The Kershfuffle
Was Goading The Dodgers A Mistake?
Big News! Letters To AJ is proud to introduce a new contributor to the growing Letters To AJ family. Here to help us make sense of one of the most divisive talking points of the year in Major League Baseball, the frown seen ‘round the world, is our latest pseudonymous contributor “Gaylord Perry”!!! For this edition, “Gaylord Perry” was kind enough to answer a few of our prompted questions and his answers really were emblematic of how many in baseball, including some Padres fans, felt about last Friday night’s incident. But it’s important to remember, dear reader, the Padres and Dodgers are not at all, in any circles, legitimate rivals. With that front of mind, let’s get to it.
First a little exposition:
The (absolutely) non-rival Los Angeles Dodgers rolled into town last weekend riding their longest winning streak of the season. They brought with them, as usual, a horde of blue-clad “fans” who were understandably desperate to escape the heavily leaded stagnant air of their over-crowded city. It is easy to understand why a Dodger fan would make the short trek south to enjoy the better life realized by their “little brother”. If only for a weekend, they get to enjoy San Diego’s breathable air, a shimmering bay, perfect weather, a lively weekend scene, better Mexican food, and a ballpark that is the crown jewel of MLB. For all the condescension and shade thrown San Diego’s way by Dodger fans, they sure seem to love it here, and it’s not hard to see why. The feeling, however, is not reciprocated.
It didn’t take long for the fireworks (literally) to explode in game 1 on Friday night as Fernando Tatis Jr. hit his first of two home runs that night off Dodgers perennial ace and sure-fire hall of famer, Clayton Kershaw. The game would see Fernando add a little more history to his resume while Kershaw was dealt his heaviest defeat and shortest outing of the year.
No sooner had Josh Hader recorded a relatively comfortable save, then the Padres (always on point) in-game production team put up the now infamous image of Clayton Kershaw making an exaggerated frown, and even added a cartoonish teardrop for effect.
This picture (sans teardrop) was originally captured in the immediate aftermath of the historic upset pulled off by the Padres over the Dodgers in the 2022 NLDS.
Although initially just seen as a funny ribbing of the pitcher who had just been reminded that he is, in fact, mortal, Dodgers fans predictably took the joke badly, as one does against a non-rival that you don’t even really think about. So ill was the joke received in Dodger land that one would think there had been a ritualistic vandalizing of Kershaw jerseys in the Dodger stadium parking lot… Anyway, an intense, approaching self-parodying debate over the gag ensued as it went viral. What makes the Kershfuffle interesting is how it divided opinion. Obviously, the establishment media painted it as a classless and unprovoked attack on one of the game’s greats. Others, like Kershaw himself, laughed it off as just going with the territory. Still, even amongst Padres fans, the stunt caused a sharp divide.
Some, like “Gaylord Perry” believe the joke was misguided and tempted fate. Others, like your humble authors, believe it was not just an appropriate poke at one of the most prolific Padres killers of all time, but an important milestone for both franchises. Below, we discuss our respective points of view.
Here is “Gaylord Perry’s” opinion:
During the war of the Seven against Thebes, which for the readers of this newsletter occurred prior to 1969, there was a Greek champion named Capaneus who was known for his size, strength, and ability as a warrior. Capaneus stood at the base of the Theban city walls and proclaimed that “Zeus himself could not stop him ….” He was promptly struck down by a thunderbolt thrown by Zeus.
The baseball gods, like their ancient kin, have similar notions towards those that tempt them. And then Clayton Kershaw got the crying Jordan meme treatment.
Before we can get to the heavenly, we must first start with the earthlier fallout from the Padres meme-ing of a first ballot hall of famer. Rather than continue to wax philosophical, I will answer a few of your burning questions:
L2AJ: Does the meme of Kershaw reflect poorly on the Padres as an organization?
“GP”: Nope.
L2AJ: Did it have an effect on the series?
“GP”: Maybe. There was no acrimony following the joke, no hot takes from players, and even Kershaw himself took the high road [Dodger fans did not]. But the Dodgers won the series.
L2AJ: Did it affect the rivalry?
“GP”: Your humble correspondent feels that this will be a forgotten moment a budding rivalry that hasn’t yet bloomed. Baseball is a game of eras, and the Dodger-Padres rivalry is one that really started in 1996. While it could blossom into something great, it is worth knowing that it is pushing against the weight of history. Of cross-town rivalries and the shot heard round the world. This moment will certainly be forgotten…
Unless it isn’t.
Baseball is a funny game, and the baseball gods are fickle beasts who the wise do not tempt. Let’s consider their bona fides:
They can work in mysterious ways, humiliating the Padres (for example the (in)famous Bartolo Colon homerun) but then giving them a generational talent in return.
They can be cruel, like allowing a chance to end a generation spanning curse to go begging thanks to a routine groundball that somehow finds a way through a good fielder’s legs. Poor Bill Buckner, he deserved better.
The baseball gods can both hate and love musical theater, cursing the Red Sox for selling Babe Ruth to the Yankees in order to finance a musical, and yet allow the Yankees to continue to be good enough to keep the 1958 musical Damn Yankees (where a Washington Senators fan literally sells his soul to the devil to beat the Yankees) relevant.
The baseball gods can be funny, like when it was suggested that a man would walk on the moon before my pseudonymous namesake hit a home run…which ended up being true.
Which brings us back to where we started.
Despite owning the third largest payroll in baseball, the Padres are upstarts. They are the nouveau riche of the baseball world, hoping that lavish spending leads to World Series titles and the attendant respect it so fervently desires. But the baseball gods are omniscient, keen to take a moment (even one that was quickly forgotten) and turn it into lore.
And who knows what the rest of the season will have in store for the Padres. But they just might find themselves at the gates of Dodger Stadium believing that “Kershaw himself could not stop them.” And, well, you know how the story goes.
End of “Gaylord Perry’s” remarks. Big thanks to “Gaylord Perry” for his perspective.
Letters To AJ Response to the Kershfuffle:
Did it reflect poorly on the Padres organization? We agree with “Gaylord”… no.
Did it have an effect on the series? Absolutely not, unless you think the baseball gods are as thin skinned as Dodger fans. The Dodgers play the Padres as hard as they possibly can in every meeting, as one does against a bitter rival. So much so that, the Dodgers often drop the next game because of exhaustion (see e.g., Monday night’s embarrassing loss to the Brewers). The difference in the series was the Padres continued inability to hit with RISP, which has been a chronic problem all season, so it can hardly be blamed on bad karma from the Kershaw meme. On second thought, maybe bad karma does have something to do with it. It could be that the Padres are suffering from residual negative karma emanating from these doozies… Yes, as “Gaylord Perry” said, the baseball gods are powerful and being reckless with their favor is a risky proposition indeed.
Did it affect the rivalry: How could it? The Padres-Dodgers rivalry, as covered clearly by credible sources in baseball as well as legacy media, does not exist. But the Kershaw meme did mark an important milestone borne out by the games themselves. In the past, Petco Park was a place Dodger players and fans looked forward to coming to. The Dodgers knew as soon as their bus pulled up, their stat lines were going to get a little bump over the next few games. Far too many of the games at Petco Park were noncompetitive affairs where the Dodgers romped and Dodger fans gloated. That has changed. Two of the three games over the weekend were balanced on a knife’s edge and the Dodgers simply had better luck. The meme of Kershaw was drawing a symbolic line in the sand. Petco Park is no longer your stat padding haven. From now on, you will find Petco Park a difficult place to play. You will face hostile crowds and stiff competition. The scoreboard operators will even have fun at your expense. This is the new reality, get used to it. Both sides seem to understand this, as no less than Dave Roberts and Mookie Betts have publicly stated their excitement for the trials ahead.
Those only interested in short-term outcomes delighted in pointing out that the Dodgers are still the better team because they, by the narrowest of margins imaginable, won this series (even though the Padres have won four of the last seven meetings). In short, this weekend settled nothing over who is the better team in the NL West in 2023. The good news is that the Padres and Dodgers will be at it again this coming weekend, this time at Chavez Latrine. In some ways, this will be an even better test. The Dodgers, like almost every team, are better at home. The Padres, however, unlike most teams, are better on the road. The Dodger fans will come out in force and will fill the air with all manner of vitriol toward their barely considered and absolute non-rival. Much of the abuse will be aimed at Fernando Tatis Jr., and will come from the same stands where the Dodgers fans once gushed over Manny Ramirez and Eric Gagne. How will Tatis react? How will the Padres react? We will soon have answers to those questions. In any case, it should give us a better read on the state of the teams relative to one another.
Finally, to those Padres fans who think it’s time to move on from the 2022 NLDS and stop throwing it back at Dodgers fans because we didn’t actually win anything in 2022, we remind those Padres fans that the Padres achieved something more extraordinary than what the Phillies or Astros accomplished. The 2022 Padres defeated, in the playoffs, perhaps the greatest team in MLB history. A juggernaut of juggernauts. Rarely if ever has a team been as over the top dominant in the regular season than were the 2022 Dodgers. No, they did not have the most wins all time, but they did have the best run differential of any team in the modern era… by a substantial margin (any team that might claim to have had a more dominant regular season played in the segregation era, and most were in the 1800s). It took every scrap of grit, guile, and determination to do it, but the upset of the Dodgers in the 2022 NLDS was one for the ages… and it likely drained all the energy the Padres had, but that’s what it took. It was a result that stunned the baseball world in ways similar to the Red Sox triumph over the Yankees in 2004. It even had Dodgers clamoring for rule changes to the postseason. Let’s not forget just how amazing that was. But, we agree that we should not rest on 2022. Rather, it should be a fountain of belief for the Padres and their fans. We are good enough. We belong at the grown ups’ table. Upstarts we may be, but how many teams can say that they, rather convincingly, defeated the best regular season team in the history of the game under the brightest lights? Winning a world series is always dependent on some good luck anyway, and someday… hopefully soon, the stars will align for us. Until then, keep ribbing the Dodgers about 2022, it really does bother them.