Dodgers Green With N.Y. Envy

The reminder was there every time the Dodgers stepped into the batter’s box this weekend and saw that famous overlapping “NY” logo 60 feet, 6 inches away. The reminder was there for all who saw the Yankees visit Dodger Stadium this weekend.

Everything the Dodgers want involves New York. It’s been that way, it is that way. It has been more than four decades since they moved across the country from Brooklyn, but they can’t seem to escape New York. Their fate will always be tied to their birthplace.

Three of the last four times the Dodgers went to the World Series, they faced the Yankees. And to get to the 1988 World Series they had to beat the New York Mets.

The Yankees wear the championship crown the Dodgers seek, and are the odds-on favorites to win again.

To make it worse, the Yankees have even topped the Dodgers in those old Dodger strongholds of talent production and stability. New York’s farm system has turned out the likes of Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams in recent years, and its Opening Day lineup today will be virtually identical to the one that took the field last year.

The Dodgers return only two Opening Day starters (it would be three if Eric Karros wasn’t injured at the start of last season). They have a new manager and new general manager too.

Meanwhile Mike Piazza, the most productive and popular Dodger of the 1990s, now plays in New York. It only makes sense. The most important player in Dodger history, Jackie Robinson, played in New York, not L.A. Of the 16 Dodgers honored on the outfield wall, six made names for themselves in Brooklyn.

And the all-time Dodger list of Robinson, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Duke Snider, etc. sounds nice--until you put it against the Yankee pantheon of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle.

Don’t start comparisons with the Yankees. They’ve got an answer for everything. The Dodgers commit to an $83-million payroll? The Yankees will raise you to $85 million. The Dodgers sign Kevin Brown? The Yankees bring in Roger Clemens. Fox buys a share of the Lakers? The Yankees merge with the New Jersey Nets.

But the Dodgers don’t give up. It’s not in their nature. They took five World Series beatings at the hands of the Yankees before they finally broke through in 1955. The two teams have split their past six World Series meetings dating to that year, or else it wouldn’t even be accurate to call it a rivalry. And the battle goes on.

“The Brooklyn Dodgers used to fight for space in the papers against the Yankees, let alone for fans,” former Dodger outfielder Rick Monday said. “And [now] it’s New York vs. L.A.”

The Yankees came back to Dodger Stadium for two exhibition games this weekend, marking the first visit to Chavez Ravine since the 1981 World Series.

“It’s still fresh in my mind,” said Monday, whose home run against the Montreal Expos in the National League Championship Series lifted the Dodgers into the World Series.

What do you get when the Yankees play the Dodgers?

“I think: tradition,” Dodger vice president Tom Lasorda said. “When the Dodgers and Yankees got together, the whole nation was linked.”

In this era of alternate jerseys and rotating caps, it was comforting to see the Dodgers and Yankees wearing uniforms identical to the ones they wore in 1981--and 1977 and 1978, for that matter.

For the most part, Dodger Stadium looks the same, too, except for the advertisements on the outfield wall. Sadly, the one area where the Dodgers are gaining ground quickly on the Yankees is in the commercialization of their stadium. The Yankees were one of the first teams to play commercials on their giant screen between innings. The Dodgers aren’t there yet, but give them time.

The Fox folks are determined to squeeze as much revenue as they can out of the ballpark. Opening Day 1999 brings signs for beer, telecommunications service and cars on the outfield walls, plus credit cards in the bullpen.

All we can do is sigh and say it beats the alternative. Like a vegetarian at In-N-Out Burger, we’ve got limited choices here. If it comes down to ads on the walls or a new stadium, I’ll take the ads. They can even paint logos on the infield, as long as the Dodgers stay in Dodger Stadium and don’t sell its name to some company that ends in “com”.

If they’re going to sell out, they might as well shell out, which is what they did this off-season. The ads are a little more palatable when you know the money is being invested back in the product.

Now the Dodgers have to make good on all the cash and get back to the World Series. Watching the Yankees play here brought back too many memories, and made those old showdowns seem too long ago.

Last year the Yankees played exhibition games in San Diego, then played the Padres in the World Series. Perhaps this weekend’s exhibition games will serve as another omen. It ought to.

If the Yankees play the Dodgers, there will surely be an outcry from the small-market teams about the big markets dominating the game. Let ‘em squawk. How many people want to see the Montreal Expos play the Kansas City Royals in the World Series?

But Yankees-Dodgers? Now you’re talking.

“It’s a perfect match,” said Yankee assistant Willie Randolph, another veteran of the battles from 1977-81. “I just hope we can rekindle that type of spirit.”

The Dodgers are making noise like they’re going to do something this season. It only makes sense that New York would be ready and waiting for them to try.

*

J.A. Adande’s e-mail address: j.a.adande@latimes.com