Late 1800s-1957: The New York years

In the 1880s, New York City played host to a number of professional baseball clubs in the National League and the American Association. By 1889, each league had only one representative in New York—the Giants in the NL and Dodgers (then known as the Bridegrooms) in the AA. The teams met in the 1889 World Series, in which the Giants defeated the Bridegrooms 6 games to 3.^[9] In 1890, the Dodgers entered the NL and the rivalry was officially underway.

Although the two teams were geographically proximate rivals anyway, the animus between the two teams ran deeper than mere competitiveness. Giants fans were seen as well to do elitists of Manhattan while Dodgers fans tended to be more blue collar and had more Latino fans due to what was then the working class atmosphere of Brooklyn. In 1900, a year in which the Dodgers won the pennant and the Giants finished last,^[10] Giants owner Andrew Freedman attempted to have the NL split all profits equally, irrespective of the teams’ individual success or failure. In the early 1900s, the rivalry was heightened by a long-standing personal feud (originally a business difference) between Charles Ebbets, owner of the Dodgers, and John McGraw, manager of the Giants. The two used their teams as fighting surrogates, which caused incidents between players both on and off the field, and inflamed local fans' passions sometimes to deadly levels.

Prior to the 1934 season, Giants manager Bill Terry was asked his opinion of various teams for the upcoming campaign, including the Dodgers. His response of "Are they still in the league?" was to prove provocative. While the Dodgers struggled, the Giants found themselves tied with the St. Louis Cardinals atop the National League with two games left to play, and facing the sixth-place Dodgers for a two-game series in Brooklyn. Despite winning 14 of 22 from the Dodgers that year, the Giants lost those last two to the "Flatbush spoilers" and the pennant to the Cardinals, who won their final two games.^[11][12]

In 1940, umpire George Magerkurth was brutally beaten during a game by an enraged Dodgers fan ostensibly for making a pro-Giants call. The rivalry is said to have been the motive for multiple fan-on-fan homicides, in 1938 and 2003.^[13] Future Dodgers manager Joe Torre recalled how he felt threatened being a Giants fan growing up in Brooklyn in the series.^[14]

The1951 National League pennant race between the Dodgers and the Giants is considered one of the greatest pennant races of all time. The Dodgers held a 13+1⁄2-game lead over the Giants as late as August 11. Led by rookie Willie Mays, however, the Giants charged through August and September to catch and pass the Dodgers. The Dodgers won the final game of the season, tying the Giants for first place and necessitating a three-game tiebreaker for the pennant. The Giants won the first game, and the Dodgers won the second. In the third game of the series, the Dodgers led 4-1 going into the bottom of the ninth. However, the Giants ignited a rally capped off with a dramatic game-winning home run by Bobby Thomson, a play known as the Shot Heard 'Round the World. The Giants would eventually lose the World Series to the Yankees.

During the 1956-57 offseason, Dodgers legend Jackie Robinson famously retired just hours after being traded to the Giants.

1958-1970s

In 1959, the Giants led the Dodgers by three games as late as September 6.^[15] However, a late-year three-game sweep of the Giants both eliminated San Francisco from contention and allowed the Dodgers to catch the Milwaukee Braves, whom they defeated two games to zero in a three-game tiebreaker en route to winning the World Series. This started a string of pennant races between the two teams in the 1960s, in which the Giants and Dodgers finished no further than four games apart from each other and first place four times through 1966. In 1965, the Giants went on a 14-game winning streak in early September to take a 4+1⁄2-game lead, but the Dodgers responded with a 13-game winning streak and won 15 of their final 16 games to beat out the Giants by two games. In 1966, a three-way race between the Dodgers, Giants, and Pittsburgh Pirates came down to the last day of the season. The Dodgers went into the second game of a doubleheader with the Philadelphia Phillies ahead of the Giants by one game. Had the Dodgers lost, the Giants would have been 1⁄2 game out and would have had to fly to Cincinnati to make up a game that had been rained out earlier in the season. If the Giants won that game, they would then have met the Dodgers in a playoff. But the Dodgers won the second game in Philadelphia to win the pennant by 1+1⁄2 games. In 1971, the Dodgers rallied from a 6+1⁄2-game September deficit to get within a game of the National League West-leading Giants with one game to play. But while the Dodgers were defeating the Houston Astros, the Giants beat the San Diego Padres to win the division.

In 1965, the Giants went on a 14-game winning streak in early September to take a 4+1⁄2-game lead, but the Dodgers responded with a 13-game winning streak and won 15 of their final 16 games to beat out the Giants by two games. In 1966, a three-way race between the Dodgers, Giants, and Pittsburgh Pirates came down to the last day of the season. The Dodgers went into the second game of a doubleheader with the Philadelphia Phillies ahead of the Giants by one game. Had the Dodgers lost, the Giants would have been 1⁄2 game out and would have had to fly to Cincinnati to make up a game that had been rained out earlier in the season. If the Giants won that game, they would then have met the Dodgers in a playoff. But the Dodgers won the second game in Philadelphia to win the pennant by 1+1⁄2 games. In 1971, the Dodgers rallied from a 6+1⁄2-game September deficit to get within a game of the National League West-leading Giants with one game to play. But while the Dodgers were defeating the Houston Astros, the Giants beat the San Diego Padres to win the division.

1980s-1990s

In 1980, the Dodgers blew an eighth-inning lead at San Francisco in the last game of the second-to-last series of the year. This loss dropped the Dodgers three games behind the Houston Astros and cost them the chance to win the National League West division outright when they swept Houston in the final three games of the year. Instead, they were forced to play the Astros in a one-game tiebreaker – which they lost 7–1. In 1982, the Dodgers and Giants were tied for second in the NL West, both one game behind the Atlanta Braves, as they faced each other in the final three games of the year. The Dodgers won the first two games 4–0 and 15–4 to eliminate the Giants, but then the Giants knocked the Dodgers out of the pennant race on the season's last day on a go-ahead three-run home run by Joe Morgan in the seventh inning, eventually winning the game 5–3.^[16] Thus, the Braves finished first by one game.

The Giants did it again in 1991, as the Dodgers finished one game behind the Braves after losing two of three in San Francisco over the final weekend. Trevor Wilson tossed a complete game shutout on the day in which the Dodgers were eliminated.* The Dodgers returned the favor in 1993, as two Mike Piazza home runs and a dominant complete-game performance by Kevin Gross resulted in a 12–1 win on the final day of the season that kept the 103-win Giants out of the playoffs. True to the balanced spirit of the rivalry, despite winning the first three games of that four-game series in Los Angeles, the Giants were unable to sweep the Dodgers at their home park in a four-game series for the first time since 1923, and the Braves won the division by one game.

In 1997, a late September two-game sweep of the Dodgers at Candlestick Park highlighted by Barry Bonds' twirl after a home run in the first game and Brian Johnson's home run in the bottom of the 12th in the second tied the Giants with the Dodgers for first place and eventually propelled them into the playoffs. The impact on both organizations was significant; Fred Claire, who was then general manager of the Dodgers, said "those two days have stayed with me for the last 10 years", and Los Angeles Times sports columnist Bill Plaschke argued that "it led to an organizational upheaval...(from which) (i)t has taken the Dodgers nearly a decade to recover."^[17] In contrast, the Giants' run from 1997 through 2003 produced the most playoff appearances in that stretch for the franchise since the 1930s.

21st century

In 2001, the Giants finished two games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks as the Dodgers took two of the final three games of the year in San Francisco, despite Giants' outfielder Barry Bonds hitting an MLB record 73 home runs that season. In 2004, the two teams were engaged in another late-season division race. After almost every reliever in the Giants bullpen had attempted to preserve a 3–0 lead going into the bottom of the ninth during a matchup at Dodger Stadium on October 2, several walks and an error set the stage for Steve Finley's dramatic grand slam off of Wayne Franklin, which clinched the division title for the Dodgers. Even with the wild card still up for grabs, this proved disastrous for the Giants – despite ace Jason Schmidt's fine performance in a 10–0 rout over the Dodgers the following day, an Astros win during the game eliminated the Giants from playoff contention. Had the Giants maintained their lead in the previous game and Schmidt performed similarly, the Giants would have forced a one-game tiebreaker against the Dodgers for the division crown.

In 2012, the Dodgers and Giants met in the final series of the regular season. The Giants had already clinched the NL West, but the Dodgers were in the wild card race. The Dodgers took 2 out of 3, but their 4–3 loss in game 2 of the series eliminated them from wild-card contention, giving the lower wild-card seed to St. Louis. The Cardinals would eventually lose the NLCS to the eventual champion Giants in 7 games. In 2014, Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers shut down the Giants 5–1 late in the season, giving the Dodgers their second straight NL West crown. Kershaw and fellow Dodgers starter Zack Greinke went a combined 8–0 against the Giants. The Giants qualified for the playoffs two days later, earning the NL's second wild card. However, the Dodgers were eventually eliminated by the Cardinals in their NLDS, after which the Giants defeated the Cardinals in the NLCS and ultimately won the World Series over the Kansas City Royals.

The Dodgers' 2014 and 2016 National League West championships were both won by overcoming leads by the Giants. Los Angeles overcame a 9+1⁄2 game lead by the Giants in 2014, and in 2016, despite the Dodgers missing star pitcher Clayton Kershaw for an extended amount of time, the Giants were unable to hold an eight-game lead over their rivals. In both seasons, though, the Giants won one of the Wild Card spots. In the 2014 postseason, the Dodgers entered as NL West champions and the Giants a Wild Card team. The Giants defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in the Wild Card Game and the Washington Nationals in the Division Series 3–1 to qualify for the National League Championship Series. The Dodgers on the other hand lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the Division Series. Had the Dodgers won, they would have faced each other in the NLCS. In 2016, the Dodgers came into the postseason as NL West champions, while the Giants again entered as a Wild Card team. The Dodgers defeated the Nationals in the Division Series to advance to the National League Championship Series. The Giants defeated the New York Mets in the Wild Card Game. However, the Giants lost to the Chicago Cubs in the Division Series, preventing a Dodgers-Giants matchup in the NLCS. During the 2010s, the Giants won three World Series titles, while the Dodgers had to wait until 2020 to win their first World Series since 1988.^[18]

On the final day of the shortened 2020 regular season, the Giants, Philadelphia Phillies, and Milwaukee Brewers were fighting for the 8th and final seed in the expanded playoff tournament. For the Giants to clinch the 8th seed, they needed a win against the San Diego Padres and both a Brewers and Phillies loss, which would've set up a matchup against the Dodgers in the Wild Card Series. However, the Giants were eliminated from postseason contention when they were defeated by the Padres. In 2021, the Giants clinched both the National League West division and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with the best record in all of baseball over the Dodgers, which not only snapped a streak of 8 consecutive division championships for Los Angeles, but also they faced the winner of the 2021 NL Wild Card Game (between LA and the St. Louis Cardinals) in the NLDS. The Dodgers defeated the Cardinals off a Chris Taylor walk-off home run, and they met the Giants for the first time ever in the postseason.

Marichal–Roseboro incident

At Candlestick Park on August 22, 1965, Giants pitcher Juan Marichal was involved in a major altercation with Dodgers catcher John Roseboro.^[33][34][35] The Dodgers were involved in a tight pennant race late in the season, entering the game leading the Milwaukee Braves by 1⁄2 game and the Giants by 1+1⁄2 games.^[36]

Maury Wills led off the game with a bunt single off Marichal and, eventually scored a run when Ron Fairly hit a double.^[37] Marichal, a fierce competitor, viewed the bunt as a cheap way to get on base and took umbrage with Wills.^[35][38] When Wills came up to bat in the second inning, Marichal threw a pitch directly at Wills sending him sprawling to the ground.^[35] Willie Mays then led off the bottom of the second inning for the Giants and Dodgers' pitcher Sandy Koufax threw a pitch over Mays' head as a token form of retaliation.^[35][38] In the top of the third inning, Marichal threw a fastball that came close to hitting Fairly, prompting him to dive to the ground.^[38] Marichal's act angered the Dodgers sitting in the dugout and home plate umpire Shag Crawford then warned both teams that any further retaliations would not be tolerated.^[38]

Marichal came to bat in the third inning expecting Koufax to take further retaliation against him but instead, he was startled when Roseboro's return throw to Koufax after the second pitch either brushed his ear or came close enough for him to feel the breeze off the ball.^[36] When Marichal confronted Roseboro about the proximity of his throw, Roseboro came out of his crouch with his fists clenched.^[36] Marichal afterwards stated that he thought Roseboro was about to attack him and raised his bat, striking Roseboro at least twice over the head with his bat, opening a two-inch gash that sent blood flowing down the catcher's face that required 14 stitches.^[33][36] Koufax raced in from the mound to attempt to separate them and was joined by the umpires, players and coaches from both teams.^[36] A 14-minute brawl ensued on the field before Koufax, Mays, and others restored order.^[33][35] Marichal was ejected from the game and afterwards, National League president Warren Giles suspended him for eight games, fined him a then-NL record US$1,750^[34][39] (equivalent to $16,251 in 2022),^[40] and also forbade him from traveling to Dodger Stadium for the final, crucial two-game series of the season.^[36] Roseboro filed a $110,000 damage suit against Marichal one week after the incident but, eventually settled out of court for $7,500.^[36]

Marichal did not face the Dodgers again until spring training on April 3, 1966. In his first at bat against Marichal since the incident, Roseboro hit a three-run home run.^[41] Giants General Manager Chub Feeney approached Dodgers General Manager Buzzy Bavasi to attempt to arrange a handshake between Marichal and Roseboro; however, Roseboro declined the offer.^[41] Years later, Roseboro stated that he was retaliating for Marichal having thrown at Wills.^[36] He explained that, due to the benches being warned, he did not want to risk Koufax getting ejected or suspended in the middle of a pennant race and decided to take matters into his own hands.^[36][38] He further stated that his throwing close to Marichal's ear was, "standard operating procedure", as a form of retribution.^[36]

Dodgers fans were angry at Marichal for several years after the violent incident, and reacted unfavorably when he was signed by the Dodgers in 1975. However, by this time Roseboro had forgiven Marichal, and personally appealed to the fans to calm down. After years of bitterness, Roseboro and Marichal became close friends in the 1980s, getting together occasionally at Old-Timers games, golf tournaments, and charity events.^[42] Roseboro also personally appealed to the Baseball Writers' Association of America not to hold the incident against Marichal after it passed him over for election to the Hall of Fame two years in a row. Marichal was elected in 1983, and thanked Roseboro in his induction speech.^[43] When Roseboro died in 2002, Marichal served as an honorary pallbearer and told the gathered, "Johnny's forgiving me was one of the best things that happened in my life. I wish I could have had John Roseboro as my catcher."^[44]

Reggie Smith incident

In the 1981 season as a member of the Dodgers, Reggie Smith was taunted by Giants fan Michael Dooley, who then threw a batting helmet at him. Smith then jumped into the stands at Candlestick Park and started punching him. He was ejected from the game, and Dooley was arrested. Five months later, Smith joined the Giants as a free agent.

Fan violence

Giants fan Marc Antenorcruz was shot and killed by Dodgers fan Pete Marron on September 19, 2003, in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium, following a late-season Dodgers-Giants game.^[45] Marron was convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to 50 years in prison. A second defendant, Manuel Hernandez, pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter and had his 15-year sentence suspended.^[45]

There has also been Opening Day violence between the two teams' fans at Dodger Stadium.^[46] In 2009, Arthur Alverez, a reputed gang member, went to the Dodgers’ home opener with a couple and another man. After the game, Alverez and the other man, a Dodgers fan, began quarreling in the stadium parking lot. Alvarez stabbed the 30-year-old victim several times in the arm, back, and torso. He was arrested in May for suspicion of attempted murder.^[47] The trial by jury, held in August 2009, acquitted Alvarez on the charge of attempted murder.^[48]

Bryan Stow beating

On March 31, 2011, a 42-year-old Giants fan, Bryan Stow of Santa Cruz, California, was critically injured when he was beaten by two Dodgers fans in the Dodger Stadium parking lot after the Dodgers and Giants opened the 2011 season. The suspects subsequently fled the scene in a vehicle driven by a woman.^[46] Stow sustained severe injuries to his skull and brain and was placed into a medically induced coma after the incident.^[49] An early suspect, a 31-year-old man was arrested in his East Hollywood home in May 2011 in connection with the crime.^[50][51] The man was never formally charged and was declared innocent in July 2011 when Louie Sanchez and Marvin Norwood, of Rialto, were arrested and charged in the crime.^[52] Lawyers for Stow say his medical care is expected to cost more than $50 million.^[53] On May 24, 2011, Stow's family filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Dodgers for $37.5 million for his lifetime care and compensation of lost earnings.^[54][55]

On September 27, 2011, relatives reported that Stow showed signs of improvement. Stow began an intensive therapy program in the Rehabilitation Trauma Center at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center on October 11.^[56] Doctors have told his family that he will never fully recover.^[57] On December 19, 2011, NBC aired the interview with Stow on the program Rock Center with Brian Williams.^[58] On October 25, 2012, he attended Game 2 of the 2012 World Series in San Francisco.^[59]

In April 2013, Stow's insurance company stopped paying for his full-time care in a residential rehabilitation facility and he moved into his parents' home in Capitola, California.^[57] Stow returned home on June 13, 2013, for the first time since the attack two years earlier.^[60]

On February 20, 2014, Sanchez and Norwood pleaded guilty. Under the plea bargain, Sanchez was sentenced to eight years in prison for felony mayhem and Norwood received four years for felony assault.^[61] On July 9, 2014, a jury found the Dodgers organization negligent in Stow's beating. The jury awarded $18 million in damages to Stow; the Dodgers are responsible for $13.9 million of this total. The remaining amount is to be split between Sanchez and Norwood.^[62]

On April 9, 2021, Stow threw the ceremonial first pitch for the Giants’ home opener against the Colorado Rockies.^[63]

Death of Jonathan Denver

On September 25, 2013, after a Dodgers-Giants night game in San Francisco, a man, in self-defense, stabbed a Dodgers fan to death six blocks from AT&T Park.^[64] The San Francisco medical examiner's office identified the deceased man as Jonathan Denver, 24, of Fort Bragg, California.

Two people were arrested in connection with Denver's death. San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr told the San Francisco Chronicle earlier that the victim of the attack was a Dodgers fan and was wearing Dodgers gear.^[65] Michael Montgomery, 21, of Lodi was arrested on suspicion of murder.^[66] Montgomery was later released, prosecutors citing insufficient evidence to charge him.^[67] His father claimed the stabbing was done in self-defense.^[68]

On March 12, 2014, San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón said that his office could not prove that Michael Montgomery did not act in self-defense when he stabbed Denver. According to Gascón, both Denver and his brother collectively weighed about 150 pounds more than Montgomery. According to witnesses, Montgomery had a bottle in his hand for self-defense while Denver was punching him. After Denver's brother grabbed an aluminum chair and hit Montgomery on the head with it, Montgomery dropped the bottle, took out a knife, and stabbed Denver. San Francisco prosecutors ultimately declined to file charges in connection with the case.^[69] Ironically, Gascon would proceed to become the Los Angeles District Attorney in 2020.