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The Los Angeles Dodgers go up against the San Francisco Giants in the National League division series starting today. This is the first time both teams have played each other in the postseason — ever.
The Dodgers and the Giants are the most storied rivalry in baseball. More so than the Yankees and the Red Sox, if I do say so myself. It goes back to the 1880s when they were both New York City teams.
The rivalry generated so much fan enthusiasm that when the Dodgers wanted to move to L.A. back in the 50’s, the team's owner nudged the Giants to go West, too.
That team had been considering a move to Minneapolis, says Dodgers team historian Mark Langill. Then the inevitable happened.
“Walter O'Malley convinced Horace Stoneham, ‘Hey, why go to Minneapolis, why not come all the way to San Francisco?,’ Langil says. “And that really opened the door for pro sports on the West Coast.”
This shared history has fans on each side pretty excited for the teams to finally go head-to-head in the playoffs. Both teams are also at the top of their game.
“They just happen to have the two greatest statistical seasons of any playoff matchup and they're going to face each other in the division series,” he says.
This is just an epic matchup for the generations.
Gov. Newsom, who was former mayor of San Francisco, threw in his support for the Giants on Twitter. No shade, governor, but it's Team Doyers in L.A.
As Governor of CA…excited that we're guaranteed an historic playoff series between @MLB's two best teams -- the @SFGiants and @Dodgers. One way or another a CA team is moving onto the next round!
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) October 7, 2021
But as a native San Franciscan…I may have a different opinion... #BeatLA
The two teams played each other 19 times in the regular season. The Giants bested the Dodgers 10 games to nine.
