Hypocritical Los Angeles Dodgers Fans: “Boo As I Say, Don't Boo As I Do”

For the sake of full disclosure, I need to start this article by letting you know I am a San Francisco Giants fan. I have been a Giants fan since I was told by my father that Warren Spahn, the all-time winningest left-handed pitcher in major league history, was my “Godfather.”

I am not absolutely certain if this is true, but I do know that my father and Warren Spahn served together in World War II and that he and Spahn were good friends. Spahn retired as a Giant, thus, my loyalty.

I am what is known as a “mistake baby,” in that I was born very late in my parent’s lives. Okay, now that I have relieved myself from being designated “ancient,” there is one other thing I should let you in on.

I live in Los Angeles.

Living in Los Angeles as a Giants fan entails a certain requirement to be thick skinned. This is especially true when the Dodgers, such as is the case this year, are playing great ball.

For a while, I was shielded from the bright light of “Dodgerdom” by the afterglow of the Lakers NBA championship. Now, time has passed, and that shield is gone.

Everywhere I go, if the talk is about baseball, it is about the Dodgers. It is maddening for a Giants fan, and what makes it even worse is all the talk about Manny Ramirez.

You know, the cheater who will once again wear Dodger-blue soon.

I am forced to listen to Dodger fans on radio call-in shows talk about their love for “ManRam” and how, with his return, it is almost a formality that the Dodgers will win the National League pennant, return to the World Series and soon will join the Lakers with a parade in downtown Los Angeles.

What I don’t hear is an apology for their hypocrisy.

I remember many games at Chavez Ravine when I would go watch my Giants play the Dodgers when Barry Bonds was still playing.

I would be forced to listen to the derisive boos cascading down from rabid Dodger fans accusing Bonds of being a poster child for every illegal performance enhancer known under the sun.

Never mind that he has never actually been proven to have ever used an illegal substance.

Now I know that the typical reader will look at these words and accuse me of living in a dream world, that only an idiot would think that Bonds has never used performance enhancing drugs. Well, I’m not an idiot, and I do think that he likely has used p.e.d.’s.

My point is that it has never been proven.

This is not the case with Manny Ramirez.

Unless Manny is somehow trying to circumvent all physiological probability, chances are he did not take his banned substance to get pregnant.

This is the primary usage of the substance that he was suspended for.

Oh, that, and it is a precursor for using p.e.d.’s.

This matters little to Dodger fan, who is too busy planning his or her trip to the cheater's shrine known as “Mannywood” when he gets back from his suspension.

Yes, as a reward for letting down his teammates, the organization, and the fans, Dodger brass is going to reinstate that section of Dodger stadium devoted to the confessed cheater.

In the meantime, I have to gag down the continuing adoration for a cheater by myopic and hypocritical Dodger fans.

I guess it helps to have a selective memory when it comes to which cheater you cheer for.