San Francisco Giants: 3 forgotten Dodgers who played for the G-Men
In the span of the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers rivalry, there are several players who fans love to forget crossed enemy lines.
The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox have what many consider to be the biggest rivalry in baseball. Unlike those two clubs who have stayed on the east coast, the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants have a fierce rivalry of their own and their rivalry has existed ever since both clubs began to play on the east coast.
Although the rivalry has shifted west, there has been no love lost between the two teams.
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Even since the beginning of the rivalry, the hatred between the two teams has been so fierce that some players have even retired upon being dealt to the other side. Baseball legend Jackie Robinson was traded to the Giants on December 13, 1956. Just a month later on January 5, 1957, Jackie decided he would rather hang up his cleats and pursue other interests than play for the Giants.
In one of the more ugly baseball incidents of all-time, Giants’ great Juan Marichal hit Dodgers’ catcher Johnny Roseboro in the head with a baseball bat. That incident took place in 1965. Like Jackie Robinson, Marichal was one of the greats who crossed enemy lines as he played for the Dodgers in 1975 although he made just two starts for the team.
Here are three Dodgers who many fans forget (or want to forget) ever suited up for the rival Giants:
San Francisco Giants: 3 forgotten Dodgers who played for the G-Men
Brickyard Kennedy
Brickyard Kennedy played twelve seasons for the Dodgers including times when the club was not even known as the Dodgers yet. The club was known as the Grooms, Bridegrooms, and the Brooklyn Superbas during Brickyard’s tenure with the franchise which spanned from 1892 to 1901. Kennedy still ranks fourth all-time in wins for the Dodgers with 177 wins.
For this instance, many fans might not know Brickyard Kennedy played for the Giants because this was long before their time. In February of 1902, Kennedy crossed enemy lines as he was signed by the New York Giants and finished that season with an ERA of 3.96 and made just six starts for the Giants as he was then purchased by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Kennedy played the final season of his career with the Pirates in 1903.
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Reggie Smith
Although Reggie Smith played for the Red Sox and Cardinals before becoming a Los Angeles Dodger, arguably the best years of Smith’s career came with the Dodgers. Reggie Smith played for the Dodgers from 1976 through 1981. Smith currently ranks in the Dodgers’ top ten all-time for slugging percentage (.572) and on-base plus slugging percentage (.915). After the conclusion of the 1981 season, in which the Dodgers won the World Series, Smith signed with the hated San Francisco Giants.
Oddly enough, prior to becoming a Giant in 1982, Reggie Smith went up into the stands and got into a fight with Giants fan Michael Dooley, who taunted Smith when he was a member of the Giants. Still, that did not stop the former Dodger from signing with the rivals to the north. In his one season with the San Francisco Giants, Smith hit .284 with 18 home runs. That was his final season in the big leagues before Reggie went to Japan to play for the Yomiuri Giants for two years.
San Francisco Giants: 3 forgotten Dodgers who played for the G-Men
Orel Hershiser
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Orel “the Bulldog” Hershiser is better known for days with the Dodgers and his excellent playoff performances most notably in the 1988 postseason but he did play for three other teams. Those three other teams were the Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, and the San Francisco Giants. Hershiser’s best years came with the Dodgers where he spent 13 seasons and pitched to a 3.12 ERA to go along with one World Series title in 1988.
Hershiser crossed enemy lines in December of 1997 when he signed a one year deal with the San Francisco Giants. That was the only year Hershiser wore that dreaded Giants’ uniform and he struggled that season pitching to an ERA of 4.41 to go along with an 11-10 record. While the contract did contain an option for a second season, the Giants declined the option and Orel signed a minor league contract with the Indians after the 1988 season.
Make no mistake about it, despite donning the black and orange for a year, Orel Hershiser is a Dodger through and through. Not only did he spend the bulk of his career in Los Angeles but Orel is now one of the Dodgers’ play by play broadcasters along with Joe Davis. The sight of Hershiser donning a Giants’ uniform must make even Orel himself sick. That is certainly how it feels for Dodger fans.
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The rivalry between the Dodgers and Giants seems to have taken a back seat in recent years with the Giants’ becoming cellar-dwellers, but make no mistake about it, the hatred between the two fanbases remains strong. Although players crossing rivalry lines seems more common in today’s era with free agency, it still is strange to many when players do make that leap. The most recent example is Sergio Romo playing with the Dodgers after many years as a setup man for the Giants.