They’ll Try to Find a Way to Make This Rivalry Tick

The Dodgers gave out free watches, gave the baseball to the second-best pitcher in the National League, had Mike Scioscia and the Angels up from Anaheim, and they sold out Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

It is a lot more than they could say for Thursday night, when more than 20,000 seats were empty. And, despite the announced sellout Friday, large pockets of blue, yellow and orange seats were unclaimed.

While interleague, intra-city series in New York, Chicago and even the baseball-cool San Francisco Bay Area continue to thrive, drawing sellout crowds almost nightly, interest appears to have waned in Los Angeles.

In the fourth season of baseball’s interleague plan, the Angels and Dodgers have played five times. In three games at Edison Field and two at Dodger Stadium, there has been only one sellout, though both teams are involved in pennant races.

Thursday’s game, which included the return of Scioscia, Dodger hero turned Angel manager, drew a paltry 35,456.

“I was surprised and a little disappointed,” Dodger senior vice president Derrick Hall said, “because I think there is a good, spirited rivalry there. Especially with Scioscia, [Angel hitting instructor Mickey] Hatcher and [third-base coach Ron] Roenicke coming back, this is a special series.”

The typical baseball fan in Los Angeles apparently does not recognize the rivalry. But, heck, a free watch? When’s the first pitch?

“The rivalry’s just not there,” Dodger outfielder Todd Hollandsworth said. “It’s not what you’d see in the New York series or the Chicago series. It’s just the way it’s always been here. I don’t know any better.”

Oddly, preseason freeway series games sold well for years, precedent that appeared to bode well for a future of sellouts and heavy fan interest.

“But,” Hollandsworth said, “there was still a luke-warmness about it.

“We have nothing to do with the Angels outside of the games themselves. I mean, every game has value, but the bearing, as far as the fan looks at it, is maybe not as great. Teams in the [NL] West, San Francisco, Arizona or Colorado will be more appealing, because that’s what we’re fighting for. That’s where the fire is.”

Many of the players in the large-market rivalries do not care for the intra-city series. They complain about the increase in media coverage and the perception that the games are more meaningful than others.

Their disdain, however, has not trickled down to the fans, who not only embraced the series when they began, but the increase from three to six games as well. Nearly 110,000 turned out for a doubleheader Saturday played in two New York venues. In an early-June series in Oakland, the Giants and A’s drew at least 45,000 to all three games. The White Sox and Cubs sold out on the South Side.

“I’m only concerned with how they respond in Anaheim,” Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman said. “I like the response there. It was better than what it is on an average night.

“I’m new here. But, it isn’t soft for me, I’ll tell you that.”

The attendance for three games against the Dodgers at Edison Field averaged about 40,000. The middle game, played Saturday afternoon, drew only 34,580.

Angel right fielder Tim Salmon admitted he gazed around the stadium Thursday night, amazed at all of the empty seats.

“I was surprised,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s caused by the fact that we just came out of the All-Star break or what. But fans get a lot more opportunities to see us play each other.”

Salmon sighed and expressed the very opinion most danced around.

“It’s Southern California, man,” he said. “It’s not New York. It’s not the same. I think you’re just dealing with that type of community, dealing with Southern California and the way it is here sometimes.”