Dodgers to hold ring ceremony before Saturday’s game

As part of their opening weekend festivities, the Dodgers will be having a ring ceremony before Saturday’s game against the Giants.

This will serve as your regular reminder that the Dodgers did not win the World Series last season and have not won a World Series since 1988.

No, they won’t be receiving those rings, they will be receiving their National League Championship rings. Which is their right! They earned them.

It’s just that, well, the opposing team that night is the Giants. That’s not exactly high caliber trolling.

Pointing and laughing at their comparative seasons is fair. The Dodgers won 104 games and made it to the World Series whereas the Giants did pretty much the exact opposite by losing 98 games and not even getting the top draft pick for their trouble.

That said, although the Giants may be nearing the end of their window for success, at least they have something to show for it. (Three somethings, but who’s counting.)

Having a ceremony for the equivalent of a World Series Participation Trophy in front of your rival team, who also happen to be the team that has won the World Series the most in the last decade, is...quaint.

They have every right to commemorate the fact that they did, in fact, win the National League Championship last season. And sure, it’s fun to mock the Giants after their disastrous 2017 season, they deserve it! And it’s certainly more than likely that it would have happened this weekend regardless of who they were playing because it is opening weekend. All of those things can be true!

But all I can think of is the conversation going on in the Giants dugout:

Brandon Belt: “Are they celebrating the fact that they lost the World Series? I don’t get it.”

Brandon Crawford: “I think they’re celebrating the fact that they even made it to the World Series.”

Belt: “But they lost.“

Crawford: “I don’t know, people are weird.”

Pablo Sandoval: /pulls out ring case, squints at field, looks in case. “I think ours are bigger.”

Crawford: “That’s because ours are for winning, not losing.”

Hunter Pence: “Oh look, they’re hanging some kind of banner. ‘National League Champions 2017.’ That’s pretty neat for them.”

Dugout phone rings, Crawford answers and listens.

Crawford: “Bum says they should probably dust while they’re up there, it’s been a while.”

Buster Posey:

Anyway, congratulations to the Dodgers for making it all the way to the biggest stage before losing. That’s a real improvement on previous seasons and it should be acknowledged. Bravo!