My sons and a rivalry

I have written before about the fact that I am raising one of my twin boys to be a San Francisco Giants fan and the other to be a Los Angeles Dodgers fan.

It only seems right.
Why would they be Red Sox fans? They've never stepped foot on New England soil. Yet we've lived in both Northern and Southern California.

Now they aren't really into it yet, although they love wearing their team hats.
But they are getting close to the age when you start to follow a team.
And my Giant fan son is well aware that his team "won the trophy" last year.

Tonight after dinner, they finished watching an episode of Zooboomafoo and I saw that the Giants and Dodgers were in the bottom of the 9th inning.

What happened next made me question if I am a good father.

I turned to TV to Prime Ticket and Vin Scully was calling the game.
I explained that it was Dodgers 3 and Giants 0.
If the Giants scored 4 times, they would win.
But if the Dodgers got three outs before the Giants could tie the game, the Dodgers would win.

So Aidan, the Giants fan, cheered every batter on the defending champs.
Matty, the Dodger fan, loved that the players were wearing the same hat that HE wears.

The Giants tried to rally, but Matt Kemp made a fabulous catch against the wall.

At one point Giant fan Aidan tried to cover Dodger fan Matty's eyes. I guess his logic was if he wasn't enjoying the proceedings, NOBODY should see it.

They each gave a "YAY" for their team. A "Go Giants!" and "Come on win, Dodgers!"
And I sat back in my seat, glowing. I was hoping that they were beginning to love this game. And seeing that I watched so much baseball with MY parents that I was passing the bond on.

Then the Giants lost.
3-0.

It was the 6th time in 7 games that the Giants were held to 2 runs or fewer.

Matty gave a cheer.
Aidan rolled over on his belly.

AIDAN (The Giants fan.): Daddy.

ME: Yeah buddy.

AIDAN: I'm going to have a nightmare tonight.

ME: Why, pal?

(Aidan began to cry and pointed to the television.)

AIDAN: The Giants lost.

He came up to me, and hugged me. Tears flowing.

MATTY (The Dodger fan): Don't worry Aidan. It doesn't matter if you win or not. It's all about having fun.

(I love Matty's sentiment. But in truth, it DOES matter when it is your vocation!)

AIDAN: The Giants are NEVER going to win again.

ME: Buddy... your team won the Trophy last year. They are a good team. They just lost a game. MY team lost a game today too. But in baseball you win, you lose and you follow your team every day.

AIDAN: They didn't even score.

MATTY: Don't worry. They'll score tomorrow.

(Matty is clearly unaware of the Giants inability to score.)

AIDAN: I can't believe they lost.


Aidan sat like a lump, arms wrapped around me.
And I couldn't help but this that I did this to him.

He was a happy boy today playing and collecting pictures of animals and I introduced into his life the emotional rollercoaster of following millionaires playing a game.

But hey!
At least his team has won a title in his lifetime.
It's been since 1988 for the Dodgers.

This is a big step into a larger world for both of them.