WFAN’s Evan Roberts sharply criticizes the national media’s nonstop obsession with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Edit by Liam McGuire, Comeback Media.
By Sam Neumann on

The Los Angeles Dodgers are the apple of the national media’s eye.

And rightfully so. They deserve to be as the defending World Series Champions, who also happen to have the best player on the planet penciled into the leadoff spot in their lineup each and every night. Shohei Ohtani is a global superstar. Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman are marketable in their own right.

It’s the nature of the beast, but it can also be exhausting. Just like people have Kansas City Chiefs fatigue, they also have Dodgers fatigue. And that was on full display over the weekend as the rematch of last season’s National League Championship Series was featured on Apple TV+, Fox, and ESPN.

During Sunday night’s broadcast on ESPN, David Cone made the case that Citi Field was packed to the rafters because the Dodgers were in town. Mind you, the New York Mets currently rank fifth in attendance as of the writing of this article. But that little detail didn’t matter in the moment.

It mattered to WFAN’s Evan Roberts, though.

“The national media that takes turns saying everything about the Dodgers that makes you humanly sick,” Roberts said. “We get it. They’re great. They won the World Series — yippity doo dah. Everything is about the Dodgers. The Dodgers. The Dodgers. The Dodgers. And don’t insult us by saying the only reason Citi Field was packed is because of the Dodgers. It’s crap. I can sit here and bore you with evidence that it’s not true.

“My anger at the national media that takes turns giving back massages to everybody from Shohei Ohtani to Mookie Betts to the stupid logo on the front of their chest. I hate the Dodgers. I hate them. They’re now No. 1. Congratulations, this has never happened before. You’re No. 1 on my hate list. I hate you. I can’t stand you. I want you to go down in flames. And Ohtani doesn’t even pitch, but he throws batting practice and we freak out.”

“The guy hasn’t pitched in a major league game in two years,” Roberts continued. “Stop acting like he’s a unicorn. Go pitch, and then we’ll act like he’s a unicorn. Go pitch. He hasn’t pitched in two years, and we gotta hear about it constantly. I hate them. And by hate, you know what I mean, sports hate. I sports hate them.”

Call it irrational if you want, but the sentiment isn’t exactly isolated. National praise burnout is a real thing. And with the Dodgers, we’ve officially crossed into overexposure territory.

But if they keep winning, it’s part of the deal.

MLB fans can’t have their cake and eat it too.

For years, fans have begged the league to do a better job marketing its best teams and superstars. Now, the pendulum has swung a little too far in the other direction. Fans don’t want it to be like this; they want it to be like that. Which we get. We also get Roberts’ point.

There’s a difference between coverage and saturation. The Dodgers deserve the spotlight, but there needs to be balance. And maybe that balance starts with not pretending the team that signed Juan Soto to a record deal and sits just 12 games over .500 needs the Dodgers to pack their stadium.

About Sam Neumann

Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.

View all posts by Sam Neumann