Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES — According to some stats recently compiled by the online betting site Betonline.ag, your Los Angeles Dodgers are the most hated team in more states than any other organization, nudging out the perennial bad guy, the New York Yankees by being despised in nine states compared to the Yankees eight and the Astros* seven. Of course, this is bit like the electoral college in that it doesn’t show who is hated by the most fans, just which team is loathed the most in each state. I imagine if you took a nation-wide survey, the cheating Astros* would still win the popular vote. At least, I would hope so, although it still bugs me how AJ Hinch and Alex Cora are still treated like they are baseball royalty, but that is a topic for another post. The question here is why all the hate coming toward our beloved Dodgers?
Rivalries explain a lot
A lot of the states that hate the Dodgers can be pretty easily explained away by divisional rivalries. That most likely accounts for why the Mountain West hates the Dodgers at least. They are all Diamondbacks and Rockies fans, no doubt, and probably sick of getting their hats handed to them every season by their nemesis in LA. So that pretty easily explains the hate coming from five of the states anyway, in the same way it’s logical that folks in Missouri hate the Cubs or Minnesotans hate the White Sox. And, I imagine there is a generalized hatred of “La La Land” that drives the folks in the deep south to hate on the Dodgers. Why Alaska hates us is kind of perplexing, but what are you going to do?
Big Money + Success = Envy
But is this hatred, whatever the reason justified? People often point to the Dodgers’ hefty payroll as evidence that the team is “buying” success, and point to the lean mean operations of a team like the Tampa Bay Rays as one who’s doing things “the right way”. After all the argument goes, you can buy a whole lot of wins with a $282 million payroll.
However, I don’t think this is necessarily a fair criticism. In fact, the existence of Andrew Friedman in both Tampa and LA show that actually the two teams share a very similar philosophy: find undervalued talent, bring it into the organization, and nurture their success. If you look at the Dodgers’ lineup, names like Taylor, Muncy, and Justin Turner jump out at you as quality players that other organizations had given up on.
Don’t sleep on player development
Plus, one reason for the Dodgers’ sustained success over the years is its second-to-none player development system. Dodger fans know all about the many Rookies of the Year that have worn the Dodger blue, but a quick look at the current roster shows an ample amount of locally grown talent. In fact, before the arrival of Trevor Bauer (oops) and Max Scherzer this year, the Dodgers entire starting rotation was developed in-house: Buehler, Kershaw, Gonsolin, May, Urias. Plus, don’t underestimate the value of player development in getting good pieces at the trade deadline. The only reason the Dodgers were able to obtain Scherzer and Trea Turner at all is that we had two studs (Keibert Ruiz and Josiah Gray) in the minors that could attract the interest of Nats’ GM Mike Rizzo.
Conclusion
I get the hate for the Dodgers. They are a successful franchise that has put quality teams on the field for almost a decade straight. However, don’t forget the many missteps Dodger management has made in the past with free agent busts, and disappointing draft picks. Not to mention the disarray that the franchise was in under the ownership of Frank McCourt. This is a case of an organization that retooled itself to think differently AND had a big wallet. A lethal combination. One that could very well lead to one of the greatest runs in baseball history.
