For decades, the Los Angeles Dodgers most-hated rivals were the San Francisco Giants. It makes sense, as the two were rivals in New York before moving to California.
However, the longtime rivalry has shifted. The Giants have slipped in the division and the San Diego Padres have risen in the ranks.
The two teams met in the National League Division Series this year and the five games lived up to the hype. A five-game showdown between two of the league’s top teams, with plenty of bad blood between them, kept fans on the edge of their seats. Both sides vowed to come out swinging, but it was the Dodgers who landed the decisive blow and went on to win the World Series in five games over the New York Yankees.
The Padres didn’t go unnoticed and Dodgers outfielder Mookie Betts brought up San Diego in a recent episode of On Base when he credits the Friars as being the best team in baseball at the time.
“We’re playing them and at the time, to be fair, they were way more talented than we were,” Betts said. “That was probably the most talented team I’ve seen. They were the best team in baseball.”
The Dodgers’ season has been defined by collective effort. While having superstars like Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman certainly plays a role, the team has had to rely on others stepping up as they dealt with a series of injuries throughout the year.
Baseball insiders across the country thought the Padres were the better team and would move on to the Championship Series, but the team from Los Angeles changed the narrative.
“We talked about this series. It was going to test us, and we fought,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts after winning Game 5 against San Diego. “We didn’t relent, not one time, and I just couldn’t be more excited for this ballclub.”
As the Dodgers continued their postseason run against the New York Mets and Yankees, the more the Padres truly stood out as the second-best team, not just in the NL, but in baseball. Neither team from New York gave the Dodgers a fight quite like the Padres did, and it clearly hasn’t left their minds.
