When you think of ill-will between the Dodgers and Giants, John Roseboro and Juan Marichal can fuck right off.  Make room for the Modern Age’s warring duo of SF reliever Brian Wilson and Los Angeles’  3B Casey Blake, with background provided by the San Jose Mercury News’ Andrew Baggerly.


A friend sent Wilson (above) a photo of Dodgers third baseman Casey Blake mocking the crossed-arms gesture that the Giants™ All-Star closer makes when he finishes off a victory. The gesture is symbolic of Wilson™s faith and it™s also a signal to his late father.

Several veterans approached Wilson and appeared to be trying to calm him down. Strangely enough, Blake hit the tying home run off Wilson in the 12th before Randy Winn™s two-run single in the 13th put the Giants ahead again. Wilson got three quick ground outs in the bottom of the inning to finish the game.

When asked what was upsetting him, Wilson grudgingly showed the photo on his phone to myself and Henry Schulman of the SF Chronicle. (It showed Blake seated in the dugout with his arms crossed.) He didn™t want to say anything, though. We asked if Blake™s gesture was an affront to his faith. œYeah, and my dad, Wilson said.

I asked if he™d remember the next time he faced Blake. Wilson shrugged and clamped his mouth shut. From the next locker over, Jeremy Affeldt said, œBlake knows what he did.