The Giants. Why We Hate Them

With SF coming to town I thought it would be appropriate to discuss why they are so hated in Dodger land. It started off as a rivalry between 2 boroughs in the city of New York. Separated by a couple of miles. Except for very few years into the 40’s, the Giants had the better team and the upper hand.

The Giants joined the ranks of professional teams in 1883. They won their first championships, not really the World Series then even though baseball reference lists it as such, in 88 and 89. They would not win again until 1905. They won 4 pennants between 1910 and 1920 and lost all 4 World Series.

The legendary John McGraw was their manager then. He and the Dodgers Wilbert Robinson did not exactly like each other. And the Dodgers had managed to win a couple of pennants themselves in 1916 and 1920.

For the next 20 years, until 1941, Brooklyn was always the 3rd best team in New York. The Giants went to 7 World Series over that span, won 3 and lost 4. But the Brooklynites were still proud of their team, and sometimes fisticuffs would result as arguments got louder. In 1934 with the Giants cruising to what seemed to be a second straight pennant, Bill Terry, the Giant manager made a statement he would come to regret. With a series with the Dodgers looming, Terry was asked about its importance. His reply was “Brooklyn? are they still in the league? Well, the Dodgers beat the Giants that series and the Giants ended up losing the pennant by 2 games.

In 1941, the Dodgers flipped the script. They became the better team. The Giants did not win a pennant between 1937 and 1950. The Dodgers won in 41, 47 and 49. The rivalry was always heated, and bad blood was evident in some confrontations during the 50’s. Jackie Robinson ran over a Giant who was running to cover the bag, and Carl Furillo had a confrontation with Ruben Gomez after being hit by a pitch. NY scored pennants in 51 and 54, beating the Indians that year for the Series win. The Dodgers won in 52, 53, 55, 56, and again in 1959 when the rivalry moved across the country to LA and SF.

In 59, the Giants were not really the Dodgers main rival, it was the Milwaukee Braves who were coming off of back to back pennants. But there was a game of significance in 59. On August 31st, Koufax struck out 18 Giants at the coliseum. One of the first flashes of real dominance in his young career. Through most of the 60’s and into the 80’s, the Dodgers were the better team and won multiple pennants.

The one incident that perpetuated the animosity between the fans and the franchises was the bat incident between Marichal and Roseboro. That incident probably cost the Giants a shot at winning the pennant. Marichal was suspended and SF lost to LA by 2 games. When division play started in 1969, the Giants were not very successful. Between 69 and 2000, they won 5 division titles, went to the Series once and lost. We all know how successful the Dodgers were in the 80’s with a couple of series wins, and some really good teams that fell a little short. But 88 so far has been their swan song.

There have been some confrontations in the ensuing years. I cannot remember all of them. I do remember an incident in SF when members of the Dodgers went after a fan who took the cap from one of the catchers in the pen. Players went into the stands after him. There have been some bad incidents between fans. The beating of a Giants fan at Dodger Stadium, and the stabbing death of a Dodger fan in SF. Orange and Black, are not our favorite colors.

Of course the most galling thing to Dodgers fans has been watching the Giants win 3 World Series in the 2010’s. Incidents like Muncy telling Bumgarner to “Get it out of the ocean” have kept the rivalry lively. I do respect some of the great players that the Giants have had over the years. I still think Willie Mays is the most exciting player I have ever seen in person. Willie McCovey owned Drysdale. I never could stand Marichal, and was stunned when he became a Dodger. Never got to root for him. He was a blip on the screen. Some Giants ended up in LA unis. Tom Haller was one of the better ones. And some Dodgers went the other way too. Hershiser and Baker both spent time in SF.

Looking back, it is one of the better rivalries in sports. Dodgers have had the best of it for most of the last few years. But SF can still play the spoiler role, and they love doing that. One way you can really see how much the two organizations dislike each other is by knowing that Jackie Robinson, rather than accept a trade to the Giants, retired from baseball. His dislike of them was that deep.