Dodgers and Giants: Let’s bring them back to New York for a series

Knotted in a tie for first place in the National League West Division with the best records in baseball, the Giants and Dodgers begin a marquee weekend series tonight, Friday, Sept. 3. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. Pacific time.

The Giants and Dodgers left New York for the West Coast a lifetime ago, yet they still have many fans in the New York area. Brooklyn ball caps with a white “B” on Dodger blue can be seen often out here, and I’ll occasionally encounter someone wearing an old New York Giants cap.

When I got up this morning, I was a bit disappointed that the game won’t come on until 9:45 p.m. Eastern, which is about the time I usually shuffle off to bed. But I got to wondering: wouldn’t it be great to bring the Giants and Dodgers back to New York to play each other in a four-game series?

The teams could play two games at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, a $5 cab ride from the long-gone Polo Grounds in Manhattan where the Giants played their first 75 seasons. They could play two games at Citi Field in Queens, the next borough over from Brooklyn. The Giants would be the home team at Yankee Stadium, the Dodgers at Citi Field.

Major League Baseball got huge publicity over its White Sox-Yankees “Field of Dreams” game this summer in Dyersville, Iowa, so there’s recent precedent for teams playing beyond their home fields.

I’d recommend playing the game early in the season, so as not to tinker too much with home field advantage, if there is such a thing for a rivalry that always brings fans of both teams to their games.

Think of the TV hype for the series with the San Francisco and Los Angeles franchises in their native city. The games would sell out instantly — and the fans back west wouldn’t have to stay up late to catch their favorite teams!