I asked a Pirates fan the other day what team was considered the Pirates' rivals. A Tigers fan interjected that the Tigers were considered the Pirates' rivals in interleague play, which I immediately dismissed for obvious reasons. The Pirates fan shrugged and mentioned that the Reds were the team's big rivals back in the '70s when they always met in the playoffs. I wondered about the Phillies and he said, yeah, maybe, but he didn't seem too sure about it. This was odd to me. For me, as a Dodger fan, having a team or teams that are well-defined rivals, hated teams, repulsive counterparts going back decades, is one of the key elements of fanhood. Buy your favorite team's cap, collect their baseball cards, watch their game late at night, and root vigorously against their longstanding rival. All of these are one-and-the-same to me. If I couldn't spit on the Giants every year, there would be a hole in my baseball experience. The Giants have always been t...
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