Following the high profile cheating scandal that has rocked Major League Baseball to its core, the Los Angeles City Council did what Los Angelinos are wont to do and asked, "but what about us and our needs?" Following a vote on Tuesday, that desire turned into an official government request. The council voted unanimously to request that MLB give the 2017 and 2018 World Series titles to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reported on Jan. 15 that the city government planned to vote this week on a resolution that would ostensibly ask Major League Baseball to vacate the World Series titles of the Astros and Red Sox.
"This is an equity and justice thing," councilman Gil Cedillo told the L.A. Times. "Who was the best team in 2017? Who was the best team in 2018? It was the Dodgers. They got beat by teams that were cheating. Do they need to be told they shouldn't have a title?"
While there is a conversation to be had about whether MLB doled out sufficient punishment for what happened -- tell me fans wouldn't trade draft picks, millions that doesn't belong to them and the jobs of the team's GM and manager for their favorite team's first-ever title -- it seems like this is not the best way to go about doing things. The Dodgers themselves seem to want this approach as, per NBC Los Angeles, even a faux celebration would only bring back the painful memories of losing back-to-back World Series at home. In fact, not even Cedillo's constituents asked for the trophies to be given to the Dodgers.
Besides, what's the end goal here? Even if MLB decided to follow through with this city's resolution, provided it even passes, is the league going to hunt down the location of every World Series ring, create new ones for the Dodgers and put an asterisk in the record books? Probably not, and even if they did, the memories of the championships will always be in the minds of each fan base that witnessed it. If anything is accomplished with this, it'll be that Cedillo's final rhetorical question gets answered. Do the Dodgers need to be told they shouldn't have a title? Apparently yes.
