Dodgers News: PCA’s diss of Dodger fans stings, but does he have a point?
CAMELBACK RANCH, AZ — Pete Crow-Armstrong’s quote in Chicago Magazine is the kind of thing that is always going to get a reaction in Los Angeles, and honestly, it should. He said Cubs fans “give a shit” and contrasted them with Dodgers fans who go to games “to take pictures and whatever,” which is a pretty easy way to light up a fan base that fills Dodger Stadium year after year. (Chicago Magazine)
The funny part is who it’s coming from. PCA is a Southern California kid. MLB’s own bio lists him as born in Sherman Oaks and a Harvard-Westlake product in Los Angeles, so this is not some outsider guessing what Dodgers crowds are like from TV highlights. He grew up around this baseball culture.
Once you add the family context, the quote makes a lot more sense. Crow-Armstrong wrote in The Players’ Tribune that he grew up in L.A. with a dad who is from Naperville, just outside Chicago and who flat-out told him he could not root for the Dodgers (which borders on child abuse, if you ask me!). That background matters. This is a guy who was raised with Cubs fandom in the house, so part of this sounds like a son carrying the family flag and leaning into the city he plays for now.
And let’s be real, ballplayers do this all the time. A player says the local fans are the best, the city is amazing, the crowd cares more than anyone, and everybody moves on. PCA is a young star in Chicago. He plays in front of those fans 81 home games a year. He is going to say things that make Wrigley love him even more.
And let’s face it. Our beloved Dodgers are Public Enemy Number One right now, especially in the Windy City after we snatched Kyle Tucker from the Cubs’ roster. Picking on the Dodgers and the LA fan base is low-hanging fruit for PCA. Come up with some new material, dude.
Does he have a point buried in there? Sure, a little. Dodger Stadium is famous for its late-to-arrive, early-to-leave crowd and it is absolutely a destination on a summer night. It draws diehards, families, tourists, casual fans, celebrities, and people who want the full L.A. experience. I mean didn’t the team draw over 4 million fans last year? Do you expect EVERY one of them to explain the difference between OBP and OPS? That mix is part of what makes Chavez Ravine what it is. Some fans know every bullpen arm. Some fans are there for the night out. Both things can be true.
Where PCA loses people is the broad brush. Dodgers fans are not one thing. Most of the fans I know and talk to care deeply about the game, follow the roster, and can talk baseball all day. They may show it differently than Wrigley fans, and the vibe in Los Angeles is never going to look exactly like Chicago, but that does not mean the passion is fake.
So if PCA wants to pump up Cubs fans, fine. That comes with the job. But he should also expect Dodgers fans to remember the line the next time he steps in at Chavez Ravine. And if he hears some boos, that will not be because people came to take pictures. It will be because they were paying attention.
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