For Dodgers supporters, the on-field moments are everything.
In 1988, Kirk Gibson hit a home run in the first game of the World Series. Last year, Freddie Freeman did the same. Sfour no-hitters from Koufax.Fernandomania. Shohei Ohtani while he’s on the mound or at the plate.
The squad has typically faltered outside the baseball diamond. Additionally, the squad is currently attempting to recover from an unforced error that has occurred.
In the last two weeks, a toxic alphabet soup of federal agencies led by Donald Trump has performed immigration sweeps throughout Los Angeles, and that’s the best way to characterize the actions of the Boys in Blue as the city is featured on their helmets and road jerseys.
California
In contrast to DSH’s social media statements, a local took photos of vans with identical license plates during Dodger Stadium and Home Depot ICE searches.
They remained silent despite suspicions that the Migrawas were staging and processing their raids in the Dodger Stadium parking lot. For days, they disregarded requests from certain supporters and local authorities to make any kind of declaration in support of immigrants.
The team eventually informed our colleague Jack Harris on Wednesday that they intended to support immigrant populations affected by the recent events in Los Angeles without providing specifics, after initially refusing to reply to my fellow Times journalist Dylan Hernndeza. They paused after the dramatic events of Thursday, when federal officials were seen near the stadium that morning, drawing the Dodgers into a dispute with the Trump administration.
On social media, the team announced that they had turned down an application from Immigration and Customs Enforcement to enter the parking lots. On social media, ICE blared false information. Even though local television news footage showed a U.S. citizen apprehended earlier that morning at a Home Depot just up the 101 freeway being transferred from one unmarked vehicle to another, the Department of Homeland Security chimed in to claim that Customs and Border Protection agents were simply in the vicinity of the stadium gates and had nothing to do with any operation or enforcement.
President Stan Kasten told Harris on Thursday, “We’ll get back to you soon with the timing of how the Dodgers will help immigrants.”
Stan, no. The time has come.
The Dodgers, a business corporation with an excessive, even unhealthy, following among too many Latinos, have gotten away with becoming the “Flamin Hot Cheetos” of Major League Baseball for decades. Both brands, Guayaberas and Lowriders, have become symbols of Latinidad in Southern California, yet they accomplish little more than provide consumers fleeting pleasures while stealing their money.
The Dodgers have managed to accomplish this despite being the same team that won’t erect a monument recognizing that their house is located on the property where, in the 1950s, L.A. officials demolished three barrios for an unfulfilled housing project and then sold the land to the Dodgers for essentially nothing. Fernando Valenzuela’s number was not retired until his final years. At least Flamin Hot Cheetos are still inexpensive, so that will sell boring, expensive tacos and micheladas at the stadium.
For so long, they have been able to get away with putting one arm around Latino supporters and taking advantage of them with the other. Over the years, CEOs have never been concerned about boycotts because they understood that other fans would swiftly occupy any additional seats. Fans jeered when stadium security recently ejected fans who carried anti-ICE placards to games, but Kasten and his team anticipated that none would show up in support. The Dodgers only need to continue winning and have the occasional giveaway night. Wow, look! On July 19, another Valenzuela bobblehead! or have Dieter Ruehle, an organist, play a few bars of La Chona, and too many people forgive anything.
Sports teams are not required to take sides on current events and most likely shouldn’t. Their proclaimed goal is to make as much money as possible while giving the populace bread and circuses; they are capitalist enterprises, not charitable causes. Too many followers of social justice consciously overlook this.
However, since that is how the Dodgers have traditionally promoted themselves, they and the rest of us deserve to hold them to a higher standard.
With Jackie Robinson, they are the group that broke baseball’s color barrier. Valenzuela, Hideo Nomo, and Chan Ho Park helped to broaden the game’s appeal internationally. This led to the establishment of baseball academies throughout Latin America and the development of a Latino fan base that is unmatched in professional sports in the United States.
The Dodgers have a special place in the history against racial injustice as the team that brought integration to baseball, and their current staff is aware of this.
In addition, the Dodgers have already walked into political dead ends. When Jim Crow laws were still in effect in the US, they played Robinson.Following George Floyd’s murder in 2020, they duly declared Black Lives Matter. Although the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were relegated to a ceremony staged hours before the start of a game, when the stands were almost empty, the team in 2023 gave a Community Hero award to a drag group despite concerns from devout Catholics.
Early on, other members of the Dodgers’ immediate family heeded the call to support L.A. “My father would be very disappointed with what’s happening,” Maria Valenzuela, Valenzuela’s daughter, told Fox 11. “He pitched for every immigrant who believed they belonged.” On his Instagram account, Broadcasting Hall of Famer Jaime Jarr lamented the injustices and heartache we have seen and praised the nonviolent demonstrations that have followed. He advised those heading to the streets to not be scared. Remain resilient. Continue to show up. Make your voice known.
In a team full of visa holders, Kik Hernandez is the only player currently on the team who has made any comments regarding Trump’s raids. The journeyman, who was born in Puerto Rico, said on Instagram that he finds it intolerable that our community is being assaulted, profiled, mistreated, and torn apart.
I suppose his colleagues still can’t bring themselves to say anything because they were too happy to see Trump at the White House earlier this year.
The Dodgers finally made an announcement on Friday afternoon: they would work with the city of Los Angeles to provide $1 million in financial support to families affected by Trump’s raids. They also pledged assistance to reputable Los Angeles organizations, such as the California Community Foundation, to assist in the situation. In a statement, Kasten stated, “We have heard the calls for us to take a leading role on behalf of those affected.”
Although that’s a good beginning, I hope the team views it as such. Trump has already pledged that Chicago and New York, two towns with sizable immigrant populations and their own storied baseball teams, will soon experience the same level of hatred that he is directing at Los Angeles. The Dodgers must therefore much more draw on their historical moral fortitude and once again lead by example.
The time has come.
