We Play Nice

The Dodger/Padre scuffle the other night has added a spark to the blog world.  Dodger and Padre fans have posted write-ups about their opinions on the incident.  This fight has led to some dialogue between me and a couple Padre fans.  Emails were exchanged that were mostly pleasant and offered some insight into the thoughts and feelings of the Dodgers newest rival.

The Dodgers and Padres have always been in the same division and have competed for playoff spots.  This has been happening for decades.  Most of the animosity in this SoCal feud has been Padre fans hating the Dodgers.  Dodgers fans didn't really acknowledge that there was any bitterness or anger towards the Padres or their fans.  That lack of mutual hatred probably bristled the nerves of some Padre supporters.  San Diego fans may have wanted this rivalry to take a step up in temperature and I should add that they probably didn't want the feud to escalate due to a fight and a broken bone.

Sadly, the disdain level between the two fan bases has escalated due to a fight on the field and a near fight in the player's parking lot.  The rivalry of mutual hatred between Dodger and Padre fans has begun.  This is going to be a new experience for both fan bases.  Dodger fans save their angst for the hated Giants to the north.  Now Dodger fans have to shift a piece of the darkness to the San Diego team to the south.

Another team to the south that probably hates the Dodgers more than we hate them is the Angels.  I have heard Angel fans mention their dislike of the real LA team before.  I don't often hear Dodger fans talking about any hatred for the Angels or their players.  Mostly, Dodger fans take jabs at the Angels team name or Arte Moreno's mustache.

The emotions that we show towards other teams doesn't really affect the way we treat each other in the blog world.  We may have certain grudges against teams that are close in proximity or that are competing for the same division crown but, we still exchange items through the mail and write nice comments on blog posts.

I mean, I even take the time to read the words typed by a Giants fan and we also swap cardboard on occasion.

I even trade baseball cards with a fan of Orange County's major league team.  Tom from the blog, The Angels, In Order sent me a sweet PWE that included some Dodger stamps and a few Ian Kinsler cards.  Tom may not like the baseball team I root for and he may consider the Dodgers to be his team's biggest rival.  I am not sure.  I am sure that he is a nice fellow that surprised me with some stamps featuring some of my favorite players of the 90s.

The players included on this sheet are Mike Piazza(awesome dude in the 90s), Eric Karros(LA Dodger home run champ), Raul Mondesi(Physical freak until poor eating habits got in the way), Hideo Nomo(Superstar), and Delino Deshields(?).

These stamps were from 1996.  So, I googled the roster from that season to see if any other player on the team could have supplanted Delino on this sheet to make it perfect.  I actually came across several candidates that could have fit better than Delino.

Todd Hollandsworth would have been nice but, maybe these stamps came out prior to the '96 season and that was before his solid rookie campaign.  Ramon Martinez was a really solid starter.  Brett Butler was a premier lead-off hitter that could get on base, swipe a bag and lay down beautiful bunt hits.  Juan Castro would have been a better choice as well because Castro's inclusion would be making me laugh right now instead of cringing.

This PWE was a kind gesture by Tom.  I will have to scrounge up something sweet and odd that will fit into his collection.

Baseball fans can get along in the blog world despite the level of seriousness that we take our rivalries.  That kindness doesn't extend to the stands at the ball parks across America.  Maybe those drunken loudmouths would treat their fellow baseball fans better with some friendly dialogue and baseball card trading?