There are not a lot of heated rivalries among sports teams anymore. Sure, there are the fans of one team that don’t really like the other team, but by and large, the truly heated rivalries have become a thing of the past. In an era of free agency where players move around from team to team, more it is hard to build a heated rivalry the likes of the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche or the Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos.
(Photo: REUTERS / Alex Gallardo)
Christian Post Report – Los Angeles Dodgers at batting practice before their Opening Day MLB National League baseball game against the San Francisco Giants in Los Angeles, California March 31, 2011.
Baseball teams in the same division play each other 18 times a year, and the hope beyond ticket sales in both cities was a rekindling of the rivalry between divisional opponents. There has not been a lot of that but the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks have certainly entered into a pretty heated rivalry.
In a Sprint Training game no less yesterday there were four batters hit by pitches and a number of ejections as the two teams from the National League West went at each other once again.
There has been bad blood brewing between these two teams for a few years now. The former regime in Arizona was pretty pro throwing at other players and that led to several on the field scuffles at least one with the benches clearing. With a new manager and GM in place in Arizona it would seem that things would cool off a bit but when a couple of payers are doing whatever they can to be noticed all bets are off.
Not to condone throwing at players or fighting in baseball, but it is these kinds of rivalries that make sports fun and it’s a shame in the free agent era we don’t see more of them.
Source : Christian Post