It’s hard to root for the Dodgers these days.
On the field, they are doing just fine. The Dodgers stumbled in St. Louis over the weekend, losing three of four games to the Cardinals. But they are still in first place in the National League West and have one of the best records in the National League. If anything, the Dodgers have exceeded expectations on the field.
Off the field, well, that’s another story.
The Dodgers decided to start a fight with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and the LGBTQ+ community in Los Angeles. The Dodgers have essentially ruined their own Pride Night in the process and don’t appear too concerned about trying to fix it.
The Sisters are a group of activists who like to dress up as nuns and do nice things for members of the gay community. They have been supporters of Dodgers Pride Night for years and they were supposed to be honored at this year’s game with an award from the team.
But the Dodgers rescinded their invitation to the Sisters and set off a wave of backlash from other LGBTQ+ groups in Los Angeles. A couple of pride groups have decided to boycott Dodgers Pride Night. A Los Angeles County supervisor has said she won’t participate in Dodgers Pride Night. The mayor of Anaheim invited the Sisters to the Angels Pride Night game and said she was disappointed in the Dodgers for making the decision to exclude the Sisters from their Pride Night.
The decision to shun the Sisters stems from the Catholic League, and certain Christian groups that are offended by the Sisters, many who are gay men and like to dress up as nuns when they meet and do their good deeds.
The calls for the Dodgers to exclude the Sisters came all the way from Florida, when Sen. Marco Rubio joined the campaign to keep the Sisters out of the Pride Night celebration.
It’s become a baseball Holy War and the Dodgers are going to lose it big time.
That is why it’s so hard to root for them.
The Dodgers historically are the ones who fight for inclusion. It is the team that broke the color barrier by signing Jackie Robinson. It is the team that elevated Fernando Valenzuela to cultural icon status and embraced the Latino community in Los Angeles. It is the team that gave Hideo Nomo a chance in the major leagues and turned him into a hero to the Asian community and a fan favorite.
The Dodgers are pioneers of inclusion, not supporters of exclusion.
What the Dodgers are doing is inexcusable. It’s like having Mexican Heritage Night and telling Latinos from Pacoima they are not welcome to the stadium because they look too much like cholos and gang-bangers.
The Dodgers would never draw that line in the infield. But they decided it was perfectly acceptable to tell the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence they were not welcome on Pride Night because of the way they dress.
The Dodgers can do better. The Dodgers have always done better. It’s time for the Dodgers to reverse course and beg the Sisters for forgiveness.
But it seems like the Dodgers are happy disrespecting and insulting some of their biggest fans.
Dodgers starting pitching power rankings:
- Tony Gonsolin
- Clayton Kershaw
- Juilo Urias
- Dustin May
- Noah Syndergaard
The Dodgers (29-19) are in the middle of their longest road trip of the season. They are in Atlanta to start a three-game against the Braves on Monday. They end the week with a three-game series in Tampa against the Rays.
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