LOS ANGELES -- No one sounded angered, insulted or offended.
Amused might be a better description, and mildly amused at that.
Fans of the San Francisco Giants are hoping to hire a plane to fly above Dodger Stadium on opening day. As the Dodgers and Giants play, the plane would tow a banner reminding everyone which team won the World Series last year.
"That would be pretty funny," Dodgers first baseman James Loney said Monday. "When I hear everybody start booing, it'll either be a fight or a plane."
If Giants fans thought their little aerial taunt might enrage the boys in blue, well, think again.
"That's good for our economy, right?" Dodgers Manager Don Mattingly said. "They're going to hire L.A. planes."
Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier said he would not object to Giants fans touting their team's title in Dodger Stadium airspace.
"They have a right to boast," Ethier said. "They're the defending World Series champions. They had a great run.
"Starting from the first pitch, it's a new year, a new season. I'm pretty sure, if and when we do win a World Series, Dodger fans will be celebrating in some way."
Loney, Ethier and Mattingly headlined the first day of the Dodgers' annual community caravan Monday, stopping first to join City Councilman Ed Reyes and about 200 fans in cleaning trash and debris along the banks of the Los Angeles River.
Reyes, whose council district includes Dodger Stadium, is a die-hard Dodgers fan.
He was not amused by the prospect of a Dodgers opener interrupted by a midair remembrance of the Giants' championship.
"I think that's pretty aggressive," Reyes said. "That's pretty bold.
"Hey, it hurts. What makes it a rivalry is the emotions. When you lose, you feel it. When you win, you celebrate it."
Yet even Tom Lasorda, the Dodgers' Hall of Fame manager and one of the most polarizing characters in the long-running rivalry between the Dodgers and Giants, said he had no quarrel with this little bit of mischief among San Francisco fans.
"Let 'em do it," Lasorda said. "What do you want us to do, shoot the plane down?"
Lasorda could not resist a zinger, though. Since the Giants won their previous title in 1954, the Dodgers have won six.
"It took them 50 years to get to where we've been a lot of times," Lasorda said. "Maybe they won't do it again for another 50."
Comments