Dodger Blew

I went to the Tribe game yesterday, braving the sweltering Southern California heat to witness a one run loss. Fortunately, our field level seats (which were amazing) were just under the overhang, so we stayed out of the sun.

Living in Los Angeles, I watch a lot of Dodgers games. I'm a sucker for baseball and HD TV. And I've never really had an issue with the Dodgers or their fans. I'm re-thinking that now.

A few years ago, the Dodgers FINALLY returned to the post-season. They lost in the division series to the Cardinals, 3-1. After they were eliminated (in Los Angeles), they came out and shook hands with the opposing team, a sight you don't normally see in the majors. It was very...lovey dovey.

It was odd, to say the least, but I thought nothing more of it.

Until yesterday.

Some context: The Tribe had one the first two games of this three game series. They were going for the sweep yesterday, while the Dodgers were looking to prevent being swept at home. These two teams haven't met up since 2003 in a series in Cleveland, so there's no much in the way of rivalry or even familiarity.

And yet yesterday I watched (and listened) as Dodger fans would yell things like "You suck, Garko!" whenever Ryan Garko would come to the plate. They would repeat that witty banter for more or less every Indians' batter, even going so far as to yell "good-bye" to any player who struck out.

I thought that was really strange. I mean, it wasn't like we were the Giants or something. Why would they possibly have such animosity towards the Indians? Surely this wasn't holdover frustration from the 1920 World Series when they were known as the Brooklyn Robins.

When the game ended, it got worse. As god as my witness, had I not been aware of the situation I would have thought the Dodgers had just won the pennant. For that matter, Dodger fans started shooing Tribe fans out of their stadium with an arrogance that's second only to Yankee fans.

I was expecting happiness and relief at avoiding a sweep. I didn't expect jubilation and hubris.

While initially I got pretty defensive about this (I believe I pointed out that we'd won the series to more than a few Dodger fans), as time passed I began to realize just how sad it was. This is an organization that should be on par with the Yankees; they should be the West Coast equivalent of the Evil Empire. They should compete for their division every year and win it more often than not.

Famous Dodgers color man Vin Skully once commented (and there was context to this) that he thought it might be interesting if MLB went back to 8 teams in each league. There's no way you could widdle the National League down to 8 teams and NOT keep the Dodgers. They're a storied organization.

But all they have is their past. Their present has been sad and their future doesn't appear to be any brighter.

Maybe shaking hands after a sorry showing in the NLDS was as good as it gets for them these days. Maybe they have to take what they can get and hold on to it with both hands...or one, rather, as the other will be shaking hands with the team that just eliminated them.

So perhaps I'll look past the sad, sorry excuse for fans I met yesterday in Chavez Ravine. Because it was unbearable hot and I can't imagine they were very happy...and probably haven't been for a long time.