I grew up in L.A. and the Dodgers were my team. I wasn’t a huge baseball fan back then, but I went to many games at Chavez Ravine.
I got to see the 1988 Dodgers win it all behind possibly the most iconic hit in baseball history.
And I felt a kinship with the boys in blue.
I only watched a few games a year from then on. But they were my team.
In 1998 Fox bought the team and within a couple years got rid of every player I cared about.
Mike Piazza,
Raul Mondesi,
Paul Konerko,
Todd Hollandsworth,
Hideo Nomo,
Adrian Beltre,
Alex Cora,
Craig Council,
Eric Karros,
Eric Young.
Among others. The only guy they held onto that I cared at all about was Eric Gagne.
Around that time the Angels did two things to catch my eye. They changed their uniforms to red and they hired Mike Scioscia as manager. The same Scioscia that won the World Series for my Dodgers in 1988. And he brought some of his old teammates from that team to join that coaching staff.
I watched a game that season and was blown away by that team. They were exciting and passionate and I liked them instantly. Especially Darin Erstad. But GA, Glaus, Kennedy, Molina, Salmon, I was hooked.
I was watching Angels games instead of Dodgers games. And then a couple seasons later they did the seemingly impossible, they beat Barry Bonds to win it all. And I watched it all.
And I fell in love.
And now. Right now I feel like I did in the late 90’s.
Everyone I care about on the Angels is gone except for Trout. They even got rid of Fletcher. Who do I root for? Ward? Adell?
But I look across town, and not only do they now have the best player of all time, but they’ve got Betts and Freeman. And that Outman kid is fun to watch.
I might now be a Dodgers fan. Putting my old Jackie Robinson jersey back on is starting to feel more and more comfortable. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll always love the Angels and they will always be my AL team. But I think starting this year I’m an NL fan.