Shohei Ohtani is looking even better in Los Angeles Dodgers blue
The greater Los Angeles area is a two-team sports town.
USC and UCLA, Lakers and Clippers, Kings and Ducks, Rams and (recently) Chargers. And, of course, the Dodgers and the Angels.
In their 64 years of both playing in Southern California, the chasm between those two baseball teams has never been greater.
The Dodgers have almost always been the dominant team. They arrived in LA in 1958 as Brooklyn’s Boys of Summer. They had Koufax and Drysdale, the every-year infield of Garvey, Lopes, Russell and Cey, Fernandomania and the incomparable Vin Scully.
They have won the World Series six times and made the playoffs 11 consecutive seasons.
The Angels have had The Singing Cowboy, the Rally Monkey, one World Series title and zero playoff appearances in the last decade.
Yes, the Angels did have the strikeout king Nolan Ryan, but even he couldn’t do what Fernando did in LA. In Ryan’s greatest season – when he struck out a major league record 383 batters – the Angels barely drew a million fans in 1973 while the Dodgers drew 3.6 million fans with Fernando at the top of his fame in 1982.
But nothing separates the two franchises as much as this one player this one season – Shohei Ohtani.
The superstar slugger and pitcher had six wonderful seasons in Anaheim, being named the MVP of the league twice. The Angels, however, never made the postseason. Never really got close.
Late last season, the Angels (read owner Arte Moreno) refused to trade Ohtani, who was headed to free agency. He left Anaheim and – to the worst fears of Angel fans – signed with the Dodgers.
And as good as he was Under The Halo, he’s much, much better in Dodger Blue.
Here we are about a quarter through another season and the Angels have had the worst start at home in their history – going 5-14. They are 15-26 overall and in last place in the American League West.
The Dodgers are coasting with a sizable lead in the National League West. Despite dropping two of three to the bothersome Padres over the weekend, they are 27-15 and have a 5 ½ game lead in the National League West.
The rosters are so different that it’s unlikely any player on the current Angel roster could even make the Dodger team!
To compound matters for the Angels, their other superstar, Mike Trout, got hurt again and the team roster looks more like Triple A material than American League West.
And there is nothing to believe the future – near term or long term – will be better.
Ohtani? He’s hitting a dazzling .352, second in the National League. His 15 doubles lead all of baseball and he’s already hit 11 homers.
Anaheim is in the rear view mirror in more ways than one.
Pete Donovan is a Palm Desert resident and former Los Angeles Times sports reporter. He can be reached at pwdonovan22@yahoo.com
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Shohei Ohtani is looking even better in Los Angeles Dodgers blue
