Phillies Feud With Braves Over Fields

The playoff invitations are out, and the Dodgers are not on the guest list, again. In the wake of another frustrating season--it’s 13 years and counting since Orel Hershiser and Mickey Hatcher led the Dodgers to their last postseason victory--diehard Dodger fans can console themselves with the knowledge that the legendary rivalry with the San Francisco Giants has been rekindled.

The Dodgers hate the Giants because the Giants halted a game in April, unilaterally deciding there would be an intermission so Barry Bonds could take an extended bow for hitting the 500th home run of his career. The Dodgers hate them because the Giants really, truly wanted the Dodgers to wear Brooklyn uniforms during a 50th-anniversary celebration of Bobby Thomson’s shot heard ‘round the world, one of the most humiliating moments in the history of a proud franchise. The Dodgers hate them because the Giants hoped, golly and gee whiz, that Dodger Stadium could have been transformed into the House of Bonds, with a party right there on the field and in the middle of the game, had Bonds hit his 71st home run at Chavez Ravine.

The Dodgers hate them because the Giants have no shame about kicking the boys in blue when they’re down. In 1934, Giant Manager Bill Terry dismissed and disrespected the Dodgers by sneering, “Brooklyn? Are they still in the league?” And, just the other day, Giant owner Peter Magowan declared the Dodgers, unlike the Houston Astros, could not rationalize pitching around Bonds this weekend because the Dodgers were not in a pennant race. Said Magowan: “What would the Dodgers’ excuse be?”

Last week, the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies repeated a chapter from the Dodger-Giant rivalry. In the 1960s, when the Dodgers repeatedly rode the arms of Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale and the fleet feet of Maury Wills into the World Series, the Giants often welcomed the Dodgers to town by watering the basepaths to slow down Wills.

When the Phillies arrived in Atlanta for a three-game series, within two games of the first-place Braves, the Phillies charged the Braves had overly irrigated the infield dirt to hamper Philadelphia speedsters Jimmy Rollins, Bobby Abreu and Doug Glanville.

“It was horrible,” second baseman Marlon Anderson said. “The way that infield was, you couldn’t play on it. If you tried to move left or right, you dug in and slipped. That’s not good for baseball, to play on a field where it’s been watered to the point you can’t move.”

Atlanta General Manager John Schuerholz claimed the Braves were innocent and suggested the Phillies ought to shut up, since the artificial turf at Veterans Stadium is so awful that the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL canceled an exhibition game there. His nyah-nyah point: At least Turner Field has grass to water.

“It’s not like playing on green concrete,” Schuerholz said.

Philadelphia Manager Larry Bowa called the field “a joke” and an obvious tactic of gamesmanship.

“But I’d do the same thing if I was them,” Bowa said.

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In spring training, during one of the virtually daily diatribes in which Gary Sheffield demanded out of Dodger blue, he said his home run output might decrease if the Dodgers did not bow to his wishes and trade him immediately.

“I’m not 100% mentally here, and I’ve never played baseball like that before,” Sheffield said then. “You never know what you’re going to get out of that. I’m going to do my best, but I can’t stitch it in stone how I’m going to do every day.”

Sheffield subsequently rescinded his demand and reconciled with the Dodgers, but perhaps he called his shot after all. From Sept. 7, when the Dodgers led the wild-card standings, until Tuesday, when the team was mathematically eliminated from the playoff races, Sheffield did not hit a home run. In those 16 games, he hit .203 and drove in two runs.

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Before we go, we extend a tip of the cap to eight-time batting champion Tony Gwynn, who retires today from the San Diego Padres. Count on Gwynn, the next baseball coach at San Diego State, to succeed in his second career--not simply because recruiting in talent-rich Southern California ought to be a breeze for a personable hall of famer, but also because no major leaguer loves to talk and teach baseball more than Gwynn.

See you in Omaha, Tony.