The Rivalry Between the Dodgers and the Giants

If you talk about feud in baseball, the Dodgers and the Giants are hard to miss. This two has one of the longest rivalries and most talked about in baseball history. Their rivalry is very interesting because the teams take turn to shine. No team has powerfully ruled the contention throughout the years.

The feud rooted over a century ago in New York. The Dodgers represented the American Association while the Giants for the National League in the 1889 version of the World Series. In 1990, the Dodgers followed the move of most AA teams and joined the National League. This sparked the beginning of several face-offs between the two.

History has it that the feud is not really a battle of the two teams in the beginning. The team owners of each team have an underlying grudge for each other. The teams served as instruments to get back at each other.

From New York, the rivalry moved to California in 1958. This was due to the insistence of Dodger owner, Walter O’Malley. He moved his team in Los Angeles. In his desire to preserve the rivalry, he urged Horace Stoneham, Giants owner, to do the same. The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants were born.

Sadly, the feud did not remain in the baseball field. It grew to players having confrontations in and out of the arena. Fans were also involved in intense arguments and fights on and off the game.

Fans are so involved with the rivalry that they would celebrate in the mishaps of the opposing team. Some sportscasters would comment that for most fans, their team beating the number one rival is like winning the World Series.

The rivalry has also crept to the bones of the players. Hall of Famer Willie Mays never agreed to play for the Dodgers. In the same way fellow Hall of Famer Jackie Robinson retired after the decision to trade him to the Giants came out.

The teams raced neck to neck. If the Dodger is on top, the Giants is not far behind. The same is true when the Giants is leading. They have also managed to get in the way of each other. If the Dodger has a poor ranking, put most of the blame on the Giants. The same is true in an opposite scenario.

They also had some of the most popular fights for the National League pennant. One of the most talked about race took place in 1951, while they were still in New York. It ended with the shot heard ‘round the world. This was a term given to the walk-off homerun by Bobby Thompson to give the Giants the win. It was dramatic because of the journey the Giants travelled to win the pennant. They faced each other in a tie-breaking match up until the homerun. History repeated itself in 1962, heartbreak for the Dodgers.

However, the Los Angeles Dodgers refuse to give the Giants all the Glory. In 2004, the Dodgers returned the favor and help gave the Giants an early vacation.

Today, the rivalry remains one of the best in the sporting history.

Rick Grantham is an expert on sports equipment, specially on Los Angeles Dodgers Merchandise for more information on MLB Fan Gear, visit BooYah Village.