Dear Braves Fans,

I want to congratulate you on your victory in the NCLS and subsequent World Series berth. As a Dodgers fan, I knew the series did not lean well in the Trolley Dodgers’ favor, and I had my inclinations that the Braves would take the series.

For starters, the Dodgers have not been able to navigate injuries as deftly as your team has. You need to be very thankful for your front office; that group of individuals put together a winner over the course of the season instead of in the offseason. Lose your best player to injury? Have a player turn out to be a scumbag? No sweat, leverage trades to fill those holes and improve chemistry. That was really cool to see.

I also think you need to be very thankful you have an old school manager who just lets his team play. Forget analytics, forget computations, just play ball. Trusting the game of baseball helped get this team to where they are. Too many times LA botched something trying to play cute and smart instead of just playing baseball. It’s pretty refreshing to watch.

Plus, your team just got hot. I mean yes, they play in the Big 12 of the MLB, but they still had to win. And they did. They clinched their division, dispatched the Brewers like they were an actual beer and then put the Dodgers out of their misery in six through amazing defense and great hitting. They’re red hot. And that’s cool to see.

One thing that does bug me is the amount of hate toward the Dodgers from Braves fans that I saw on social media. To see it, you’d think Tommy Lasorda beat up Blooper instead of Youppi. I don’t really understand it. It’s not really that much of a rivalry, other than it being West Coast vs. Deep South, but even then that’s a fan thing, not a player or team thing. Yes, the Dodgers have a $300 million dollar payroll. But everyone on the team aside from Scherzer, Turner, and the $120 million bust is either a homegrown guy or a castoff no one else wanted. Best example? Chris Taylor. Literally no one else wanted him. The Dodgers took him and he’s become a pretty solid player with incredible offensive capabilities…kind of like Jorge Soler. Also, ask the Yankees: lots of money can help, but it doesn’t guarantee wins. 

I personally don’t have an issue with the Braves, and certainly not to the extent a lot of Braves fans have with the Dodgers. I love The Battery, I love Truist Park, I appreciate the place in 90s culture you have, I think your uniforms are among the best in MLB history, the Freeze is awesome, and I grew up watching Braves games on TBS. In different circumstances, I may have even been a Braves fan.

Maybe, maybe not.

So while you probably wouldn’t have pulled for the Dodgers had they won, I’m here to tell you congrats, and at least for a week, I’m pulling for your team. Go Braves, and please beat the Trash…Astros.

Sincerely,

Drew

A Dodgers Fan