Giants lead the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately derby. A best-of-seven would serve as the all-time tiebreaker. The absolute biggest mustwin series in both teams’ histories. The real World Series. Yanks-Red Sox ain’t seen nothing yet.
“There is not enough antacid in the world for California to survive that.”
Exactly.
“Rooting for the #Dodgers under any circumstance would be like hoping Hitler rises from the dead.”
A bit of a stretch, but the passion is appreciated.
“Put me down for #Dodgers v #SFGiants! We’ll show east coast what a rivalry’s all about!”
That’s the spirit.