The world according to Jim:
• It has taken long enough – way, way too long, actually – for the Dodgers to take a stand, make a statement, and have their community’s back in light of the events of the last two weeks in L.A., especially given the makeup of their fan base. …
• Consider this from Orel Hershiser a couple of weeks ago, as told to former Cleveland Indians teammate Carlos Baerga on his podcast and reported by the Dodgers Nation fan site:
“I think the Dodgers crowds are the way they are because we have such a great Latino base of fans because of Fernando Valenzuela. We lost Fernando in the last year or so, good friend of mine that I played up through the minor leagues with. Our fan base is so diverse, and our fan base then if we were averaging let’s say 30,000 a game compared to 45 or 50, I think the extra 15,000 is coming from the Latino fan base that has fallen in love with the Dodgers. When the Dodgers are on, these people are listening.”
He’s absolutely not wrong. The Valenzuela phenomenon brought what had been a disaffected community back to the Dodgers, soothing at least some of the hard feelings over the families displaced from Chavez Ravine decades before. Over the last 45 years, Latinos have been some of this team’s most loyal fans. …
As retired Spanish broadcaster Jaime Jarrín noted in a 2018 interview: “When I started with the Dodgers in 1959 at the Coliseum, the Latinos coming to the ballgames were about 8%. Now at Dodger Stadium, they tell me it’s around 46% Latinos. And if you walk around the ballpark, you will hear as much Spanish as English. And also, in the early years, the Latinos used to come to the bleachers and the top deck. Now you find Latinos in every level of the ballpark, including the most expensive seats. It’s really gratifying.” …
• Yet at a moment when so many members of that community have felt – or actually have been – targeted, the organization has been silent. Only Thursday did we hear a peep, when the Dodgers posted this social media message: “This morning, ICE agents came to Dodger Stadium and requested permission to access the parking lots. They were denied entry to the grounds by the organization. Tonight’s game will be played as scheduled.” …
Homeland Security posted a rebuttal that said, “This had nothing to do with the Dodgers. CBP vehicles were in the stadium parking lot very briefly, unrelated to any operation or enforcement.” Believe who you wish. …
• All of this came after reports that the organization, after a week and a half of turmoil, was presumably about to announce a message of support for the community and assistance for those impacted. But why did they wait this long, especially after Jarrín and utility player Kiké Hernandez had posted individual messages of support? …
• Comedian Elayne Boosler, in a post on Threads, noted the confluence of events – the team’s visit to the Trump White House earlier this season, maybe a month after the Defense Department deleted and then restored a story on its website highlighting Jackie Robinson’s military service; the failure to speak up as events in L.A. played out this month; and the controversy over Nezza singing the National Anthem in Spanish over the organization’s objections. That gave Boosler the impression, as she posted, that the team “didn’t expect the backlash so now they’re scrambling to look like good guys which they are not.” …
• The Dodgers finally made their awaited announcement around 3:30 Friday afternoon: In “partnership” with the city of Los Angeles, they’re committing “direct financial assistance” for families of affected immigrants. They’ve also promised “additional community efforts” to come.
It’s a start.
• With everything happening around them in L.A., the emotional explosiveness of the recent seven games (or, if you prefer, beanball wars) between the Dodgers and Padres were a welcome distraction. And anyone who still believes Dodgers-Padres isn’t a legitimate rivalry hasn’t been watching. …
• Yes, the Giants are the century-old rivals, and just as much the object of Dodger fans’ bile now as they’ve ever been. (Buster Posey’s return as San Francisco’s chief baseball decision-maker has livened things up, and the Giants’ acquisition of Rafael Devers – just before a game in L.A. last Sunday – only ratcheted things up further.) …
• But it’s possible to have more than one intense – and yes, vicious – rival. San Diegans don’t care for L.A., and as we noticed in last year’s postseason and again the last two weeks, the Padres and especially stars Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado tend to play with a zeal designed to irritate their opponents. Mission accomplished, again. …
• Today’s quiz: When Dodgers manager Dave Roberts went nose-to-nose with San Diego’s Mike Shildt in the ninth inning on Thursday night, after Tatis was hit in the hand with an inside pitch from rookie pitcher Jack Little, it wasn’t the first time Roberts – a former Padres player and coach – had a confrontation with a San Diego manager. When was the other one? …
• If this were hockey, Tatis throwing himself to the ground after being hit would have earned him two minutes for embellishment. …
• And maybe the play of the night was when Shohei Ohtani, after getting hit in the back by a Robert Suarez pitch in obvious retaliation in the bottom of the ninth, waved at his teammates to stay in the dugout. Ohtani and Teoscar Hernandez calmed things down, but I suspect that’s only temporary.
They’ll heat up again on back-to-back weekends in two months, at Dodger Stadium on Aug. 15-17 and at Petco Park on Aug. 22-24. Bring your helmets. …
•Quiz answer: Roberts and then-Padres skipper Andy Green got into an on-field altercation on July 1, 2017 in San Diego. Both were summoned to meet with the umpires before the second inning, after Dodger pitcher Alex Wood barked at the Padres’ Jose Pirela, suspecting that he was stealing signs from second base.
As the meeting was breaking up, according to A.J. Cassavell’s account on MLB.com, “Green got in one last verbal jab, and Roberts clearly took issue. He bolted toward Green and made contact, sending Green stumbling backward. Roberts had to be restrained as both benches cleared.” Both were ejected.
No rivalry? Seriously?
jalexander@scng.com