THROWBACK THURSDAY: California Hatred

Given that the Giants-Dodgers series just came to an end, what better way to reminisce than to remember some of the most historic yet horrific incidents that ever took place with these two teams on opposite ends of the field. The most notorious incident in the Giants-Dodgers rivalry has got to be the Juan Marichal-Johnny Roseboro brawl. After a few debatable hit batsmen and an argument, Giants pitcher Marichal took a bat to Roseboro's cranium. (As shown in the pictures)


Roseboro was badly bleeding but was not severely injured. The two later became close friends.


It's almost clear that the rivalry isn't as blood thirsty as it was in the 50's and 60's, but who said these teams still don't like each other? & What's a good ol' classic rivalry without a little pushing and shoving? That's exactly how game 3 of the 3 game series went between both teams on Wednesday. With the first game ending in frustration due to a few costly mishaps on behalf of the umpiring crew, it only got worse from there. Game 2 seemed to have a different take as the Dodgers pummeled the Giants starting pitching. But as game 3 came along, the Giants were in desperate need of a victory over there long time rivals. However they didn't get it easily.

With the umpires being of no help thanks to a few more shitty calls, the game came down to the last pitch. A pitch that was hit into the deep left field bleachers by shortstop Juan Uribe that sent the Giants home happy with a 4-2 10th inning walk-off victory. But before the celebration, the benches cleared. With Eugenio Velez leading the 5th inning off with a double, Freddy Sanchez came up to the plate to single and bring home Velez. As Velez slid home, a ball that was sailed high was caught by the leaping Russell Martin. When the Dodgers backstop returned to gravity, he was upended causing him to fall back. Martin regained himself and Velez gave him a pat on the back to show it was an accident.

Then came up Pablo Sandoval. Dodgers reliever James McDonald threw a first pitch high and in that seemed to have grazed Pablo's elbow. However the ump said it hit his bat first resulting in a strike. Sandoval took it as retaliation for the play that happened just seconds before. As he started to walk out of the batters box, he began jawing with McDonald and raised his arms. The home plate ump tried pushing Sandoval aside to avoid any further confrontation. Meanwhile Russell Martin tried getting in Sandoval's face to help back his pitcher. With both players arguing, the benches were cleared with players from both sides being held back. No blows were exchanged as the San Francisco crowd began chanting BEAT L.A. No ejections were given and Sandoval ended up walking to load the bases.

Sandoval was dubbed the nickname "Kung Fu Panda" due to his resemblance of the kids cartoon movie that was recently released. Barry Zito is credited with the name giving after he returned to the clubhouse one day. After he had watched the film earlier, he said they looked alike. The name stayed put, and the fans and media have expressed it ever since. The city of SF has somewhat fallen in love with their new home grown star. Fans show up at the ball park with panda hats and signs to support their hero. It's just too bad we didn't get to see if the "Kung Fu Panda" actually knew Kung Fu...