The Los Angeles Dodgers hold a longstanding rivalry with the San Francisco Giants, but recent history with the San Diego Padres and Atlanta Braves have sparked debate over the meaning and significance with those matchups.
The Dodgers and Braves eliminated each another en route to winning the past two World Series, and became further intertwined earlier this year when Kenley Jansen and Freddie Freeman changed sides.
The teams have already played two series against each other this season — with L.A. winning four of six games — and very well could meet in the playoffs for a third consecutive year.
Although some with the Braves consider the Dodgers a rival, Clayton Kershaw downplayed that and is only focused on winning the National League West, via Gabriel Burns of the Atlanta-Journal Constitution:
As for the Braves-Dodgers budding rivalry, Kershaw took a different viewpoint: “The rivalry thing doesn’t matter. Everyone thought the Giants were our rivals, the Padres were our rivals. At the end of the day, just win the division. That’s all we care about. So we’ll beat whoever we have to.”
Prior to 2013, the Braves and Dodgers had only met in the postseason once, when the 1996 NL Division Series produced an Atlanta sweep. The Braves started three Hall of Famers during the matchup: John Smoltz in Game 1, Greg Maddux in Game 2, and Tom Glavine in Game 3.
The Dodgers then won the 2013 NLDS in four games, and accomplished the same during the divisional round in 2018. The next October clash came in the 2020 NL Championship Series, when the Dodgers memorably overcame a 3-1 series deficit in the MLB bubble at Globe Life Field.
The Braves returned the favor in the 2021 NLCS by eliminating the Dodgers in six games en route to winning the World Series.
Jansen ‘would love’ for Braves & Dodgers to play in 2022 postseason
After converting a save against his former team on Saturday, Jansen said he would more than welcome the Braves and Dodgers meeting in the postseason this year.
Jansen has been part of every iteration of postseason history between the Dodgers and Braves, though this fall would mark his first time on the other side.
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