Giants-Dodgers rivalry
Encyclopedia
The Dodgers–Giants rivalry is one of the longest-standing and most storied rivalries in the history of baseball.
The feud between the Los Angeles Dodgers
and the San Francisco Giants
began in the late 19th century when both clubs were based in New York City
, with the Dodgers playing in Brooklyn
and the Giants playing at the Polo Grounds
in Manhattan
. After the season, Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley
decided to move the team to Los Angeles
for financial reasons, among others. Along the way, he managed to convince Giants owner Horace Stoneham
(who was considering moving his team to Minnesota
) to preserve the rivalry by bringing his team to California
as well. New York
baseball fans were stunned and heartbroken by the move. Given that the cities of Los Angeles
and San Francisco have long been competitors in economic, cultural, and political arenas, the new venue in California became fertile ground for its transplantation.
Each team's ability to have endured for over a century while leaping across an entire continent, as well as the rivalry's growth from a cross-city to a cross-state engagement, have led to the rivalry being considered one of the greatest in sports history.
Unlike many other historic baseball match-ups in which one team remains dominant for most of their history, the Dodgers–Giants rivalry has exhibited a persistent balance in the respective successes of the two teams. While the Giants have more wins in franchise history, both National League West
teams are tied for the most National League pennants with 21, and both teams have each won six World Series
titles. The 2010 World Series
was the Giants' first championship since moving to California, while the Dodgers' last title came in the 1988 World Series
.
and the American Association
. By 1889
, each league had but one representative in New York—the Giants and the Dodgers—and the teams met in an early version of the World's Championship Series
in which the Giants defeated the Dodgers 6 games to 3. In 1890, the Dodgers switched to the National League
and the rivalry was officially underway.
Although the two teams were natural (geographically proximate and National League) rivals anyway, the animus between the two teams runs deeper than mere competitiveness. Giants fans were seen as well to do elitists of Manhattan while Dodger fans tended to be more blue collar
and had more newly arrived immigrants as fans due to the working class atmosphere of Brooklyn
. Giants owner Andrew Freedman in 1900 attempted to have the National League split all profits equally despite the teams successes. This was the same year the Dodgers won the pennant and the Giants finished in last. In the early 1900s, the rivalry was heightened by a long-standing personal feud (originally a business difference) between Charles Ebbets, owner of the Dodgers, and John McGraw, manager of the Giants. The two used their teams as fighting surrogates, which caused incidents between players both on and off the field, and inflamed local fans' passions sometimes to deadly levels. In 1940, umpire George Magenkurth was brutally beaten during a game by an enraged Dodger fan ostensibly for making a pro-Giants call, and the rivalry is said to have been the motive for at least one fan-on-fan homicide, in 1938, and another in 2007 within close proximity to AT&T Park. Future Dodger manager Joe Torre
recalled how he felt threatened being a Giants fan growing up in Brooklyn in the series. During the latter years for both teams in New York, players often engaged in purposeful, aggressive, physical altercations. In 1965, Giants pitcher Juan Marichal
knocked Dodger catcher John Roseboro in the head with a bat.
Since , the Dodgers and Giants have played more head-to-head games than any other two teams in Major League Baseball. In their 2,189 meetings (seasons 1901 through ), the Giants have won 1,094 games and the Dodgers have won 1,078. The St. Louis Cardinals
, Pittsburgh Pirates
, and Cardinals rival Chicago Cubs
(in games versus each other) are very close behind in head-to-head tallies from 1901 onwards. In total (1890–2011), they have played 2,346 games against each other.
's results continued to reflect the closeness in the rivalry as the Giants won the season series 10 games to 8.
If ranked by the number of all-time MLB wins by franchise, the Giants (10,463 wins) and the Dodgers (10,157 wins) are number 1 and 3, respectively, number 2 being the Chicago Cubs
(10,261 wins). What is notable about the rivalry is not only the balance between the teams but also how both have often played meaningful games late in the year. Since 1951, the Dodgers and Giants have finished 1-2 11 times, and in 3 other years were within several games of both first place and each other. Just as important is the role one team has played as spoiler to the other in the years when they were not directly competing in a pennant race.
The New York Giants won the 68-year series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, 722 to 671. But since relocating to the West Coast in 1958, the Dodgers are ahead in the 836 games played between the two teams , 450 to 423.
On July 14, 2005, the Giants became the first professional sports team to win 10,000 games with a 4–3 win over the Dodgers.
All of these events and their associated quirks and symbols are relished by the fans of these two teams.
In a unique case of the rivalry playing out "indirectly," some New York Mets
fans in their championship season of who happened to have been Brooklyn fans in years past, took vicarious pleasure in the Mets knocking the Chicago Cubs
out of the pennant race after the Cubs had been in first place for much of the summer. The Cubs were managed by Leo Durocher
, whose Giants had done likewise to the Dodgers in 1951, while the Mets were managed by old Dodgers favorite Gil Hodges
.
When the teams were based in New York, the Giants won 5 championships, the Dodgers won only 1. After the move to California, it was the reverse, Dodgers won 5, Giants 1. In both New York and in California, one team's championships predated to the other's only one in the location. In New York, the Giants' championships predated to the Dodgers only championship in Brooklyn, in . While in California, the Dodgers' championships predated to the Giants' first one there, in . The Dodgers' 6 championships sandwiched the Giants' two most recent championships ( and 2010).
More recently, the Giants advanced to the playoffs when they won the 2002 National League pennant
, 2003
, and when winning the title in 2010, and the Dodgers advanced to the playoffs in 2004
, 2006
, 2008
, and 2009
, but have failed to win a pennant since their championship season of .
almost as much as their own team's success. A typical Giants fan would just as soon ask "Did the Dodgers lose?" as they would "Did the Giants win?" and vice versa. This view is supported by the consistently solid attendance figures for Giants-versus-Dodgers games at both home fields, and increased media
coverage as well. A good example of this is that during the final 3 game Dodger-vs-Giants series in , the Giants drew over 150,000 fans. The attendance for these 3 games represented almost of their total fans (1.7 million) for the entire 81 game home schedule, and prompted at least one reporter on ESPN
to wonder if the euphoria in the Bay Area following the games reflected a delusion that the Giants had won the World Series rather than simply knocking the Dodgers out. In 2009, Forbes rated the Giants-Dodgers rivalry the most intense rivalry in baseball due to its lasting competitiveness through the 20th century and both fanbases' willingness to be overcharged for Dodgers-Giants game tickets with a ticket markup of 44% for the 2008 season.
During games in Los Angeles, Dodger fans will chant, "Giants Suck" and used to chant "Barry Sucks" when the Giants are in town, in reference to former Giants outfielder Barry Bonds
, often regardless of whether or not Bonds is at bat or involved in a defensive play. In San Francisco, Giants fans will chant, "Beat LA" and "Dodgers Suck." A recent expression of the these feelings was the 2007 All-Star Game
in San Francisco, where the three Dodgers All-Stars (pitcher Brad Penny
, catcher Russell Martin
and closer Takashi Saito
) were roundly booed by partisan fans throughout the festivities.
The rivalry extends beyond the fans to the players. Jackie Robinson
retired after he was traded to the Giants from the Dodgers in December of . According to legend, and his teammate Tommy Lasorda
, he did so because he had come to hate the Giants after ten years in Dodger Blue. This notion has been challenged, on the grounds that Robinson would have been 38 years old when the new season began, and simply decided to retire. In any case, in a gesture that transcends this heated rivalry, Robinson's retired blue Dodger numeral '42' hangs in the Giants' home ballpark, AT&T Park
, just as it does at all other MLB ballparks in remembrance of Robinson on breaking the color barrier on baseball. Like Robinson, Willie Mays
refused to sign with the Dodgers after the 1972 season, and was traded to the New York Mets
, the successor to both the Giants and Dodgers in New York.
Both teams play in the National League West
ern Division, and due to the unbalanced schedule, play 17 to 19 head-to-head games each year. This is comparable to the 22 games each year that they faced each other in New York
and Brooklyn
.
had hit two Dodgers batters with brushback throws. Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax
disliked retaliation and only threw a very high pitch over the head of Willie Mays. When Marichal came up to bat later, Koufax apparently had no interest in retaliation directly against Marichal, but Marichal felt that Dodgers catcher Johnny Roseboro
was interested, as he claimed Roseboro was returning Koufax's pitches dangerously close to Marichal's head and had clipped his ear with one throw after dropping the ball on the ground. As Marichal and Roseboro began to argue, Marichal (#27) hit the Dodgers catcher on the head with his bat. A bench-clearing brawl ensued. Giants infielder Tito Fuentes (#26) also threatened to wield a bat, but did not use it. The fight was broken up by peacemakers Willie Mays
of the Giants and Koufax of the Dodgers. Mays helped the badly bleeding (but not severely injured) Roseboro off the San Francisco field. Roseboro and Marichal eventually became close friends up until Roseboro's death in 2002. Marichal spoke at his funeral. Actor and performance artist Roger Guenver Smith performed his one-man show on the incident, "Juan and John," at the Public Theater in Manhattan in December 2009. Roseboro's daughter, Morgan Fouch Roseboro, attended the debut.
In the season as a member of the Dodgers, Reggie Smith
was taunted by Giants fan Michael Dooley, who then threw a batting helmet at him. Smith then jumped into the stands at Candlestick Park and started punching him. He was ejected from the game, and Dooley was arrested. Five months later, Smith joined the Giants as a free agent
.
Giants fan Marc Antenorcruz was shot and killed by Dodgers fan Pete Marron on September 19, 2003 in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium
, following a late-season Dodgers-Giants game. Marron was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to 50 years in prison. A second defendant, Manuel Hernandez, plead no contest
to voluntary manslaughter
and had his 15 year sentence suspended.
There has also been Opening Day violence between the two teams' fans at Dodger Stadium. In 2009, a man stabbed his friend in the stadium parking lot after the home opener, in which the Dodgers beat the Giants 11–1. Arthur Alvarez was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Alvarez, who contended that he was knocked to the ground and acted in self-defense, was later acquitted by a jury.
On March 31, 2011, a 42-year-old Giants' fan, Bryan Stow, of Santa Cruz
, was critically injured when he was attacked by two Dodgers fans in the Dodger Stadium parking lot after the Dodgers and Giants opened the 2011 season. The suspects subsequently fled the scene in a vehicle driven by a woman. Stow, a paramedic and father of two, sustained severe injuries to his skull and brain and was placed into a medically induced coma after the incident. A suspect, 31-year-old Giovanni Ramirez, was arrested in May 2011 in connection with the crime. Ramirez was never formally charged and was declared innocent in July 2011 when Louie Sanchez and Marvin Norwood were arrested and charged in the crime. Lawyers for Stow say his medical care is expected to cost more than $50 million. On September 27, 2011, relatives reported that Stow showed signs of improvement and even went outside for the first time in six months.
The feud between the Los Angeles Dodgers
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
and the San Francisco Giants
San Francisco Giants
The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....
began in the late 19th century when both clubs were based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, with the Dodgers playing in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
and the Giants playing at the Polo Grounds
Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
. After the season, Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley
Walter O'Malley
Walter Francis O'Malley was an American sports executive who owned the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers team in Major League Baseball from to . He served as Brooklyn Dodgers chief legal counsel when Jackie Robinson broke the racial color barrier in...
decided to move the team to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
for financial reasons, among others. Along the way, he managed to convince Giants owner Horace Stoneham
Horace Stoneham
Horace C. Stoneham was the principal owner of Major League Baseball's New York/San Francisco Giants from the death of his father, Charles Stoneham, in 1936 until 1976. During his ownership, the team won National League pennants in 1936, 1937, 1951, 1954 and 1962, a division title in 1971, and a...
(who was considering moving his team to Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
) to preserve the rivalry by bringing his team to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
as well. New York
Sports in New York City
Sports in New York City have a long and distinguished history. The city has a few historic sports venues: the original Yankee Stadium, home of the New York Yankees from 1923 to 2008, before the team moved into their new stadium in 2009, Ebbets Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1913 until...
baseball fans were stunned and heartbroken by the move. Given that the cities of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and San Francisco have long been competitors in economic, cultural, and political arenas, the new venue in California became fertile ground for its transplantation.
Each team's ability to have endured for over a century while leaping across an entire continent, as well as the rivalry's growth from a cross-city to a cross-state engagement, have led to the rivalry being considered one of the greatest in sports history.
Unlike many other historic baseball match-ups in which one team remains dominant for most of their history, the Dodgers–Giants rivalry has exhibited a persistent balance in the respective successes of the two teams. While the Giants have more wins in franchise history, both National League West
National League West
The National League Western Division, or NL West, is one of the three divisions of Major League Baseball's National League. It was created in 1969 when the previously undivided National League expanded its membership to twelve teams, positioning half of them in an Eastern division and the other...
teams are tied for the most National League pennants with 21, and both teams have each won six World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
titles. The 2010 World Series
2010 World Series
The 2010 World Series was the 106th occurrence of Major League Baseball's championship series. The best-of-seven playoff, played between the American League champion Texas Rangers and the National League champion San Francisco Giants, began on Wednesday, , and ended on Monday, , with the Giants...
was the Giants' first championship since moving to California, while the Dodgers' last title came in the 1988 World Series
1988 World Series
-Game 1:Saturday, October 15, 1988 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CaliforniaBecause of using ace Orel Hershiser in Game 7 of the NLCS, the Dodgers had to open with rookie Tim Belcher in Game 1. Meanwhile, Oakland sent a well-rested Dave Stewart to the mound. Both pitchers, however, would have...
.
Origins and early years
In the 1880s, New York City played host to a number of professional baseball clubs in the National LeagueNational League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
and the American Association
American Association (19th century)
The American Association was a Major League Baseball league that existed for 10 seasons from to . During that time, it challenged the National League for dominance of professional baseball...
. By 1889
1889 in baseball
-Champions:*World Series: New York Giants 6, Brooklyn Bridegrooms 3*National League: New York Giants*American Association: Brooklyn Bridegrooms-National League final standings:-American Association final standings:-National League statistical leaders:...
, each league had but one representative in New York—the Giants and the Dodgers—and the teams met in an early version of the World's Championship Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
in which the Giants defeated the Dodgers 6 games to 3. In 1890, the Dodgers switched to the National League
National League
The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league. Founded on February 2, 1876, to replace the National Association of Professional...
and the rivalry was officially underway.
Although the two teams were natural (geographically proximate and National League) rivals anyway, the animus between the two teams runs deeper than mere competitiveness. Giants fans were seen as well to do elitists of Manhattan while Dodger fans tended to be more blue collar
Blue collar
Blue collar can refer to:*Blue-collar worker, a traditional designation of the working class*Blue-collar crime, the types of crimes typically associated with the working class*A census designation...
and had more newly arrived immigrants as fans due to the working class atmosphere of Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. Giants owner Andrew Freedman in 1900 attempted to have the National League split all profits equally despite the teams successes. This was the same year the Dodgers won the pennant and the Giants finished in last. In the early 1900s, the rivalry was heightened by a long-standing personal feud (originally a business difference) between Charles Ebbets, owner of the Dodgers, and John McGraw, manager of the Giants. The two used their teams as fighting surrogates, which caused incidents between players both on and off the field, and inflamed local fans' passions sometimes to deadly levels. In 1940, umpire George Magenkurth was brutally beaten during a game by an enraged Dodger fan ostensibly for making a pro-Giants call, and the rivalry is said to have been the motive for at least one fan-on-fan homicide, in 1938, and another in 2007 within close proximity to AT&T Park. Future Dodger manager Joe Torre
Joe Torre
Joseph Paul Torre is a former American professional baseball player and manager who currently serves as Major League Baseball’s Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations. A nine-time All-Star, he played in Major League Baseball as a catcher, first baseman and a third baseman for the...
recalled how he felt threatened being a Giants fan growing up in Brooklyn in the series. During the latter years for both teams in New York, players often engaged in purposeful, aggressive, physical altercations. In 1965, Giants pitcher Juan Marichal
Juan Marichal
Juan Antonio Marichal Sánchez is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. Playing for the San Francisco Giants most of his career, Marichal was known for his high leg kick, pinpoint control and intimidation tactics, which included aiming pitches directly at the opposing batters'...
knocked Dodger catcher John Roseboro in the head with a bat.
A long and balanced history
St. Louis Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
, Pittsburgh Pirates
Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
, and Cardinals rival Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
(in games versus each other) are very close behind in head-to-head tallies from 1901 onwards. In total (1890–2011), they have played 2,346 games against each other.
's results continued to reflect the closeness in the rivalry as the Giants won the season series 10 games to 8.
If ranked by the number of all-time MLB wins by franchise, the Giants (10,463 wins) and the Dodgers (10,157 wins) are number 1 and 3, respectively, number 2 being the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
(10,261 wins). What is notable about the rivalry is not only the balance between the teams but also how both have often played meaningful games late in the year. Since 1951, the Dodgers and Giants have finished 1-2 11 times, and in 3 other years were within several games of both first place and each other. Just as important is the role one team has played as spoiler to the other in the years when they were not directly competing in a pennant race.
The New York Giants won the 68-year series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, 722 to 671. But since relocating to the West Coast in 1958, the Dodgers are ahead in the 836 games played between the two teams , 450 to 423.
On July 14, 2005, the Giants became the first professional sports team to win 10,000 games with a 4–3 win over the Dodgers.
Pennant race drama
- One of the most famous pennant races in history is that of . The Dodgers held a 13 game lead over the Giants as late as August 11, when Brooklyn manager Chuck DressenChuck DressenCharles Walter Dressen , known as both "Chuck" and "Charlie," was an American third baseman, manager and coach in professional baseball during a career that lasted almost fifty years, and was best known as the manager of the powerful Brooklyn Dodgers of 1951–1953...
famously declared, "The Giants is dead!" Led by rookie Willie MaysWillie MaysWillie Howard Mays, Jr. is a retired American professional baseball player who played the majority of his major league career with the New York and San Francisco Giants before finishing with the New York Mets. Nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his...
, however, the Giants charged through August and September to catch and pass the Dodgers. The Dodgers rallied to win the final game of the season, tying the Giants for first place and necessitating a three-game playoff for the pennant. The Giants won the first game, the Dodgers the second, with the Giants taking the tie-breaking third game with a dramatic ninth-inning home run by Bobby ThomsonBobby ThomsonRobert Brown "Bobby" Thomson was a Scottish-born American professional baseball player. Nicknamed "The Staten Island Scot", he was an outfielder and right-handed batter for the New York Giants , Milwaukee Braves , Chicago Cubs , Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles .His season-ending three-run...
, a play known as the Shot Heard 'Round the WorldShot Heard 'Round the World (baseball)In baseball, the "Shot Heard 'round the World" is the term given to the walk-off home run hit by New York Giants outfielder Bobby Thomson off Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Ralph Branca at the Polo Grounds to win the National League pennant at 3:58 p.m...
. - In , the Giants led the Dodgers by three games as late as September 6. However, a late-year three-game sweep of the Giants both eliminated San Francisco from contention and allowed the Dodgers to catch the Braves, whom they defeated two games to none in a three-game playoff en route to winning the World Series1959 World SeriesThe 1959 World Series featured the National League champion Los Angeles Dodgers beating the American League champion Chicago White Sox, four games to two. It was the first pennant for the White Sox in 40 years . They would have to wait until 2005 to win another championship...
. This inaugurated the tight pennant races between the two teams in the 1960s, in which the Giants and Dodgers finished no further than four games apart from each other and first place four times through . In 1965, the Giants went on a 14-game winning streak in early September to take a 4 -game lead, but the Dodgers responded with a 13-game winning streak and won 15 of their final 16 games to beat out the Giants by two games. In 1966, a three-way race between the Dodgers, Giants, and Pirates came down to the last day of the season. The Dodgers went into the second game of a doubleheader with the Phillies ahead of the Giants by one game. Had the Dodgers lost, the Giants would have been game out and would have had to fly to Cincinnati to make up a game that had been rained out earlier in the season. If the Giants won that game, they would have then met the Dodgers in a playoff. But the Dodgers won the second game in Philadelphia to win the pennant by 1 games. In 1971, the Dodgers rallied from a 6 -game September deficit to get within a game of the National League WestNational League WestThe National League Western Division, or NL West, is one of the three divisions of Major League Baseball's National League. It was created in 1969 when the previously undivided National League expanded its membership to twelve teams, positioning half of them in an Eastern division and the other...
-leading Giants with one game to play. But while the Dodgers were defeating the Houston AstrosHouston AstrosThe Houston Astros are a Major League Baseball team located in Houston, Texas. They are a member of the National League Central division. The Astros are expected to join the American League West division in 2013. Since , they have played their home games at Minute Maid Park, known as Enron Field...
, the Giants beat the San Diego PadresSan Diego PadresThe San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times...
to win the division. - The closest finish came in , when the Dodgers, battling injuries and a hitting slump, blew a late lead, producing a Giants-Dodgers tie atop the National League standings at the end of the regular season, just as in 1951. In the ensuing three-game playoff for the pennant, the Giants again took two out of three, with the deciding blow being four runs by the Giants in the ninth inning (as the visiting team this time) to take the series and the pennant. This would prove to be the last best-of-three tiebreaker, as both leagues now use a single-game tie-breaking format. As with 1951, that playoff win turned out to be the Giants' high water-mark of the season, as they lost the World Series to the New York YankeesNew York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
on both occasions. During the season, Dodgers fan and Brooklyn native Danny KayeDanny KayeDanny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
had released a comic song called "D-O-D-G-E-R-SBaseball's Greatest HitsBaseball's Greatest Hits is the name of two different CD collections of songs and other recordings connected with baseball, released in the early 1990s....
" which portrayed a fanciful game between the two clubs, featuring a miraculous comeback by the "Flatbush Refugees". In the last line, Kaye asked, "Do you think we'll really win the pennant?" The answer turned out to be "No", although they would win the World Series1963 World SeriesThe 1963 World Series matched the two-time defending champion New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the Dodgers sweeping the Series in four games to capture their second title in five years, and their third in franchise history....
the following year. - The Dodgers brutally returned the favor in . After virtually every other reliever in the Giants bullpen had attempted to preserve a 3-0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth, several walks and an error set the stage for Steve FinleySteve FinleySteven Allen Finley is a former Major League Baseball outfielder.-Early life:Finley, who grew up in Paducah, Kentucky, attended Paducah Tilghman High School and Southern Illinois University, where he earned a degree in physiology and played for the baseball team from 1984–87.-College, Team USA,...
's dramatic grand slam off of Wayne FranklinWayne FranklinGary Wayne Franklin is an American Major League Baseball pitcher for the independent Chico Outlaws of the Golden Baseball League. He previously played for the Houston Astros , Milwaukee Brewers , San Francisco Giants , New York Yankees , and Atlanta Braves...
, which clinched the division title for the Dodgers. Even with the wild card still up for grabs, this proved disastrous for the Giants – despite ace Jason SchmidtJason SchmidtJason David Schmidt , is a former American Major League Baseball pitcher.Schmidt was born in Lewiston, Idaho. In his career he has played for the Los Angeles Dodgers , San Francisco Giants , Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves , by whom he had been drafted in the eighth round, 206th overall, of...
's fine performance in a 10-0 rout over the Dodgers the following day, an Astros win during the game eliminated the Giants entirely from playoff contention. Had the Giants maintained their lead in the previous game and Schmidt performed similarly, the Giants would have forced a one-game playoff in San Francisco between the Giants and Dodgers for the division crown. Ironically, Finley would play for the Giants in 2006.
Spoilers
When not tied for first during the last few days of the season, both teams have a long and storied history of eliminating their rival from playoff contention.- Dressen's ill-advised comment in 1951 reversed the effect of a similar comment made in . Prior to the season, Giants manager Bill TerryBill TerryWilliam Harold Terry was a Major League Baseball first baseman and manager. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, Terry was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1954. In 1999, he ranked number 59 on The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players, and was a nominee...
was asked his opinion of various teams for the upcoming campaign, including the Dodgers. His response of "Are they still in the league?" was to prove provocative. While the Dodgers struggled, the Giants found themselves tied with the St. Louis CardinalsSt. Louis CardinalsThe St. Louis Cardinals are a professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are members of the Central Division in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Cardinals have won eleven World Series championships, the most of any National League team, and second overall only to...
atop the National League with two games left to play, and facing the sixth-place Dodgers for a two-game series in Brooklyn. Despite winning 14 of 22 from the Dodgers that year, the Giants lost those last two to the "Flatbush spoilers" and the pennant to the Cardinals, who won their final two games. - In , the Dodgers blew an eighth-inning lead at San Francisco in the last game of the second-to-last series of the year. This loss dropped the Dodgers three games behind the Astros and cost them the chance to win the National League WestNational League WestThe National League Western Division, or NL West, is one of the three divisions of Major League Baseball's National League. It was created in 1969 when the previously undivided National League expanded its membership to twelve teams, positioning half of them in an Eastern division and the other...
division outright when they swept Houston in the final three games of the year. Instead, they were forced to play the Astros in a one game playoff – which they lost. - In , the Dodgers and Giants were tied for second in the NL West, both one game behind the Atlanta BravesAtlanta BravesThe Atlanta Braves are a professional baseball club based in Atlanta, Georgia. The Braves are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball's National League. The Braves have played in Turner Field since 1997....
, as they faced each other in the final three games of the year. The Dodgers won the first two games 4-0 and 15-4 to eliminate the Giants, but then the Giants knocked the Dodgers out of the pennant race on the season's last day on an eighth-inning three-run home run by Joe MorganJoe MorganJoe Leonard Morgan is a former Major League Baseball second baseman who played for the Houston Astros, Cincinnati Reds, San Francisco Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, and Oakland Athletics from 1963 to 1984. He won two World Series championships with the Reds in 1975 and 1976 and was also named the...
, winning the game 5-3. Thus, the Braves finished first by one game. - The Giants did it again in , as the Dodgers finished one game behind the Braves after dropping two of three in San Francisco over the final weekend. Trevor WilsonTrevor Wilson (baseball)Trevor Kirk Wilson , is a former professional baseball player who pitched in the Major Leagues from 1988–1993, 1995, and 1998....
tossed a complete game shutout on the day in which the Dodgers were eliminated. - The Dodgers responded in kind in , as two Mike PiazzaMike PiazzaMichael Joseph "Mike" Piazza ; born September 4, 1968) is an American former Major League Baseball catcher. He played in his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, San Diego Padres and the Oakland Athletics....
home runs and a dominant complete-game performance by Kevin GrossKevin GrossKevin Frank Gross , is a former Major League Baseball pitcher who played from 1983 through 1997.Gross played for five different teams during his career: the Philadelphia Phillies , Montreal Expos , Los Angeles Dodgers , Texas Rangers , and Anaheim Angels...
resulted in a 12-1 walloping on the final day of the season that kept the 103-win Giants out of the playoffs in what many consider the last true pennant race (before implementation of the wild card). True to the balanced spirit of the rivalry, despite winning the first three games of that four-game series in Los Angeles, the Giants were unable to sweep the Dodgers at their home park in a four-game series for the first time since , and the Braves won the division by one game. Coincidentally, Piazza's 1993 heroics occurred on October 3, a date which until then had featured two pennant-clinching Giant victories over the Dodgers (1951 and 1962) and one dramatic elimination of their arch-foe (1982). - In , a late September two-game sweep of the Dodgers at Candlestick Park highlighted by Barry BondsBarry BondsBarry Lamar Bonds is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. Bonds played from 1986 to 2007, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds...
' twirl after a home run in the first game and Brian Johnson'sBrian Johnson (baseball player)Brian David Johnson is a retired Major League Baseball catcher and former quarterback for Stanford University.-Early life:...
heroic home run in the bottom of the 12th in the second tied the Giants with the Dodgers for first place and eventually propelled them into the playoffs. The impact on both organizations was significant; Fred ClaireFred ClaireFred Claire is a former major league baseball executive who served in numerous roles for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 1969–1998 including the role of general manager from 1987–1998.-Early life:...
, who was then general manager of the Dodgers, said "those two days have stayed with me for the last 10 years," and Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
sports columnist Bill PlaschkeBill PlaschkeWilliam Paul "Bill" Plaschke is an American sports journalist who has written for the Los Angeles Times since 1987. As a child he attended St. Albert the Great Elementary School in Louisville. He then went on to attend Ballard High School. He spent his freshman year at Baylor University in Waco,...
argued that "it led to an organizational upheaval...(from which) (i)t has taken the Dodgers nearly a decade to recover." In contrast, the Giants' run from 1997 through 2003 produced the most playoff appearances in that stretch for the franchise since the 1930s. - The Dodgers have done their best to return the favor, however. In , the Giants finished two games behind the Arizona DiamondbacksArizona DiamondbacksThe Arizona Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team based in Phoenix. They play in the West Division of Major League Baseball's National League. From 1998 to the present, they have played in Chase Field...
as the Dodgers took two of the final three games of the year in San Francisco, despite Barry Bonds' record of 73 home runs in the season. In the first game of the series, Bonds hit his record-breaking 71st home run of the season off Chan Ho Park, but the Dodgers won the game, thereby enabling Arizona to clinch the division title.
All of these events and their associated quirks and symbols are relished by the fans of these two teams.
In a unique case of the rivalry playing out "indirectly," some New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
fans in their championship season of who happened to have been Brooklyn fans in years past, took vicarious pleasure in the Mets knocking the Chicago Cubs
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are a professional baseball team located in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago . The Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the National...
out of the pennant race after the Cubs had been in first place for much of the summer. The Cubs were managed by Leo Durocher
Leo Durocher
Leo Ernest Durocher , nicknamed Leo the Lip, was an American infielder and manager in Major League Baseball. Upon his retirement, he ranked fifth all-time among managers with 2,009 career victories, second only to John McGraw in National League history. Durocher still ranks tenth in career wins by...
, whose Giants had done likewise to the Dodgers in 1951, while the Mets were managed by old Dodgers favorite Gil Hodges
Gil Hodges
Gilbert Ray Hodges was an American Major League Baseball first baseman and manager. During an 18-year baseball career, he played in 1943 and from 1947–63, spending most of his career with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers...
.
Pennants and championships
The Dodgers won 9 pennants in Brooklyn, and another 9 in Los Angeles. The Giants won 14 pennants in New York and 4 in San Francisco.When the teams were based in New York, the Giants won 5 championships, the Dodgers won only 1. After the move to California, it was the reverse, Dodgers won 5, Giants 1. In both New York and in California, one team's championships predated to the other's only one in the location. In New York, the Giants' championships predated to the Dodgers only championship in Brooklyn, in . While in California, the Dodgers' championships predated to the Giants' first one there, in . The Dodgers' 6 championships sandwiched the Giants' two most recent championships ( and 2010).
More recently, the Giants advanced to the playoffs when they won the 2002 National League pennant
2002 National League Championship Series
-Game 1:Wednesday, October 9, 2002 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri-Game 2:Thursday, October 10, 2002 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri-Game 3:Saturday, October 12, 2002 at Pacific Bell Park in San Francisco, California-Game 4:...
, 2003
2003 San Francisco Giants season
The San Francisco Giants are an American baseball team.-Offseason:*November 15, 2002: Tsuyoshi Shinjo was released by the San Francisco Giants. *December 7, 2002: Marquis Grissom signed as a Free Agent with the San Francisco Giants....
, and when winning the title in 2010, and the Dodgers advanced to the playoffs in 2004
2004 Los Angeles Dodgers season
The 2004 season brought change to the Dodgers as the sale of the franchise to developer Frank McCourt was finalized during spring training. McCourt promptly dismissed General Manager Dan Evans and hired Paul DePodesta to take over the team...
, 2006
2006 Los Angeles Dodgers season
In 2006, the Los Angeles Dodgers looked to improve their record from 2005. The team switched General Managers from Paul DePodesta to Ned Colletti, and hired Grady Little as the new manager. The Dodgers were able to win 88 games...
, 2008
2008 Los Angeles Dodgers season
The 2008 Los Angeles Dodgers season features the Dodgers celebrating their Golden Anniversary in Southern California under new manager Joe Torre as they won the National League West for the first time since 2004, and returned to the postseason after missing the playoffs in 2007. They swept the...
, and 2009
2009 Los Angeles Dodgers season
The 2009 Los Angeles Dodgers season sees the team defend their National League West title while earning the best record in the National League, and marks the fiftieth anniversary of their 1959 World Series Championship...
, but have failed to win a pennant since their championship season of .
Fan reaction
Ardent fans of each club would be likely to consider the other as their "most hated" rival, enjoying the other team's misfortuneSchadenfreude
Schadenfreude is pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others. This German word is used as a loanword in English and some other languages, and has been calqued in Danish and Norwegian as skadefryd and Swedish as skadeglädje....
almost as much as their own team's success. A typical Giants fan would just as soon ask "Did the Dodgers lose?" as they would "Did the Giants win?" and vice versa. This view is supported by the consistently solid attendance figures for Giants-versus-Dodgers games at both home fields, and increased media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
coverage as well. A good example of this is that during the final 3 game Dodger-vs-Giants series in , the Giants drew over 150,000 fans. The attendance for these 3 games represented almost of their total fans (1.7 million) for the entire 81 game home schedule, and prompted at least one reporter on ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
to wonder if the euphoria in the Bay Area following the games reflected a delusion that the Giants had won the World Series rather than simply knocking the Dodgers out. In 2009, Forbes rated the Giants-Dodgers rivalry the most intense rivalry in baseball due to its lasting competitiveness through the 20th century and both fanbases' willingness to be overcharged for Dodgers-Giants game tickets with a ticket markup of 44% for the 2008 season.
During games in Los Angeles, Dodger fans will chant, "Giants Suck" and used to chant "Barry Sucks" when the Giants are in town, in reference to former Giants outfielder Barry Bonds
Barry Bonds
Barry Lamar Bonds is an American former Major League Baseball outfielder. Bonds played from 1986 to 2007, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and San Francisco Giants. He is the son of former major league All-Star Bobby Bonds...
, often regardless of whether or not Bonds is at bat or involved in a defensive play. In San Francisco, Giants fans will chant, "Beat LA" and "Dodgers Suck." A recent expression of the these feelings was the 2007 All-Star Game
2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game
The 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 78th midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League and the National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was held on July 10, 2007, at AT&T Park, the home of the NL's San Francisco Giants...
in San Francisco, where the three Dodgers All-Stars (pitcher Brad Penny
Brad Penny
Bradley Wayne "Brad" Penny is a Major League starting pitcher. Penny has spent portions of his career with the Florida Marlins, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers....
, catcher Russell Martin
Russell Martin
Russell Nathan Jeanson Coltrane Martin, Jr is a Canadian Major League Baseball catcher for the New York Yankees.Martin became the everyday catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers immediately upon his Major League debut, and continued in that role for nearly 5 years...
and closer Takashi Saito
Takashi Saito
is a Japanese professional baseball player.Saito previously pitched for the Yokohama BayStars in the Japanese Central League, compiling a record of 87–80 over 13 seasons...
) were roundly booed by partisan fans throughout the festivities.
The rivalry extends beyond the fans to the players. Jackie Robinson
Jackie Robinson
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first black Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
retired after he was traded to the Giants from the Dodgers in December of . According to legend, and his teammate Tommy Lasorda
Tommy Lasorda
Thomas Charles Lasorda is a former Major League baseball player and manager. marked his sixth decade in one capacity or another with the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers organization, the longest non-continuous tenure anyone has had with the team, edging Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully...
, he did so because he had come to hate the Giants after ten years in Dodger Blue. This notion has been challenged, on the grounds that Robinson would have been 38 years old when the new season began, and simply decided to retire. In any case, in a gesture that transcends this heated rivalry, Robinson's retired blue Dodger numeral '42' hangs in the Giants' home ballpark, AT&T Park
AT&T Park
AT&T Park is a ballpark located in the South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, at the corner of Third and King Streets, it has served as the home of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball since 2000....
, just as it does at all other MLB ballparks in remembrance of Robinson on breaking the color barrier on baseball. Like Robinson, Willie Mays
Willie Mays
Willie Howard Mays, Jr. is a retired American professional baseball player who played the majority of his major league career with the New York and San Francisco Giants before finishing with the New York Mets. Nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his...
refused to sign with the Dodgers after the 1972 season, and was traded to the New York Mets
New York Mets
The New York Mets are a professional baseball team based in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York. They belong to Major League Baseball's National League East Division. One of baseball's first expansion teams, the Mets were founded in 1962 to replace New York's departed National League...
, the successor to both the Giants and Dodgers in New York.
Both teams play in the National League West
National League West
The National League Western Division, or NL West, is one of the three divisions of Major League Baseball's National League. It was created in 1969 when the previously undivided National League expanded its membership to twelve teams, positioning half of them in an Eastern division and the other...
ern Division, and due to the unbalanced schedule, play 17 to 19 head-to-head games each year. This is comparable to the 22 games each year that they faced each other in New York
Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name given to four different stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used by many professional teams in both baseball and American football from 1880 until 1963...
and Brooklyn
Ebbets Field
Ebbets Field was a Major League Baseball park located in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York, USA, on a city block which is now considered to be part of the Crown Heights neighborhood. It was the home of the Brooklyn Dodgers of the National League. It was also a venue for professional football...
.
Notorious incidents
Possibly the most notorious incident between these two clubs occurred August 22, 1965. In a game at Candlestick Park, Giants pitcher Juan MarichalJuan Marichal
Juan Antonio Marichal Sánchez is a former right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball. Playing for the San Francisco Giants most of his career, Marichal was known for his high leg kick, pinpoint control and intimidation tactics, which included aiming pitches directly at the opposing batters'...
had hit two Dodgers batters with brushback throws. Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax
Sandy Koufax
Sanford "Sandy" Koufax is a former left-handed baseball pitcher who played his entire 12-year Major League Baseball career for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers...
disliked retaliation and only threw a very high pitch over the head of Willie Mays. When Marichal came up to bat later, Koufax apparently had no interest in retaliation directly against Marichal, but Marichal felt that Dodgers catcher Johnny Roseboro
Johnny Roseboro
John Junior Roseboro was a Major League Baseball catcher and coach, who was born in Ashland, Ohio.-Career:A left-handed-hitter, Roseboro had a lifetime .249 batting average with 104 home runs and 548 RBI in 1585 games played with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers , Minnesota Twins and...
was interested, as he claimed Roseboro was returning Koufax's pitches dangerously close to Marichal's head and had clipped his ear with one throw after dropping the ball on the ground. As Marichal and Roseboro began to argue, Marichal (#27) hit the Dodgers catcher on the head with his bat. A bench-clearing brawl ensued. Giants infielder Tito Fuentes (#26) also threatened to wield a bat, but did not use it. The fight was broken up by peacemakers Willie Mays
Willie Mays
Willie Howard Mays, Jr. is a retired American professional baseball player who played the majority of his major league career with the New York and San Francisco Giants before finishing with the New York Mets. Nicknamed The Say Hey Kid, Mays was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, his...
of the Giants and Koufax of the Dodgers. Mays helped the badly bleeding (but not severely injured) Roseboro off the San Francisco field. Roseboro and Marichal eventually became close friends up until Roseboro's death in 2002. Marichal spoke at his funeral. Actor and performance artist Roger Guenver Smith performed his one-man show on the incident, "Juan and John," at the Public Theater in Manhattan in December 2009. Roseboro's daughter, Morgan Fouch Roseboro, attended the debut.
In the season as a member of the Dodgers, Reggie Smith
Reggie Smith
Carl Reginald Smith is a former Major League Baseball outfielder, coach and front office executive. During a 17-year big league career , Smith appeared in 1,987 games, hit 314 home runs and batted .287. He was a switch-hitter who threw right-handed. In his prime, he had one of the strongest...
was taunted by Giants fan Michael Dooley, who then threw a batting helmet at him. Smith then jumped into the stands at Candlestick Park and started punching him. He was ejected from the game, and Dooley was arrested. Five months later, Smith joined the Giants as a free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
.
Giants fan Marc Antenorcruz was shot and killed by Dodgers fan Pete Marron on September 19, 2003 in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...
, following a late-season Dodgers-Giants game. Marron was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to 50 years in prison. A second defendant, Manuel Hernandez, plead no contest
Nolo contendere
is a legal term that comes from the Latin for "I do not wish to contend." It is also referred to as a plea of no contest.In criminal trials, and in some common law jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an alternative to a pleading of...
to voluntary manslaughter
Voluntary Manslaughter
Voluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human being in which the offender had no prior intent to kill and acted during "the heat of passion," under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed. In the Uniform Crime Reports prepared by the...
and had his 15 year sentence suspended.
There has also been Opening Day violence between the two teams' fans at Dodger Stadium. In 2009, a man stabbed his friend in the stadium parking lot after the home opener, in which the Dodgers beat the Giants 11–1. Arthur Alvarez was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon. Alvarez, who contended that he was knocked to the ground and acted in self-defense, was later acquitted by a jury.
On March 31, 2011, a 42-year-old Giants' fan, Bryan Stow, of Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz, California
Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...
, was critically injured when he was attacked by two Dodgers fans in the Dodger Stadium parking lot after the Dodgers and Giants opened the 2011 season. The suspects subsequently fled the scene in a vehicle driven by a woman. Stow, a paramedic and father of two, sustained severe injuries to his skull and brain and was placed into a medically induced coma after the incident. A suspect, 31-year-old Giovanni Ramirez, was arrested in May 2011 in connection with the crime. Ramirez was never formally charged and was declared innocent in July 2011 when Louie Sanchez and Marvin Norwood were arrested and charged in the crime. Lawyers for Stow say his medical care is expected to cost more than $50 million. On September 27, 2011, relatives reported that Stow showed signs of improvement and even went outside for the first time in six months.