Welcome to Snyder’s Soapbox! Here, I pontificate about matters related to Major League Baseball on a weekly basis. Some of the topics will be pressing matters, some might seem insignificant in the grand scheme of things, and most will be somewhere in between. The good thing about this website is that it’s free, and you are allowed to click away. If you stay, you’ll get smarter, though. That’s a money-back guarantee. Let’s get to it.
There’s no doubt at this point that the overwhelming majority of baseball fans fall into two camps at this point: fans and the people who hate the Dodgers. Some people out there somewhere must fall into neither camp, but it can’t be a large group.
The Dodgers, on the heels of back-to-back World Series titles, are the villains of Major League Baseball for a great many fans.
Remember back when the were branded the “Evil Empire” by president Larry Lucchino? In the ensuing years and even decades, Yankees fans came to embrace the moniker and loved being the villain. After all, to quote a Yankee who predates the Evil Empire nickname, Reggie Jackson used to say, “they don’t boo nobodies.”
True. Dodgers fans should follow suit and embrace the (playful) villainy of their favorite team.
The 2026 Los Angeles Dodgers are most certainly not nobodies. They are the two-time defending champions and one of the best teams in baseball again this season. So many people already hated them and wanted them to lose as early as possible in the playoffs — then president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman traded for two-time Cy Young winner . That sent so many people over the edge.
Face it: once again, the Dodgers are the villains.
To be serious for a quick second, I’m not suggesting there’s anything really more hateable about the Dodgers players than any other team. is probably the most talented player in baseball history and an utter joy to watch. is by most accounts a great person and a future Hall of Famer. is a personal favorite interview of mine. I could keep going, but there’s no need.
The Dodgers’ massive payroll is certainly part of the equation, and I’m sure a bunch of fan bases will claim that’s the real reason, but those same people aren’t spending significant energy hating the and desperately hoping they lose. The Dodgers are the target because they’ve won the last two World Series and make the playoffs every single season.
The specifics aren’t actually the point, anyway. Notice that I said the villainy is “playful” up above.
Nothing in sports fandom is more worthy of hatred than a dynasty (or close to it), unless it’s your favorite team, because seeing the same team keep winning is tedious and also makes us jealous. We want our team to be a dynasty, not yours. I remember meeting an Alabama football fan, and when I learned of his fandom, I must’ve reacted outwardly — made a sour face or something. He started laughing and said something like, “I love this so much.”
You know what I’m talking about. We all get tired of seeing teams stack championships when they aren’t our favorite. It’s annoying and, again, there’s the jealousy factor. It grows into playful hate and that’s perfectly healthy in sports fandom. And if it’s your favorite team drawing that level of hate from many, or all, other fan bases, that means your favorite team is awesome. We all, deep down, yearn to root for teams that are hated by the rest of the sport, because that’s when the team has truly arrived. I’ve already started to see plenty of hate and it nourishes me so greatly as a sports fan. GIMME MORE!
How angry do you think Dodgers fans actually get when someone starts screaming about buying championships?
A little hint: They don’t care. Nor should they.
Only relevant teams, great teams, are reviled by the masses.
When it’s not our favorite team, it’s fun to have a common villain. Things are more entertaining when there’s a Big Bad Wolf.
The Dodgers are absolutely the Big Bad Wolf in Major League Baseball. They are our villain. It’s fun to have a villain, especially when it finally gets toppled. Maybe that happens in October. If it does, 29 fan bases will be rejoicing like it’s the end of a horror movie and the protagonist finally took down the bad guy. And if the Dodgers win it all again, those fans get to revel in the outpouring of hate from all the other jealous fan bases.
