The rivalry between The San Francisco Giants and The Los Angeles Dodgers
has spanned from two coasts. It started in New York City when The
Dodgers played in Brooklyn while The Giants called Manhattan home. Fans
from both teams would flock to Ebbets Field and The Polo Grounds to see
their favorite teams play. Both teams left New York in the 50s in favor
of the riches of California. The rivalry has produced some of Major
League Baseball’s best players from Willie Mays and Barry Bonds of The
Giants to Sandy Koufax and Jackie Robinson of The Dodgers. Now as these
two bitter rivals that are separated by 347 miles enter the month of
August in a relative deadlock for first place in The National League
West, they are serving notice to the rest of The NL they are serious
World Series contenders.
The Giants came into this season as my pick to win The World Series.
Even though they haven’t been able to rely on two All-Star pitchers, The
Giants are still in contention under manager Bruce Bochy. Two-time Cy
Young Award winner Tim Lincecum has had the worst season of his short
career. Despite having a 5.62 earned run average, Lincecum still has a
shot to strike out 200 or more batters for the fifth straight year as he
now has 136 for the season. Closer Brian Wilson has been out for the
majority of the season after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery.
San Francisco has now come to rely more on their other pitchers.
Matt Cain and Madison Bumgarner each have double-digit victories already
this season while Ryan Vogelsong is closing in on the mark with eight
wins. Reliever Santiago Casilla has filled in admirably for Wilson with
24 saves which is third in The NL among closers.
The Giants offense has benefited from a healthy Buster Posey behind the
plate. Posey’s 2011 campaign was cut short after a collision at home
plate with Scott Cousins of The Florida Marlins. This season, Posey
leads the club in home runs (13) and runs batted in (61) while
reassuming his title of calling games for a Giants pitching staff that
has the fourth best earned run average in The National League at 3.54.
Posey has had help in the lineup in the form of All-Star Game Most
Valuable Player Melky Cabrera. Cabrera is having his best season at the
right time as he will become a free-agent at season’s end. Cabrera is
second in The NL in batting average at .353 while he leads The Giants in
triples with 8.
The Dodgers came out of the gates this season flying. By June 10, Los
Angeles was 17 games over .500 and they owned the best record in
baseball. All-Star center fielder Matt Kemp was on pace for a record
breaking season as he hit 12 home runs in the month of April along with a
.417 batting average. Kemp then injured his hamstring running down to
first base in a game against The Colorado Rockies on May 13 and he did
not see the field again until July 13. Now with Kemp back in the fold
the landscape of baseball in Los Angeles has changed dramatically.
The Dodgers came into this season with ownership woes as the embattled
Frank McCourt was forced out by MLB commissioner Bug Selig. The
Guggenheim Baseball Management which features Basketball Hall of Famer
Magic Johnson as one of the owners purchased the franchise for $2
billion and they have revitalized the franchise. Now the vault is open
and Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti is like a kid in a candy store.
After locking up Kemp to a eight-year extension worth $160 million,
Colletti then inked right fielder Andre Ethier to a five-year extension
worth $85 million.
Prior to the non-waiver trade deadline, The Dodgers acquired All-Star
shortstop Hanley Ramirez from The Miami Marlins. Ramirez left Miami
second on The Marlins all-time home run list with 148 and he seemed to
be a lifer in South Florida, but he has built a rep as a prima donna and
this was evident when he pouted with Marlins management about being
moved from shortstop to third base when the team signed shortstop Jose
Reyes. Renteria has tremendous potential which was evident in him
earning The NL’s Rookie of The Year Award in 2006, but it is just a
matter of him being dialed in to the team. With the recent acquisitions
of outfielder Shane Victorino from The Philadelphia Phillies and closer
Brandon League from The Seattle Mariners, The Dodgers are poised to make
noise in The NL.
Giants general manager Brian Sabean has built a rep to not sit by idly
at the trade deadline. Last year saw The Giants acquire outfielder
Carlos Beltran from The New York Mets as they were trying to defend
their World Series Title from 2010. This season has seen The Giants
acquire infielder Marco Scutaro from The Rockies and outfielder Hunter
Pence from The Phillies.
The addition of Pence and Scutaro might not seem big, but they will make
a difference on this veteran ball club. Pence is a scrappy player that
will find a way to get on base which is evident by his .342 career
on-base percentage while Scutaro can play multiple positions on the
infield which will be huge now that All-Star third baseman Pablo
Sandoval is on the disabled list. Lincecum has given The Giants three
quality starts in four starts since The All-Star break while picking up
two victories in the process. If Lincecum can reclaim the form that he
has had for his career in the second half of this season, it will work
like a trade for The Giants.
The Dodgers are hopeful that the middle of the lineup can carry them to
greatness. With Ramirez, Kemp, and Ethier batting in the middle of the
batting order they will be tough to stop as each player can carry a team
for an extended amount of time. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner
Clayton Kershaw is not on pace to win 21 games this season like he did
last year, but with a 2.95 earned run average he is still formidable.
The Dodgers were rumored to get starting pitcher Ryan Dempster from The
Chicago Cubs before the trade deadline, but the deal fell through with
Dempster instead going to The Texas Rangers. The Dodgers are hopeful
that pitchers Chris Capuano, Chad Billingsley, and Aaron Harang who have
combined for 21 wins so far this season are enough behind Kershaw in
the rotation to carry them to the postseason for the first time since
2009. The acquisition of Victorino will give The Dodgers depth in the outfield along with World Series experience. Victorino also has familiarity with Dodgers first base coach Davey Lopes as Lopes coached in Philadelphia for four seasons.
I had both teams qualifying for the playoffs before the season started
and they are making me look pretty accurate so far. Teams such as The
Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals are looking tough as well in
The NL, but with a rivalry as deep as the one between The Dodgers and
Giants, we could be looking at the possibility of an all California
National League Championship Series. Interstate-5 would be buzzing as
these two rivals have never met in the postseason.
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