For the Angels, Nothing Says Respect Better Than Some Jeers

The Angels received a second, equally important set of World Series rings Friday.

The ringing in their ears.

“Angels [bleep], Angels [bleep],” chanted the Dodger Stadium fans, a crowning moment indeed.

The dull neighbors have become the despised neighbors. The ignored little brothers have become the infuriating little brothers.

The most boring of baseball’s area rivalries finally howled Friday, bawdy and beautiful as the Dodgers defeated the Angels, 5-2, in a Freeway Series opener that finally pushed the speed limit.

How on Earth does anybody in Southern California boo David Eckstein? Dodger fans did.

What could possibly make someone jeer former Dodger great Mike Scioscia in his old stadium? Try Friday’s sixth inning, when he made the mistake of leaving the dugout.

Who among us would not want to keep a Garret Anderson home run ball? Hundreds of fans in the right-field pavilion, who, in the fourth inning, chanted for the recipient to throw it back.

The ball remained in the stands, but that was the only restraint shown on a night when sold-out Chavez Ravine turned even greener, with envy.

“We’re all friends, but sometimes being closer to somebody makes you want to beat them more,” said Ron Roenicke, Angel coach and former Dodger. “You know, gives you something to come home during the winter and talk to them about.”

And so, seven years into the series, the yapping has finally begun.

The Dodgers broke a 16-all tie in series victories, but only now are things getting interesting.

The games have featured plenty of splendid kicks, including Eric Karros with his bat and Chan Ho Park with his legs, but only now is the passion palpable.

Francisco Rodriguez running on to the mound as he did during so many memorable moments last October? Boo!

Adam Kennedy, another playoff hero, making a sliding catch in foul territory? Boo!

Mickey Hatcher being shown smiling in the dugout? Only a smattering of cheers.

Stuntman, schmuntman.

Such are the wonders of a world championship. The Angels suddenly matter. The Angels suddenly count.

Dodger fans care what they think, and hope that they fail, and are thrilled to reveal the sentiments stifled by the Dodger players and management during a long and torturous October.

“For a real rivalry to start, we have to form a tradition of excellence like the Dodgers have now,” Scioscia said. “What we’ve done is only a drop in the bucket, but we’re on the road and we hopefully can keep it going.”

Then he managed a small grin.

“Hey, I’m the opposing manager,” he said. “I should be booed.”

Eric Gagne, moments after throwing his umpteenth hitless inning for his 28th save, put it differently.

“We want to be the world champions, and, right now, they are the world champions,” he said. “That’s what this was all about.”

And to think, the evening started nicely, like these evenings usually do.

Late Friday afternoon, in the Angel dugout, a new radio broadcaster named Fernando Valenzuela strolled over to shake hands with an old catcher named Scioscia.

They talked about golf. They talked about the times Valenzuela would shake off Scioscia’s signs. They laughed like old friends.

Across the way, Alfredo Griffin sat in a golf cart with Manny Mota.

Down the line, Hatcher was hugging everybody.

But then the players put the gloves on, and the fans took them off, and the Angels seemed a tad taken aback by it all.

Jarrod Washburn, losing for the third consecutive start and looking less like an ace with each defeat, threw some fat pitches that were knocked around by guys who maybe shouldn’t have been knocking them around -- Ron Coomer? Dave Ross? Shawn Green?

The offense, which lately has manufactured more sighs than runs, stranded a runner on third in three innings while Anderson blew a chance to score in the eighth when he didn’t take third base on a pitch that bounced away from the catcher.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, seem more than a tad inspired.

Hideo Nomo threw about 2,000 pitches as usual, but made enough good ones to survive.

Paul Lo Duca had one of his best defensive plays of the season -- while playing first base.

And, of course, the Dodgers rewarded their fans by keeping it close enough to play the music that welcomed the Angels into the ninth-inning jungle. After his signature song died, Gagne nicked a batter but allowed a game-ending bullet by Darin Erstad that fortunately veered into Dave Roberts’ glove in center field.

In all, a good night for first place (the Dodgers have returned), a bad night for the wild card (the Angels drift further away), and a wonderful night for an old-fashioned, brand-new rivalry.

Bill Plaschke can be reached by bill.plaschke@latimes.com.