The Dodgers declare themselves villains in a pre-game hype video. But playing with a target on your back just comes with being defending champion, they say.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts waves to fans before receiving his 2025 World Series championship ring during an on-field ceremony before their game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday, March 27, 2026, at Dodger Stadium.
LOS ANGELES – The hype video has played on SportsNet LA this spring and on the video board at Dodger Stadium“What’s wrong with being the bad guy?” narrator Jason Bateman says, with Billie Eilish’s 2019 hit “Bad Guy” playing in the background and clips from the Dodgers’ 2025 World Series victory filling the screen.The “Bad Guy” theme caught Dave Roberts off guard when he was asked about it. “The organization did that? Alright,” the Dodgers manager said awkwardly. “Well, if they said we’re the bad guys, that’s self-proclaimed, so I guess I’ll embrace it. I guess people like a villain. I guess that’s respect in some way. I don’t know. I guess that’s a good thing.”“I’m here with them. So whatever they go, I go,” Diaz said with a smile when asked about the villain hype. “I’m here so I’m a bad guy now.”“I personally don’t care,” he said of the hype video. “You can call us whatever you want to call us. At the end of the day, you’ve got to go play the game. Villains, not villains, whatever. The game will determine who wins and who loses. The other stuff is just noise.” Accused of ruining baseball with their big-spending ways the past two years, the noise has only gotten louder as a labor showdown looms. The Dodgers have been made the villain by those whose owners don’t spend as aggressively – or heroes to those owners who hope to galvanize support for a salary cap by pointing to the Dodgers as emblematic of the payroll disparity and competitive imbalance they claim makes those restrictions necessary.“People love beating the Dodgers, and they love beating the Yankees,” he said this spring. “Regardless of winning a championship, winning two, they’ve always wanted to beat us and it always feels better when they beat us. That hasn’t changed.” Veteran Kike’ Hernandez calls it “a compliment” and “a privilege” to play with that target on your back. Max Muncy calls it a fact of life, “being a Dodger.” “To me, that’s always been the effect of playing here,” Muncy said. “You’re going to come here on a Tuesday, and there’s going to be 50,000 people in the stands. The music is a little bit louder. The lights feel a little bit brighter. It’s Hollywood here. The atmosphere is always just different here. That’s always been the effect that we had, regardless of the team we had on the field. When teams come into LA, teams get that little extra pep in your step. It’s kind of like when teams go into New York. When you go to New York, you just feel, oh, you’re in the big city. Everything feels different when you’re there. That creates an atmosphere that players tend to thrive on, and they want to do a little bit better when they’re in that atmosphere.” That applies to a slightly lesser degree on the road, Muncy said, where the Dodgers give each team they visit a revenue-sharing boost by bumping the local attendance to season-highs. On the field, pitchers “find an extra mile an hour or two on your fastball, your breaking stuff is going to be a little sharper” when facing the Dodgers. “That’s why – and I’ve said this before – being a Dodger is tough. It’s not for everybody,” Muncy said. “You’re going to get the best atmosphere of the year everywhere you go. Can you handle that? That’s just how it is.” Betts agreed – “It’s tough to play with a target on your back,” he said. But there’s a difference between being a true villain and just being the team everyone wants to beat.that he wants the Dodgers “to be a destination spot, where our own players don’t want to leave, where players on other teams are looking longingly” – something that rings very true to Muncy who has eschewed free agency to sign team-friendly contract extensions in recent years, leaving millions of dollars unclaimed rather than leaving Los Angeles. “Are you really the villain if you’re the team that everyone wants to go to? You’re the spot that everyone wants to join and be a part of. Are you really the villain if that’s the case?” he said. “That’s kind of how I look at it. We’re doing what everyone wants their team to do. “Now, we may be in a better position than a lot of organizations . I’m not blind to that. But there’s still a lot of things that every other organization could be doing. We’ve just created an atmosphere where everyone wants to come here and be a part of. To me, that’s not really being a villain.”‘No Kings’ protesters in Southern California among 8 million demonstrators across the U.S.Inside Paul McCartney’s Friday night performance at LA’s Fonda TheatreWhat to know about the planned Saturday, March 28 ‘No Kings’ protests in Southern CaliforniaVoices from ‘No Kings’ protests around Southern CaliforniaNo more Cesar Chavez day, but some offices, services will still be closed in LA County
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