Damn Yankees In Dodgertown

When the Militant was a wee young lad (back then known as "Lil' Mil"), his love of the Dodgers went hand-in-hand with his hatred of the NY Yankees. It was, after all, the late '70s, when the Dodgers made it to back-to-back World Series appearances with the despised ones from The Bronx, only to suffer back-to-back October defeats.

In 1981, though, justice was served, the Dodgers took home the shiny trophy with those tiny pointy flags on top, and Lil' Mil became a happy kid. Even with its iconic walk-off pinch-hit homer, the legendary vanquish of the Oakland A's seven years later was merely icing on the cake.

The Dodger vs.Yankee matchup has been the stuff of legend for baseball fans for generations. The basketball equivalent, of course is the Lakers vs. Celtics, and we all know how that went down a little over a week ago.

So how epic was it that Los Angeles gets to see two of its greatest sports rivalries play out in the same month? Thanks to the magic of MLB interleague play, here we are.

The Militant got tickets for him and three other operatives to catch the Dodgers vs. Yankees game on Friday. Having missed out on the series back in '04 (the last game of which was won via Lima Time (moment of silence, R.I.P.))...


...he had to go this time around. Not only did the Dodgers win 2 our of 3 back in '04, but the Yankees have a 4-10 record at The Stadium. YESSSS!

Of course, the Militant had to expect the inevitable: Throngs upon throngs of vociferous transplanted Yanks fans, wearing those "NY" hats in the french-fry font, attending the game en masse (The Militant has concluded that of people who wear a "NY" cap, 1/3 are diehard fans, 1/3 are bandwagon fans, and the 1/3 are people who have no clue about baseball, but just wanna look trendy (i.e. foreign tourists, celebrities)). But if war is what they want, the Militant is here for combat!

They handed out "This Is My Town" rally towels to all who entered. The holographic MLB sticker attached to it read "World Series 2009" on it. They must have gotten them from The Alternate Dimension (sigh).

Before the game, it seemed like we were ready to put an all-out Angeleno assault on the invading Yankeedom: Flea and Josh Klinghoffer from Los Angeles' own Red Hot Chili Peppers doing a bass-and-guitar rendition of the national anthem, and Pau Gasol from the 2010 World Champion Los Angeles Lakers (pictured left) throwing out the first pitch. Video highlights from the 1981 World Series were shown on the DodgerVision screen, as well as a shot of several Dodger stars from the '81 squad in attendance. Hell yeah! Bow down, MFers!

During the game, we were treated to a 1-2-3 inning by Vicente Padilla, who knows how to step up in big games, including a strikeout of Derek Jeter. YEAH!

Then Manny drives in an RBI single to drive Rafael Furcal home! TAKE THAT!

Of course, the Yankees matched us in the 2nd, and A-Roid hits a homer. Ergh.

At the Militant's infield reserve section, a group of people attempt a "Let's Go Y*nkees" chant, which is quickly drowned out by a much louder "Yankees Suck!" chorus. WHAT PART OF "THIS IS MY TOWN" DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?

Eventually, ugh. The Dodgers lost 2-1. Damnit. Randy Newman does not many any royalties this night.

Bummed, the Militant left the stadium, feeling pissed off for the rest of the night. But hey, that's sports. And on a grudgingly-purely-objective-baseball-fan-level, it was...interesting to see such players as Jeter, A-Rod, Texeira and Mariano Rivera in person for the first time.

Nevertheless, The Militant's love for the Dodgers and hate for the Yankees remains as strong as ever.

ADDITIONAL PICTURE TIME!
Flea and Josh Klinghoffer from RHCP rock the anthem Los Angeles style.

Joe vs. Joe.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

A fellow Dodger fan brought his "Rally Homer" doll to the game. Woo-Hoo!
Unfortunately, it didn't work tonight. D'oh!