Another opinion piece about the LA Dodgers… just another endless rant about keeping pitchers healthy and demanding more playing time for Hye-seong Kim, right?
Wrong.
While I could go on for paragraphs about Kim’s .372 batting average, the Dodgers are in headlines for another reason.
Oh, of course. It must be because of the recent sale of the Lakers to the owners of the Dodgers, Mark Walter, and how that might affect front-office operations.
Wrong again.
TWG Global might have to redirect some of their financial and analytical attention to the Lakers, but considering the past decade of success the Dodgers have brought to the city of Los Angeles, it seems difficult to imagine ownership ignoring them.
By now, you’ve probably realized what this is actually about: ICE agents appearing outside Chavez Ravine. Mind you, it has been a little while since the incident, but I still think it’s important we acknowledge the situation properly.
I’m not here to call out ICE for abuse of constitutionally guaranteed rights – millions of people are already doing that. Instead, I would like to thank the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Sports are truly a uniting factor. Billions of people, brought together by games. An entire industry, built on the desire to just have fun. As a fan, I think I speak for all of us when we say that we would stand behind our chosen team no matter what, through wins and losses, championships and eliminations, successes and failures. With so many fans feeling the same way, the team eventually begins to represent the fans, in a way.
With that, when the Dodgers take the time to provide financial relief and support for affected families in the community, it serves two purposes. First, as almost every single member of a professional sports organization will tell you, the team is nothing without its fans. So, when the Dodgers, or any team for that matter, gives to the community, it is actually giving back to those who helped raise the team to where it is now. Second, it makes me proud to own an Ohtani jersey – not only because of our winning record, but because the name on the front of that shirt stood up for what they, and by extension their fans, believe in.
This point isn’t one that only someone from Los Angeles can make; any fan of any team that has ever made a public statement or show of support has felt the same thing.
We support the Dodgers, and the Dodgers support us.
