The latest chapter of the Giants-Dodgers rivalry could not be off to a better start for San Francisco, yet something is still missing in the eyes of local broadcasters: the bitterness.
Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow were on the call for Tuesday’s 6-2 win in Los Angeles and resurfaced this idea right at the start. Luis Arraez was at the plate down 0-2 in the count when Yoshinobu Yamamoto threw a pitch high and inside that the Giants infielder had to spin away from. Arraez took a couple of steps toward the mound, indicating his disapproval of the ball’s location, before turning away and setting back up for the next pitch. The move got the veteran broadcasters going a bit.
“Ah, you know what, just have some fun,” Kuiper said. “Spice up this rivalry a little bit. I mean look, I punched Orel Hershiser in the nose before the game started. So, I’ve done my job spicing it up.”
Krukow continued the tongue-in-cheek bit of attacking the Dodgers’ color analyst and former star pitcher, as well as one-season Giant, and told his broadcast partner, “That’s your job.”
“There’s the needle-nosed boy scout,” Krukow said when the NBC Sports Bay Area camera showed Hershiser.
But to really solidify that this was all just a bit, Krukow immediately added, “He was a good guy. A great guy to play golf with. Great competitor, and a really fantastic broadcaster.”
Still, there’s some truth to the joke. When Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing was caught on camera saying “f—k ’em,” after a collision at the plate with Jung Hoo Lee that appeared to injure the Giants outfielder, Krukow said he approved of the animosity for the sake of the rivalry.
“Bring it on,” the color analyst said in a late-April radio interview. “Put another layer of disgust and hate on top of it. I think it’s wonderful.”
It was this more genuine sentiment that Giants broadcaster Dave Flemming continued on 95.7 The Game’s morning show on Wednesday. The issue, according to Flemming, is that San Francisco just hasn’t kept up with LA in recent seasons. This year, however, things are changing, and for the better.
“If you’re just rolling over and getting your tails kicked by your quote ‘rival,’ it’s not going to feel as intense or as spirited,” Flemming said. “So the fact that the Giants are doing this is definitely going to get the Dodgers’ attention, and it’s definitely going to make these games feel more intense. … The fact that they’re pushing back now and playing so much better is going to change that vibe real quick. That’s how you make it feel like it always has and they’re doing it. Good for them.”
Even Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has noticed the difference, telling reporters after Tuesday’s loss, “They haven’t had a good season thus far, but against us, you can see the emotion that they’re playing with. We have to find a way to match that intensity.”
The Giants have taken two off their NL West rival between Tuesday and the 9-3 win on Monday, meaning they’ve won four of five on the season against the Dodgers. While this early part of the season as a whole might be one Giants fans would rather forget, the success against this bitter foe will certainly be a memory to hold on to in the coming months. San Francisco will get a chance to throw some more spice on things, and even make it five of six, on Wednesday at 7:10 p.m.