Breaking down the Dodgers-Padres rivalry

This story was excerpted from Juan Toribio’s Dodgers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

LOS ANGELES -- It all started in 2020. After years of the Dodgers not having the rebuilding Padres on their minds, San Diego finally started to threaten, playing Los Angeles close in the ‘20 National League Division Series, but ultimately getting swept.

After the Dodgers won the World Series in the pandemic-shortened ‘20 season, the Padres made significant trades to bolster their roster, particularly the starting rotation. Those trades made Dodgers-Padres games must-see TV for the first time in a very long time, maybe ever.

The plan didn’t work out for the Padres. The Dodgers ended up fighting the Giants for the NL West, and the Padres missed the postseason. The rivalry did heat back up in ‘22, after the Padres made more splashy moves at the Trade Deadline, acquiring superstar outfielder Juan Soto and dominant All-Star closer Josh Hader.

Those moves did work out for San Diego. The Padres beat arguably the best Dodgers team ever in the NLDS, needing just four games to do so.

But even as the games between the two teams have started to heat up over the last few seasons, the Dodgers have always approached games against the Padres as a normal game. That mentality is what has helped the Dodgers be so successful over the last decade-plus. They never seem to get too high, and they definitely never get too low.

That approach, however, might’ve hurt the Dodgers in last year’s playoff series. Some Dodgers players have since admitted that they didn’t match the intensity and energy the Padres had during that series. It was almost as if the Dodgers just expected to beat the Padres, something they did time and time again during the regular season.

In the first game between the two teams last Friday, that lack of intensity seemed to linger. Once again, it looked as if the Padres, a team full of solid players, rose up to the challenge. Inside the Dodgers’ clubhouse, it was just another game in a 162-game season.

But then, although the Dodgers didn’t openly admit to this, a scoreboard meme and a sign from a fan in the upper deck at Petco Park, might’ve given the Dodgers a boost. The meme made fun of future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, something to which everyone in the Dodgers organization took offense.

When we approached Kershaw by his locker the following afternoon, he said he “wouldn’t take the bait,” though there was no intention to bait him into any response. Instead, he said, “If you don’t like it, pitch better.”

It was a predictable response from Kershaw, who is one of the most respected competitors the sport has ever seen. But it was clear that some other Dodgers took offense to it both privately and publicly. Julio Urías , one of the most reserved players on the team, didn’t get too much into the Kershaw meme, but made sure to add, “Whoever laughs last, laughs best.”

The following day, Mookie Betts was surprised by a sign he saw down the third-base line. Betts, much like Urias, is very aware of the answers he gives during postgame interviews. Betts denied that the signs and memes upset the Dodgers, but it was telling that he couldn’t help but bring up the fan sign without even being asked about it.

“100 percent,” Betts said, when asked if last weekend’s series against the Padres had more off-the-field stuff than usual. “It’s all from the exterior. We’ve all been -- it’s just another series. But you guys got to do your job, too.”

This time, it wasn’t us, the media, trying to spark up a rivalry. The Padres and their fans did that all on their own. And the Dodgers did benefit from it, winning the final two games of the series, including a comeback win on Sunday that featured a game-tying homer by Betts in the ninth.

Don’t expect the Dodgers to plan anything on the Dodger Stadium scoreboard if they win a game against the Padres this weekend. That’s not even up for discussion. But if the rivalry between these two teams takes another step in the future, maybe we’ll look back at that meme and that sign.

Let’s see what Round 2 has in store this weekend.