Welcome back to another installment of Run It Back! Today, we are going to look back on one of the most eventful chapters of the rivalry between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants, which is one of the most historic rivalries in all of baseball.
Division rivalries are prevalent in every sport. Teams from the same division meet in the regular season more often than any other set of opponents, whether it’s twice a year like the NFL, four times per year (e.g. the NBA and the NHL), or 13 times a year, à la MLB.
Familiarity breeds contempt, which, in the world of sports, frequently leads to animosity. More often than not, at least a few teams within a division will grow to detest one another, especially if they are equally good at the same time. Depending on the sport and the quality of a division’s teams, a playoff series between intra-divisional opponents may be in the cards.
This year, division rivalries are all the rage in MLB. In the 2024 Division Series, three of the four matchups were contested between two teams from the same division: the American League Central’s Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers, the National League East’s New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, and the NL West’s Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. Even so, as entertaining as these series were, there is one intra-divisional series from a few years ago that stands out from the crowd.
In 2021, we may have witnessed one of the most highly-anticipated playoff series ever. That year, the Dodgers were the defending World Series champions, winning for the first time since 1988. Having won the last eight NL West division titles, Los Angeles was looking to do it all again. However, a certain Bay Area adversary of theirs had a little something to say about that.
The San Francisco Giants have been rivals with the Dodgers for over a century, ever since the teams were founded in the 1880s. Up until the late 1950s, the teams were based in New York City; the Dodgers called Brooklyn home, while the Giants played in Manhattan. This era of the rivalry was characterized by season-long pennant races, often ending with the winner facing the Yankees, New York’s AL team, in the World Series. By this point, the rivalry had become one of the fiercest in all of MLB, alongside the likes of Yankees-Red Sox and Cardinals-Cubs.
As air travel became more easily accessible, MLB began exploring the idea of bringing teams out west. Ahead of the 1958 season, the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, with team owner Walter O’Malley persuading Giants owner Horace Stoneham to take his team to San Francisco to preserve the rivalry. Stoneham had been considering Minnesota as a landing spot, but backed out upon O’Malley’s insistence on moving to northern California. The rivalry had been saved for at least the foreseeable future.
Despite much of their contests having playoff implications, the Dodgers and Giants had yet to actually meet in the postseason. They came close a few times, with both teams reaching the playoffs in 2014 and 2016. Nevertheless, it was not meant to be, as one of them faced an early exit each time.
Los Angeles fell to the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2014 NLDS, and in 2016, San Francisco lost to the Chicago Cubs in the same round. Had the Dodgers beaten the Cardinals in 2014 or the Giants defeated the Cubs in 2016, the National League Championship Series (NLCS) would have featured both rivals, with the winner securing the NL pennant and a trip to the World Series.
Some years later, the rivalry would finally take the playoff stage. In 2021, Los Angeles and San Francisco battled for the NL West division crown, with the Giants attempting to dethrone the Dodgers, who had won every division title since 2013.
San Francisco entered 2021 having failed to post a winning record in each of the last four seasons. This season was expected to be a rebuilding year for the Giants, as first baseman Brandon Belt, shortstop Brandon Crawford, and catcher Buster Posey, the last remnants of San Francisco’s World Series championship teams from the early 2010s, were all approaching their mid-30s.
After playing the COVID-19 pandemic-shortened 2020 season without Posey, who opted out for the year, the Giants were reinvigorated by his return. The 34-year-old had become the face of the franchise, known for his strong presence in the clubhouse and on the field. Following a season-ending collision at home plate with the Florida Marlins’ Scott Cousins in 2011, Posey was named both NL MVP and NL Comeback Player of the Year in 2012. From 2012-2017, Posey played in at least 140 games every season, earning five All-Star selections, four Silver Slugger Awards, and a Gold Glove Award along the way.
Needless to say, the Giants were prepared to rally around Posey in his farewell season. In 2021, San Francisco’s batters finished atop the NL in multiple offensive categories, namely home runs (241), slugging percentage (.440), and on-base plus slugging (.769). Crawford stood out as one of the Giants’ top contributors on offense, setting new career highs in several categories, such as batting average (.298), home runs (24), and runs batted in (90). At season’s end, Crawford finished fourth in NL MVP voting.
The Giants complemented the productive offense with a strong starting pitching rotation. Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani, Logan Webb, and former Dodger Alex Wood each made at least 25 starts and pitched over 130 innings, with veteran Johnny Cueto rounding out the rotation with 114 ⅔ innings and 21 starts in his age-35 season. Gausman had a particularly good year, earning his first All-Star selection and finishing sixth in voting for the NL Cy Young Award.
Throughout the season, manager Gabe Kapler frequently brought in pinch hitters (substitute batters) and made defensive substitutions, mixing up the lineup to be efficiently prepared against opposing pitchers. Steven Duggar and Austin Slater, for instance, split playing time in center field, while Tommy La Stella and Donovan Solano platooned at second base—sometimes in the same game. Suffice to say, Kapler’s strategy worked, as San Francisco’s roster emerged as one of the deepest in the majors and propelled the team to a 107-win season seemingly out of nowhere.
Los Angeles, meanwhile, was looking to keep on winning. From 2013-2020, the Dodgers had won every NL West division title, appeared in the NLCS five times, won three NL pennants, and won a World Series title. The team had developed into a postseason fixture and a model of consistency, with its players frequently appearing at or near the top of the league leaderboards.
Outfielder Cody Bellinger rapidly became one of the best players in the majors, being named NL Rookie of the Year in 2017 and NL MVP in 2019. Shortstop Corey Seager was the hero of LA’s 2020 World Series run, winning both NLCS MVP and World Series MVP. Mookie Betts, who was traded to the Dodgers from the Boston Red Sox in 2020, had finished as the runner-up for the NL MVP Award in his first season in Los Angeles; Betts had previously won the 2018 AL MVP Award while with the Red Sox. Other key position players included utility infielders Max Muncy and Chris Taylor, outfielder A.J. Pollock, and long-time third baseman Justin Turner.
Like the Giants, the Dodgers also had a potent starting rotation. Starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw won three NL Cy Young Awards between 2011 and 2014, and also took home NL MVP honors in 2014. This season, though, all eyes were on Walker Buehler and Julio Urías. Buehler and Urías both made at least 30 starts, with Buehler pitching over 200 innings and Urías leading NL pitchers with 20 wins on the season. Likewise, Kershaw had a fine start to the year, putting in over 100 innings of work before going on the injured list with left forearm inflammation in July.
In addition to Kershaw, Tony Gonsolin also missed some time with inflammation in his right shoulder. In response to these injuries and the sexual assault allegations brought against off-season acquisition Trevor Bauer, the Dodgers bolstered the rotation by acquiring Max Scherzer from the Washington Nationals at the trade deadline. Scherzer delivered for LA, pitching six or more innings in seven of his 11 starts and allowing two runs or fewer in nine of them.
As the regular season progressed, the two teams continued to duke it out in the standings. The Giants led the NL West for over 125 days, with the Dodgers right behind them for almost all of those days. In their head-to-head matchups, San Francisco went 10-9 versus Los Angeles, although the Dodgers outscored the Giants 80-78 in these games.
The rivals traded blows in each series, with Los Angeles sweeping San Francisco in the first series of the year and the Giants taking three out of four in the next matchup. LA swept a two-game set at the end of June, but San Francisco responded by winning each of the final three head-to-head series to take 10 of 19 from the mighty Dodgers.
On Oct. 3, the regular season finale, the Giants clinched the NL West division title in an 11-4 victory over the Padres. In doing so, San Francisco won its first division championship since 2012, snapping Los Angeles’s division title streak at eight wins. The regular season concluded with the Giants at 107-55—a new franchise best—and the Dodgers at 106-56, which tied the franchise’s record.
Los Angeles hosted the Cardinals in the NL Wild Card Game, winning 3-1 on Taylor’s walk-off home run. This paved the way for the first-ever Dodgers-Giants playoff series, with Game 1 of the best-of-five NLDS set to take place at San Francisco’s Oracle Park.
The Giants drew first blood in Game 1, with Posey hitting a two-run shot to right field off Buehler to open the scoring. This would ultimately prove to be the difference, as Webb quieted the Dodgers’ bats in his 7 ⅔ innings of work, allowing just five hits on the night.
San Francisco’s bullpen did the rest, with relief pitchers Tyler Rogers and Camilo Doval retiring every batter they faced. With a 4-0 win, the Giants went into Game 2 having won the first-ever playoff game in the rivalry’s long and storied history.
LA promptly answered back in Game 2, getting to Gausman early on in the game. After Pollock was intentionally walked, Urías singled to right field, scoring Taylor from second base to give the Dodgers the lead. Betts made the score 2-0 with an RBI single of his own before Gausman struck out Seager to get the third out and limit the damage. San Francisco cut the lead in half later in the inning with Solano’s sacrifice fly, which scored Wilmer Flores from third base.
Posey opened the bottom of the fourth inning with a double to right field, but was left stranded after Flores, Crawford, and Evan Longoria all failed to get on base. This would prove to be a missed opportunity for the Giants to tie the score or pull ahead, as Urías held them in check in the fifth before things unraveled in the sixth.
Trea Turner—who was acquired from Washington alongside Scherzer—led off the sixth inning with a double before Kapler removed Gausman from the mound after 5 ⅓. Dominic Leone entered the game in relief of Gausman, walking Taylor and then surrendering consecutive hits from Bellinger and Pollock, which widened Los Angeles’s lead to 6-1. San Francisco managed just one more run in the game, making the score 6-2 on Crawford’s RBI single later in the inning.
In the eighth, Dodgers catcher Will Smith hit a solo home run on the first pitch he saw, increasing the lead to 7-2. Relief pitchers Brusdar Graterol and Phil Bickford neutralized the Giants’ offense, limiting San Francisco to just one hit over the last two innings en route to a resounding 9-2 victory. The series was tied at one game apiece heading south to Dodger Stadium.
With the series tied at 1-1, Game 3 would be pivotal. The game began as a pitchers’ duel between Scherzer and Wood, with neither pitcher allowing a run over the first four innings. Scherzer had eight strikeouts through four before Longoria broke the scoreless tie with a solo home run. That was all the Giants needed to get back in front in the series; although the Dodgers got more hits, they could not score a run.
That being said, there was no shortage of stellar defense in this game. Among the best defensive plays from this game was Crawford’s leaping catch in the seventh inning. With runners on first and second, Betts hit a line drive toward left field that was sure to be a hit before Crawford made a jumping grab to end the inning. This play saved at least one run from being scored, keeping San Francisco in the lead. The Giants went into Game 4 with a chance to win a playoff series against their archrivals for the first time ever.
Facing elimination, Los Angeles delivered in Game 4. The Dodgers’ bats were hot against DeSclafani, scoring two runs on five hits over the first two innings. Betts added to LA’s lead in the fourth inning, putting the Dodgers up 4-0 with a two-run home run.
In his second start of the series, Buehler held San Francisco scoreless until the fifth inning, when LA manager Dave Roberts took Buehler out of the game after two Giants reached base. Relief pitcher Joe Kelly limited the damage for the Dodgers, allowing just one run before the inning ended. San Francisco would not get any closer to tying the score, squeaking out just one more run over the final four innings. Los Angeles put the game away with Smith’s two-run homer in the eighth inning, winning 7-2 to tie the series at 2-2.
Back at Oracle Park for a do-or-die Game 5, both teams knew what was at stake: win and advance to the NLCS to earn all of the bragging rights, or lose and go home after a monumental 100+ win season. The Giants had won in close games, relying on quality pitching and great defensive plays to quiet the opposing bats. On the other hand, the Dodgers had found success in the series by taking early leads and continuing to score runs to put games out of reach. If either side wanted a shot at a series victory, they would need to gain control of the game.
San Francisco sent Webb out to the mound to start Game 5; the Giants had not lost in any of Webb’s starts at home in 2021, hoping to continue that win streak into the biggest game of the season.
Neither side allowed a run through the first five innings, with Webb striking out five batters and the Los Angeles bullpen stranding four San Francisco baserunners. The Dodgers broke through in the sixth on a double from Seager, scoring Betts from second base. Later that inning, the Giants countered with a home run from Darin Ruf, tying Game 5 at 1-1.
Webb exited the mound after seven innings, allowing just one run on 106 pitches. Unfortunately, his strong outing was not enough to get the win, as San Francisco’s bullpen allowed a run in the ninth. Typically, this would not be too much of an issue, but scoring chances were rare in this game, meaning that every run mattered that much more.
Down 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, the Giants had one last chance. Score a run and send Game 5 to extra innings, or score two and win in walk-off fashion. LA sent Scherzer in to close out the game on just two days’ rest in hopes that neither of these outcomes would occur.
Crawford lined out and LaMonte Wade Jr. struck out, placing the fate of San Francisco’s season on Flores’s bat. This produced one of the most controversial endings in recent postseason history, as first base umpire Gabe Morales said that Flores swung on this pitch and struck out. Flores started to swing, but pulled back before he could fully extend his bat. Nevertheless, the first-ever Dodgers-Giants postseason series ended with controversy, a fitting end to one of the most momentous chapters in the rivalry’s history.
Los Angeles advanced to the NLCS for the sixth time in nine seasons, facing the Atlanta Braves in a rematch of the 2020 NLCS. The Braves got some revenge, eliminating the 106-win Dodgers in six games to defeat LA in the postseason for the first time since 1996.
Both the Dodgers and the Giants got some hardware at the end of the season, despite neither team coming away with a World Series championship. Buehler and Scherzer represented LA on the All-MLB First Team, while Urías, Trea Turner, and Kenley Jansen all earned spots on the second team.
Meanwhile, Posey closed out his career by winning his fifth Silver Slugger Award, a second NL Comeback Player of the Year Award, and a selection to the All-MLB Second Team. Crawford won his fourth Gold Glove Award, Gausman joined Posey on the All-MLB Second Team, and Kapler won NL Manager of the Year honors.
Although both squads failed to capture a World Series title, 2021 was a successful year all around. The Giants put together a solid send-off for Posey (who is now the team’s president of baseball operations) and won a franchise-best 107 games. The Dodgers reached the postseason for the ninth consecutive year—the third-longest postseason appearance streak in MLB history—and came within two wins of returning to the World Series.
Since then, Los Angeles has continued to remain near the top of the NL standings, qualifying for the playoffs as one of the top two seeds every year since 2022. San Francisco, on the other hand, has gone in the opposite direction, finishing at or below the .500 mark for each of the past three seasons.
When it’s all said and done, 2021 was one of the most noteworthy years for the long-time rivals, both collectively and individually. Even if there is not another Dodgers-Giants playoff series, fans of both teams can look back on the 2021 NLDS as a classic, hard-fought showdown that went the distance.
