If fans all around the major leagues are sick and tired of the Dodgers, they have a funny way of showing it.
The Dodgers win too much and spend too much, so offensive to so many outside Los Angeles that the league shutting down next season has somehow become an acceptable outcome if the Dodgers cannot be stripped of their payroll advantage.
So, a pox on all their honors, right?
Apparently not. When Major League Baseball unveiled its initial batch of All-Star voting results Monday, four players from the team that so bothers the rest of America were in position to make the National League starting lineup.
Shohei Ohtani leads at designated hitter, Freddie Freeman at first base, Max Muncy at third base, and Andy Pages in the outfield.
“You look across the league, across baseball, and we have a lot of recognizable names,” Muncy said. “We have really talented players who have been playing really well this year.
“For a lot of us, the game has been speaking for us.”
Maybe not all four hold their leads in voting. Or maybe the Dodgers get more, as they seem to do in everything: Mookie Betts ranks second at shortstop, and Will Smith ranks second at catcher. Never has any team had six players start an All-Star Game.
In all the years Andrew Friedman has assembled super teams here, never have the Dodgers had four players start an All-star Game. That has happened once in franchise history, in 1980: infielders Steve Garvey, Davey Lopes and Bill Russell and outfielder Reggie Smith.
Love the Dodgers, or love to hate them, fans are voting for them.
“We’ve played well the last couple of years,” Freeman said. “We’re playing well again.
“A lot of eyes are on us. A lot of fans know all of us. And we’re playing good baseball.”
In olden times, voting was conducted largely on paper ballots distributed at the stadium. With digital ballots, you can vote from anywhere, to the delight of a team that has extended its fan base to Japan.
“There’s no question we have a very, very strong fan base, domestically and internationally,” Dodgers president Stan Kasten said. “There’s no question that’s an advantage.
“But, in every case this year, the players that are up there this year certainly deserve it. It just speaks to the quality of the players we have.”
But, sir, your team is ruining baseball. Haven’t you heard?
“Who ever said that?” Kasten said. “I’ve always said the opposite. I think we have been good for baseball, and I think everyone in baseball would agree.”
Said Freeman: “I think that’s just noise. We’re good for baseball. You just saw it in Chicago.”
The Chicago White Sox average 22,000. The Dodgers showed up over the weekend, and the White Sox sold out — all three games, at 38,000 per game.
“To say we’re bad for baseball,” Freeman said, “I think that’s what Doc would say is a lazy statement.”
Doc is Dave Roberts, the Dodgers’ manager. He laughed. He already branded popular critiques of the Dodgers as “lazy” once this season. He didn’t want to say it again.
But, if the Dodgers give people what they want to see, how can they be ruining the game?
“That’s a great point,” Roberts said. “I think people still love talent. They love the way our guys play. And they should be showcased in the midsummer classic.”
This year’s All-Star Game is in Philadelphia, home to the most passionate of fan bases. The Dodgers and Phillies each represent the National League, but can you imagine what the Phillies fans might have to say about four — or more — Dodgers introduced in the, er, home team lineup?
People love to hate the Dodgers. Philly fans love to hate, period.
“It would probably be a lot of fun,” Muncy said. “At the All-Star Game, you’re just there to celebrate the best players in baseball.
“Obviously, there will be boos and cheers for everybody. You’re just there to celebrate the talent, and not necessarily what team they’re playing for.”
If they’re playing for the Dodgers? Philly fans booed Santa Claus. Shohei Ohtani, you have been warned.
The post The Dodgers are ruining baseball! Stop them! But first let me vote for all their players appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
