When the Baseball Hits the Fan

Yankees-Red Sox, Dodgers-Giants, Phillies-Everyone; these are the rivalries baseball fans think of when you start a conversation about baseball rivalries. In the twenty-first century, however, thanks to cellphone cameras, media devices, and programs such as YouTube, the rivalry on the field extends to the ballpark.

Enter "Dodgers" and "Giants" in the YouTube search bar, and the application provides a list of videos, not about great teams and players engaged in the great games, but showing unruly fans taking their frustrations on each other. The video game, road rage, fast food culture extends even to the baseball grandstands as people, who probably passed each other at Disneyland without batting an eye, swing fists at each other because they are wearing different colours. I use the Dodgers-Giants example because recent events forced leaders from both Los Angeles and San Francisco to decry the violence and speak out against the haters.

Cash Kruth of MLB.com blogged about the incident in detail on his blog. The rivalry began with the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants playing in New York City in the National League with the Giants earning world championships and pennants throughout the 20's and 30's. However, when most baseball fans think of the Dodgers' time in Brooklyn they think of the first baseball player to break the game's colour barrier, Jackie Robinson. I admire the Dodgers, general manager Branch Rickey, and Jackie Robinson for what his signing in 1947 meant to the game, in spite of the fact the team won its sole world championship while in Brooklyn in 1955. American expansion into the west forced both clubs to venture to the West Coast in 1958, and both sides carried the rivalry with them. 'The Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles' (Hi Angels fans) continued winning world championships in '59, '63, '65, '81, and '88, while the San Francisco Giants played on without a World Series title until 2010.

Additional information provided by the LA TIMES. Now, if I had to choose between the two teams, I would need to choose the Dodgers because of the historical significance of Jackie Robinson. However, the Giants did field the greatest all-around baseball player of all-time, Willie Mays. After my Blue Jays, I suppose the Dodgers are (tied for) second, but the Giants are right behind. I am not a fan of the 'supporters' that use violence under the guise of sporting contests. It brings the game into disrepute, and sets a poor example for kids that are often times in the middle of the altercations. I hope the haters take this advice, bring their hats, and leave the hate out of the game.

Hey! You want to see Marcus Thames' RBI triple from the Dodgers-Giants series? Here it is! You don't see triples as much anymore ^_^

(Special thanks to ESPN.com for the pictures, and Wikipedia for source data)

I noticed I type "Dodgers" and not "Los Angeles Dodgers". I still hold out hope they will return to Brooklyn o_O Don't ask...