Not even a summer swoon can derail the Los Angeles Dodgers' season, as the two-time defending champions entered Aug. 11 owning a 7.5-game lead atop the NL West. At 71-48, the Dodgers are moving even closer to clinching their fifth consecutive division title and remain in contention for home-field advantage.
But by now, you know exactly what the Dodgers are all about. They’ve embraced being a superteam and the organization that everyone loves to hate. Combine their spending with Shohei Ohtani’s dominance and their three World Series championships since the start of 2020, and you have a franchise that people actively want to see fail.
Those who remain outraged about the Tarik Skubal trade should take a step back and accept that, in reality, Major League Baseball should love all that the Dodgers have built.
Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ superteam is actually great for baseball
As argued previously, the Dodgers deserve credit for being willing to spend and exploit baseball’s lack of a salary cap. We shouldn’t collectively criticize the Dodgers when we’ve all but effectively enabled teams like the Brewers, Guardians and Rays to rarely spend in free agency despite being perennial playoff contenders.
But forget about all of that for a second. Sports are at their best when fans worldwide can form an rooting alliance against someone or something. Sometimes, it’s simply despising a franchise based on its history and how much attention they get from ESPN — we’re looking specifically at the Yankees, Cowboys, Lakers and, following LeBron James’ arrival, the 76ers.
But you don’t need to watch “Monday Night Raw” to best appreciate a heel. LeBron played that role perfectly during his time with the Heat, and Kevin Durant put a massive target on his back by ring-chasing with the Warriors. Tom Brady soaked up the limelight and knew that the more he won and proved people wrong, the more infuriated they’d become, and the process would repeat itself.
Major League Baseball, though, has lacked a legitimate heel in recent years — and by “heel,” I mean a highly successful player or team who has earned the villain title without getting into legal or off-field trouble. Those who are caught cheating, like Fernando Tatis Jr. or the Astros, fall into that secondary category because they became unlikable by breaking the rules.
So if we limit our search to that first category, then who was baseball’s last true heel? The sport’s struggle to remain in the national consciousness, especially compared to the NBA and college football and basketball, makes it difficult to find an obvious answer. Bryce Harper wasn’t relevant enough for his often-puckish attitude as a younger player to qualify. You could make an argument for Alex Rodriguez by citing how disliked he was even before his PED suspension.
And as for teams, plenty of baseball fans hate the Yankees because they’d been taught to hate the Yankees. But are they really that unlikable anymore? For all of his faults, Aaron Judge is a terrific ambassador for the game, and they’ve only won one championship since the 2001 season.
But these Dodgers are markedly different than any of the 21st century Yankees teams, largely because they’ve actually managed to finish the job. Barring disaster, L.A. is in a position where they could realistically become the first National League team to win three consecutive World Series titles.
Besides, if you’re already someone who enjoys hate-watching the Dodgers, then you only prove our point. Thank you for not invalidating our analysis.
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