“If the Dodgers disgust you, just become a fan”: Jim Bowden lets it slip

Charles-Alexis Brisebois
“If the Dodgers disgust you, just become a fan”: Jim Bowden lets it slip
Credit: Sportsnet

Sometimes, in the world of sports, people just don't get it. Kristopher Letang, who doesn't like hockey fans talking to their team's “we,” is a good example.

But Jim Bowden set the worst example of the out-of-touch guy.

It's always hard to tell when the former GM of the Nationals and Reds (two markets that aren't huge, but aren't tiny either) is fooling around or not… but here, he's just taken it to another level.

Speaking of the Dodgers, the columnist at Foul Territory said that fans who don't like the Dodgers' techniques (buying championships) should become fans of the California team.

Those of you who read Bowden on The Athletic have surely realized that his biggest dream is to see all the big-market teams get all the best players in the league.

But this is on another level.

The irony he uses here to praise the Dodgers (who deserve credit for what they do, not keeping their money to themselves) is unhealthy for baseball, which needs die-hard Brewers or Marlins fans to make baseball work across the American continent.

Not everyone wants to take on the Dodgers, whose luxury tax is higher than the payroll of the majority of Manfred's clubs.

Whoever's practically on the verge of crying when a big market does things wrong (hello, Mets) needs to realize that not everyone likes the fact that the Dodgers defer over a billion dollars in the future.

I have no problem with the Dodgers investing money in their club, which too few organizations do. But you'd have to be arrogant (or out of touch, depending) to think that fans frustrated that their team can't compete with the Dodgers are just going to join the team.

Bowden may say that you don't have to root for your hometown team and that the Dodgers “will come through your town and beat your favorite club” at some point, but fans who love their team can't change easily.

Clearly, having worked in MLB has altered his view of things (which is only natural, in a way, since he's seen how the sausage is made), but he doesn't understand how to be a die-hard fan.

If fans had a contract like the players (whom I don't blame when they choose L.A.), that would be one thing. But Bowden doesn't understand that true fans care about their team and that it doesn't work the same way.

Being in his wife's shoes, I'd worry about his loyalty. After all, he seems to have gone to Marc Bergevin's school on this one: if you want loyalty, buy yourself a dog.

This content was created with the help of AI.

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