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Joe T., on his ten year anniversary of abandoning the Dodgers.

By Joe Torosian

(Those Deferred BenchWarmers have been optioned to Oklahoma City.)

“Joe T., do you still hate the Dodgers?”

So, I sat through the condensed replay of the Dodgers’ 14-11 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks late last night, and these thoughts came to me.

(Condensed replay because, after 11 years and changing platforms, I’m still unable to see Dodger games live.)

As Shohei Ohtani went yard, I realized it’s been ten years since I renounced my Dodger fandom and went to the Metside.

One of the first movies I ever saw was “The Odd Couple,” in which Walter Matthau played a sportswriter who often wore a New York Mets hat.

In 1973, I saw my first World Series, which featured the Oakland A’s against the Mets…From that time on, the Mets were my second team.

How could anyone in LA not be a Dodger fan growing up? The trip up Stadium Way to The Ravine, turn left, go up the hill, and see Blue Heaven. Awesome. (Even now, it’s awesome.)

And that wasn’t all…you got to hear the voice of the fourth person in the Trinity—Vin Scully.

I rooted for the Mets when they didn’t play the Dodgers. I was die-hard Blue Crew,
but things changed in 2014. That’s when the Bums signed the Time Warner deal and wiped out over 70% of their television market.

(I know this has improved, but it’s still a joke.)

I hung around for a while, but by 2015, I began to despise them. The Dodgers were denying us Scully’s final seasons—forget those guys!

Driving cross country that May, I found myself more interested in the scores of Mets games and their young pitching staff than the Dodgers.

Throughout the summer, friends thought I was joking or teasing about not being a Dodger fan anymore. When the playoffs came, and they realized I was serious, you wouldn’t believe what was said to me via text, email, and social media. I was Judas, the Big Dodger in The Sky was going to expel me from His kingdom, you would have thought I spat in everyone’s Wheaties.

“Do you guys want to get together and watch the game?”
“No, we don’t want to watch it with riff-raff non-Dodger fan.”
(True!)

And it was so sweet when the Mets beat the Dodgers in the playoffs. I mocked, I laughed, I trolled. After Gibson’s homer in ’88 and all things Fernando, the Mets beating the Dodgers in 2015 is among my most cherished baseball memories.

As the years passed and the Mets fell on mediocre times, I reveled with every post-season Dodger collapse. To hear Dodger fans whine, cry, complain, and call for the firing of Dave Roberts…was marvelous.

I refused to acknowledge the 2020 World Series.

Last year, they won it, and I gave them credit. Ownership continues to spend money, the front office continues to make wise decisions, and the stars they bring in, Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts, continue to produce.

The question that comes to me now is, will I ever return?

When Fernando passed away, I declared—after the Dodgers beat the Mets in the playoffs—I would root for them to win the World Series for Fernando’s sake.

I tried, but I couldn’t. I was angry when Aaron Judge and the Yankees collapsed in Game Five. 

And I knew then, for sure, there was no coming back. 

So, yes, I still hate the Dodgers.