The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres are competing for the National League West title in the final month of the regular season, adding yet another layer to what has become a budding rivalry.
In a division dominated by the Dodgers for over a decade, the Padres have shown themselves capable of challenging their NL West foe during various stretches of the past five seasons. The increased competitiveness has led to more compelling matchups as the intensity between the two sides has ratcheted up.
While the likes of Mookie Betts and Will Smith have enjoyed competing against this new version of the Padres, they would stop short of calling it a bigger rivalry than the one between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
During an episode of the “On Base With Mookie Betts Podcast,” Smith explained why the Yankees and Red Sox still have the biggest rivalry in his estimation:
“I’m kind of off base with that. I think we’ve had five years now of some really good baseball games, really good series, postseason matchups and stuff. But Red Sox-Yankees is 100 years old. That’s the rivalry in baseball, just from a historical standpoint. I’m not taking away from our battles with them, but I just think time and longevity mean something a little bit more than where we’re at with them. But it’s fun, though.”
Betts has a unique perspective as someone who was a part of the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, and he agreed with Smith that it has an extra special quality to it:
“I agree with that. Playing with the Red Sox, going into that rivalry, it’s not just about baseball. I feel like here it’s mostly just about baseball and who has the best team. It’s a beautiful thing. I definitely enjoy coming into Petco and hearing all their fans and whatnot. Super loud and it’s a great atmosphere to play baseball. But with the Yankees and Red Sox, it’s baseball but it’s about the cities. It’s like, whose city is better? Who can be the loudest? I think to your point, it runs much, much deeper and is so long with the history.”
The Dodgers avenged last season’s series loss to the Padres by winning nine of 13 games in 2025. L.A. leads the all-time series 532–431.
Meanwhile, there have been nearly 2.5 times as many matchups between the Yankees and Red Sox, with New York leading the all-time series 1,247–1,036.
Magic Johnson picks Padres for Dodgers’ biggest rival
Part-owner Magic Johnson offered his opinion on which team is the Dodgers’ equivalent in relation to the bitter rivalry between the Lakers and Boston Celtics.
Johnson joined manager Dave Roberts in the camp that believes there is a rivalry between the Dodgers and Padres.
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