Armando Huerta
LOS ANGELES — In my time following the Dodgers, it has been engrained in me to look down at all of the franchises in the National League West: the Giants, Padres, Rockies and Diamondbacks. The NL West was the only division to focus on when it came to the season and not once did it occur for me to look out my window and see the waving Braves flag I see on cars, flying high on flagpoles and homes as a potential rival.
“I don’t think we care much in the clubhouse, but I think rivalries, so to speak, different things, are good for the game, for sure,” Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw said last week. “If it creates more buzz, whatever, that’s fine with us.”
Jorge Castillo, L.A. Times
A History Lesson
The Braves, in recent years have shown themselves to be quality contenders. The 2018 NLDS is where I remember as the series that laid the seeds for a potential rivalry. Ronald Acuna Jr’s grand slam in Game 3 of the NLDS was a key highlight of the series. Go forward 2 years and the additions of free agents like Marcel Ozuna and Pablo Sandoval in the 2020 season propelled Atlanta to the postseason and once again; they came head to head with the Dodgers, now boasted with the additions of former Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts and David Price.
(Photo: CBS Sports)
The Dodgers would go onto hoist the Commissioner’s Trophy after toppling the Atlanta Braves and then the Tampa Bay Rays to win the franchise’s 7th championship. The rivalry heated up during this time, I would hear it from Braves fans all during the 2020 NLCS series, they would scold me, the team and were all celebrating prematurely. The rivalry could also be seen out on the field. The ferocity both teams played with, the drive and the passion was all left out on the field.
2021 proved a hallmark year for the Braves vs Dodgers storyline, the teams once again faced off in the playoffs. The Dodgers, marred by injuries and under-performing players dropped the 2021 NLCS to the Braves, who would then go on to topple the Houston Astros in the World Series.
The Road Ahead…
The future for the up and coming rivalry looks good. The Dodgers, signing former Brave Freddie Freeman during a blockbuster free agency period and the Braves trading for and extending former Athletic Matt Olson to fill the Freeman void and former Dodger Kenley Jansen. The Dodgers, coming off a 2-1 series win against the Braves in a series where the Dodgers outscored the Braves 15-6, now sit at first place in the National League West with a league best 9-3 record on the season.
Los Dodgers now have their eyes set on an 8th championship, their second in the last 3 years. The team’s key components of offense, defense and pitching staff all look very solid for the moment but key pieces like Mookie Betts and Max Muncy need to step up to prove the Dodgers are once again the top dogs. The only question that remains on the Dodger’s road to a championship is if the pennant race will once again run through Atlanta?
