Yankees and Dodger fans describe their favorite parts about watching the series
By GRACIELA TIU — features@theaggie.org
On Oct. 30, the Los Angeles Dodgers won the World Series against the New York Yankees, finishing off the annual Major League Baseball championship series between the winning teams of the National League and the American League. The series, which is played for a best of seven, ended in the fifth game at Yankee Stadium, with the Dodgers winning their fourth game 7-6. Dodgers and Yankees fans here at UC Davis, despite being far from Los Angeles and New York, still felt the excitement surrounding the series, especially after the final game.
“I was at the library when they won and it was funny to see other people jump out of their seats to celebrate it,” Carlos Gonzalez, a second-year human development major, said. “As soon as they won, I FaceTimed my parents just to get their reactions. It’s crazy to think that a game can make you feel those emotions.”
Although Dodgers and Yankees fans were especially thrilled this year because of the World Series, Roman Kuznetsov, a second-year aerospace engineering major, said he has been passionately rooting for their teams for years.
“Back when I was like three years old, I saw a Yankee hat in my wardrobe that I think my mom bought for me,” Kuznetsov said. “I also saw a lot of people around me wearing Yankees hats because I grew up in the Bronx, which is where Yankee Stadium is. So I was just, you know, indoctrinated into the culture of being a Yankee fan.”
Gonzalez also said his affiliation with the Dodgers stemmed from his relationship with his family.
“I’ve been a lifelong fan, because there’s some history behind it regarding my dad living in LA,” Gonzalez said. “I grew up watching all of the teams that he supported, so they became my teams.”
As a Yankees fan, Kuznetsov also recounted the sad but emotionally-connecting experience of being in Davis during the Yankees’ loss.
“A lot of people that I know are Yankees fans back home,” Kuznetsov said. “Losing the World Series was very much a heartbreaker for us. A lot of my fellow Yankees fans felt very depressed after that game, and I think that was the mood around the entire clubhouse and fanbase. It also brought me closer to them because we all share the same sense of melancholy.”
Daksh Shekar, a second-year human development major said he noticed how watching the game can bring him closer to his friends and loved ones.
“I would say watching baseball has definitely brought me closer to my housemates, because it gives us a chance to bond over wanting the same team to win,” Shekar said.
Student fans often have different game-watching habits, with some of them watching by themselves and others watching with their friends.
“I typically watch them by myself because I’m the only baseball fan in the house, and because I’m really tense and I typically tend to yell at the game,” Gonzalez said. “I did watch one game with one of my friends back home from San Diego, and that was like a bonding thing.”
Kuznetsov also mentioned the various places he watched the games throughout the series.
“Sometimes I’m watching it on my laptop, sometimes I’m watching it on my phone,” Kuznetsov said. “Sometimes I go to my friend’s place and watch it on their TV. They’re Dodgers fans, so that creates an interesting dynamic.”
Despite series-based excitement, students from both major cities watching the series here in Davis agree that they wish they could experience it in their hometowns.
“Everybody gets crazy in New York,” Kuznetsov said. “Everybody’s jumping up and down out of their seats for a routine play. It’s just absolutely insane and if I could go back to New York and experience this right now, I would.”
The series being between two historic MLB rivals in two major cities also sparked a lot of enthusiasm among fans.
“I think it’s the people in major cities, especially two big cities like Los Angeles and New York, that feel very strongly for their team,” Kuznetsov said. “Even if they’re not actually baseball fans, it’s just a historic rivalry that has been around for decades.”
Both teams also had a lot of star players that made watching the series more enticing to fans.
“The amount of superstars on both teams during this World Series made it appealing to me as a viewer,” Shekar said. “I loved watching Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Kiké Hernandez from the Dodgers, and I liked watching Juan Soto and Giancarlo Stanton from the Yankees.”
Many fans also enjoy watching their favorite players during each game and learning about their inspiring stories.
“My favorite player is Mookie Betts,” Gonzalez said. “He’s one of my favorite players because [he] proves that people from different ethnicities can go above and beyond. He had a harsh childhood growing up; he wasn’t supposed to play and they told him that he would never make it because he was too short. Overall, I just really enjoyed his perseverance and his story of going to the World Series.”
All in all, watching baseball can be a thrilling and electrifying experience, no matter how you view the game.
“I think baseball is just a game that [can] flip,” Gonzalez said. “There’s no script and it could flip out of nowhere, and it’s happened so many times. You could be up five-zero, like in the last game, and then the other team somehow manages to bring it back. I really enjoy it because it’s just a rollercoaster of emotions, and it’s cool seeing people that get to experience that at the stadium, that feeling of knowing your team is winning.”
Written by: Graciela Tiu — features@theaggie.org
