Giants vs Dodgers: A Surprising Outcome, By Willa Reed

COMMUNITY NEWS Giants vs Dodgers: A Surprising Outcome

By Willa Reed

As a young girl, seeing the dent in the skull of a gentle kindly man whose only crime was wearing a San Francisco Giants jersey to a baseball game in Los Angeles was something I will never forget.

I was an elementary school-age softball player in the years after Bryan Stow’s injury and recovery. Our little league — and the city of Scotts Valley — was shocked that the father of one of our teammates was savagely beaten, walking from a sporting event. I

Bryan Stow couldn’t understand it at 10 years old, and I still can’t now.

How could something as seemingly serene as baseball could polarize people such that somebody I knew almost died?

That fear made me vow that I would never attend a Dodgers game. We went to Rockies games in Colorado, Angels games in Anaheim, Padres games in San Diego, but I would never set foot in Dodger Stadium. That was a promise.

Almost 10 years later, I broke that promise.

A month ago, I moved down to Los Angeles to attend UCLA. When I found out the Dodgers and Giants were playing — in the National League Division Series, no less! — I felt the same excitement any true fan would.

When my dad told me a few days later Willa Reed excitedly hugs her dad, Jim, as they prepare to watch the Giants at the Dodgers in the NLDS. that he bought tickets and was driving down for the day so we could attend Game Four in Los Angeles along with my Los Angeles cousins, I was thrilled, but also filled with dread.

Even though I’m 19 and knew I’d be surrounded by my family and lots of male cousins, thinking about cheering for my team at the place where Brian Stow almost died filled me with some of that fear I felt as a child 10 years ago.

Expectations

Once I convinced myself that it was silly not to attend because of one incident a decade ago, I wondered if I would enjoy the game if I didn’t do what I always did: Wearing my Joe Panik Giants jersey and yelling my head off for my team.

I thought about how when I’ve attended Giants-Dodgers games in San Francisco. I always enjoyed making a point to drown out any Dodger cheers starting in the stands by initiating my own, “Let’s go Giants!” I always felt comfortable doing that at the Giants ballpark because I feel safe there, but would I at Dodger Stadium?

I went to the game and meekly wore my Giants jersey and cap, but what I felt in Dodger Stadium was different from what I expected.

I felt no hate. I felt no division or animosity. I only felt the electric feel of the ballpark, the excitement that only 55,000 fans strong could create.

Unexpectedly, I felt unity.

“SF vs. LA” page 23

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