Saturday BP: Are the Giants and Dodgers actually rivals?

Hello and happy Saturday everyone. I hope your weekend is off to a nice start. Our rewatch of the 2014 postseason marches on tonight at 6 p.m., with Game 6 of the World Series.

Now, onto a very important or irrelevant question.

The San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers are still billed as a rivalry. You only need to check the Opening Day schedule — which features Giants vs. Dodgers on ESPN, despite the Giants projecting to be one of the worst teams in the league — to see that.

But it’s not just ESPN. Giants fans hate Dodgers fans, and the feeling is mutual. If you’ve ever attended a game between the two teams you’re well aware of the animosity between the fanbases.

Los Angeles fans take great pride in reminding San Francisco fans that the Giants are bad. Giants fans relish every opportunity to laugh at Dodgers fans’ “NL West Champions” t-shirts.

It’s great.

But is it a rivalry?

Some would say that a rivalry only functions when teams are in direct competition. The Giants and Dodgers — who are projected to end up at different end points on the NL West spectrum this year — certainly don’t fit that bill. It’s been four years since the two teams jockeyed for position in any meaningful way in the standings.

And get this: 2014 was the first year since the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958 that the teams were in the playoffs in the same year. It happened again in 2016, and those stand as the only two times it’s taken place. Now that’s a product of baseball’s bizarre playoff formats as much as anything, but still. Is a rivalry a rivalry if the teams rarely share the brightest stage at the same time, and have never face each other in the postseason?

You hate the Dodgers. I hate the Dodgers. Hell, even the Dodgers hate the Dodgers.

But is that enough to make a rivalry?

It’s a question without an answer, but I still want to hear yours.

Did Barry Bonds hit a home run today?

He did.

July 11, 2003: Against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Bonds hit a solo home run in the 5th inning off of Miguel Batista. It gave the Giants a 5-1 lead, and they would win 10-7. It was his 4th straight game with a homer, and his 29th of the year.

Giants links

• Grant Brisbee on why Buster Posey never had to justify his decision (The Athletic, subscription required)
• Roger Munter remembers the top seasons by a Giants Minor League shortstop (There R Giants)
• Ann Killion on Buster Posey’s decision, and how it shouldn’t take a player having premature babies for us to realize the season shouldn’t happen (SF Chronicle)
• Andrew Baggarly on Buster Posey being ‘overwhelmed with joy’ at the adoption of identical twins (The Athletic, subscription required)
• Kerry Crowley on what Buster Posey’s absence means for the roster (Mercury News)
• Maria Guardado on how Darin Ruf is still impressing the Giants (MLB)
• Alex Pavlovic on how Buster Posey made the right decision (NBC Sports Bay Area)
• Bruce Jenkins wonders if more star players will opt out (SF Chronicle)
• Kerry Crowley on Darin Ruf still slugging despite his 2020 overseas chance not working out (Mercury News)
• Alex Pavlovic on how Hunter Pence and the rest of the Giants are in Buster Posey’s corner (NBC Sports Bay Area)
• Tim Kawakami on how Buster Posey has never been more valuable (The Athletic, subscription required)
• Jacob Hutchinson recapped Thursday’s workouts (KNBR)
• Hank Schulman on Hunter Pence having an MRI, and Buster Posey opting out (SF Chronicle)
• Alex Pavlovic on what Buster Posey’s decision means for Joey Bart and the rest of the catchers (NBC Sports Bay Area)
• Brian Witt on how the Giants future is bright (NBC Sports Bay Area)

Have a great and safe Saturday, everybody.