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Giants fans have waited a long time for this. Once they took a glimpse at the 2025 schedule, the oddity was glaring. The first games against the Dodgers weren’t until mid-June. At Dodger Stadium, no less. The season’s third month. Eleventh week. Finally, the Giants’ 70th game will be their first facing Dodger blue.
The pitching matchup for Friday’s opener is a dandy, Logan Webb versus Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Coming off Thursday’s 8-7 loss in Colorado that snapped their seven-game win streak, the Giants are 1.0 game behind the first-place Dodgers in the National League West.
The long-time rivals don’t play in San Francisco until July 11. After that, the rest of the matchups are backloaded. The Giants play the Dodgers in seven of their final 16 games.
With Major League Baseball’s more balanced schedule initiated in 2023, division foes face each other less, 13 games instead of 19, which further heightens the importance and hype of every Giant-Dodger skirmish.
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“One of best rivalries in sports, a rivalry that dates to before any of us first walked the face of the earth,” Giants general manager Zack Minasian said. “I’m sure it means a lot to everyone in the organization, and we’re going in there having played well up to this point of the season. I’m happy and proud to be a part of it.”
Minasian is in his seventh year with the Giants, first as the GM and Buster Posey’s right-hand man, a tiny fraction of the life of the rivalry, which goes back to the 1800s. But he knows all about the history and appreciates what it means to the organization and fan base.
In fact, Minasian had a special relationship with a Dodger who might have riled many a Giants fan but enjoyed a Hall of Fame managing career and for decades was the team’s No. 1 ambassador, the one and only Tommy Lasorda.
Minasian is a godson to Lasorda and referred to him as “Uncle Tom.” He suggests he wouldn’t be in the position he’s in today if not for Lasorda.
OK, that needs some explaining. In the 1960s, Lasorda was tight with Minasian’s grandfather, Eddie, who was a popular figure in the hotel and restaurant business. When Lasorda was managing in Ogden, Utah, he got Eddie’s teenage kid (Zack’s father, also named Zack) a job running the clubhouse.
When Zack’s dad got older, he befriended Bobby Valentine, and when Valentine became manager of the Texas Rangers, he helped Zack’s dad secure his first big-league clubhouse gig. Soon, Zack and his three brothers were doing odd jobs in the clubhouse, too. Zack’s brother, Perry, is the Angels’ general manager. Another brother, Calvin, is the Braves’ clubhouse manager.
“As I got older and had conversations with him, I really got the sense of his competitive spirit,” Minasian said of Lasorda. “Not only would he respect my desire to do well, I think he would encourage it … even though I’m with the Giants. His competitive nature has rubbed off on me.
“You know, the Giants’ organization means the world to me to get this opportunity. I would say the Giants mean as much to me as the Dodgers meant to him. So I’d love to see this organization reach the mountaintop and sustain it.”
With a smile, Minasian added, “I don’t wear blue anymore. If you see me in blue, it’s probably going to be navy.”
The Dodgers mostly dominated the Giants after the teams moved to the West Coast in 1958, winning four World Series championships to the Giants’ none through the end of the 20th century. This century, however, the Giants have a 3-2 edge – or 3-1 for those not acknowledging the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
The Dodgers have won far more division titles in the 2000s (14-4) but have failed to capitalize on all those playoff berths. This year, they were expected to run away with another division crown, but they have a whopping 14 pitchers on the injured list, and the Giants and Padres (2.0 games back) have kept close.
The Giants’ additions of Dominic Smith, Daniel Johnson, and Andrew Knizner highlighted Posey’s roster shakeup and coincided with the start of their most recent seven-game win streak. Smith hit his first homer as a Giant Thursday, a three-run shot in the fifth inning, but the Giants blew a 7-2 lead, and the Rockies won it with three runs in the ninth off Randy Rodríguez.
“We certainly hoped it could provide some type of spark,” Minasian said of the roster moves. “And it’s a credit to those three players that they kind of seamlessly fit in with the group and made nice contributions, and hopefully they continue to do so.”
The shakeup, following a 16-game stretch in which the offense struggled mightily, never scoring more than four runs, included the dismissal of slumping first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr., who was designated for assignment and eventually traded to the Angels.
For the Minasians, it was the first trade between the brothers. Perry’s Angels plan to utilize Wade as a corner outfielder and hope his left-handed bat comes to life. “I’m definitely in positive spirits,” Wade said, according to the Orange County Register’s Jeff Fletcher. “It’s not the ending that I wanted in San Fran. I wish I could have done more, but I’m embracing this new opportunity and ready to get to work.”
Wade is focusing on cutting down his stride at the plate, which he said was too long early in the season, and making better contact. From afar, the Giants’ Minasian will be rooting for the former Willie Mac Award winner. And won’t be alone in the Giants’ organization.
“It was a pretty quick conversation actually,” Minasian said of trade talks with his brother. “They had expressed interest very early. We went through the process and wanted to see LaMonte find a good home. We felt this was the best situation for all parties.”
As for cutting a deal with his brother, Minasian said, “Whenever we talk about potential moves, we usually know right away there’s something there or not something there. I was happy to go through it with him, but I haven’t reflected on it for one second that we made a trade with him. Maybe one day in the future, I’ll look back and think it was pretty cool. More than anything, I’m hopeful LaMonte can go and play well.”
The Giants haven’t experienced injury woes like the Dodgers, but they’ll enter the weekend series — their latest major test in a season in which they’re exceeding expectations – without two key players, third baseman Matt Chapman (right hand inflammation) and catcher Patrick Bailey (neck strain). Casey Schmitt is the interim third baseman, and Knizner and Logan Porter are sharing catching duties.
The series is on despite the nearby unrest following raids by Immigration and Customs Enforcement that led to heated protests in L.A. communities and the deployment of 4,000 National Guard troops and 700 Marines.