As the Los Angeles Dodgers continued their homestand Friday night with the annual Freeway Series matchup against the Los Angeles Angels, it coincided with the inaugural MLB “Rivalry Weekend.”
The new premise lends itself to logical pairings, in addition to some of the other matchups being stronger than others, and cases where stronger divisional rivalries were ignored.
Overall, Rivalry Weekend consists of 11 Interleague series and four non-Interleague matchups.
The Freeway Series between the Dodgers and Angels is a rivalry in proximity only, with only minimal feelings of animosity from the fanbases or organizations toward one another.
“Obviously, the geography lends itself to a rivalry. Different leagues, but very familiar with that club. Have a lot of respect for Ron Washington,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Obviously, it’s obviously always exciting when Mike Trout is playing I’m not sure how well they’re playing, but I like where we’re at right now.”
While Shohei Ohtani heading up Interstate 5 to Los Angeles last season perhaps adds an interesting wrinkle for fans, there seems to be no bad blood between the two teams over the move.
The Angels split the season series and snapped a 10-game losing streak against the Dodgers last season. Anaheim leads the all-time series with a 75-73 record, but L.A. has won five straight season series.
The Dodgers of course share a storied rivalry with the San Francisco Giants, even the New York Yankees, and more recently with the San Diego Padres as well.
MLB Rivalry Weekend games
There are some compelling games on the slate, including matchups between the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers, Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox, and New York Mets and Yankees.
But there are also others that are much more of a stretch, such as the Atlanta Braves playing the Boston Red Sox, along with the new invention by the Padres and Seattle Mariners.
The Padres and Mariners added some flavor to their rivalry by establishing the “Vedder Cup” as an ode to Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder, once a resident of both Seattle and San Diego. The winner of the season series will earn a trophy, featuring a guitar provided by Vedder himself.
Elsewhere across the league, Juan Soto returned to Yankee Stadium for the first time since signing the largest contract in MLB history with the Mets, Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona faced his former team in the Cleveland Guardians, and two former No. 1 overall picks are going head-to-head in the form of Paul Skenes and Bryce Harper.
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