Wednesday, July 24, 2013

How to Raise a Baby Blue Fan

The beginning of a beautiful relationship...and a lot of brainwashing.

On Monday we posted an update from Ron Johnstone, father of young superfan Casey. This prompted SoSG reader Orlando Zepeda (above) to ask Ron for advice on how to raise a true blue baby in enemy territory. Ron's response was brilliant:

If you are willing to commit, it's pretty easy, actually.
  • Brainwash early and often -- array of blue toddler shirts, Kemp Fathead on the wall, bedtime stories about Kirk Gibson, etc.
  • When the kid resists going to sleep during the fourth inning of a weeknight game, promise to wake him/her up with good news when the Dodgers win.
  • Constructive conversations about honesty and integrity every time a Giant gets suspended or indicted for substance abuse, and if you live anywhere near Burlingame, take a field trip to the old BALCO offices and tell stories from the car about a star player allowing his childhood friend (who had young children himself) to spend a year in jail.
  • Suggest Jackie Robinson as topic for biography book reports, and show the movie "42."
  • Get the MLB package from Directv so that when baseball is on in the background during the evening, young kids hear the soft, sweet sound of Vin instead of the Krukow / Kuiper din.
  • Most important, however, is instilling enough self-confidence to withstand unending razzing from schoolmates, parents, coaches, etc. -- if your kid doesn't appreciate and enjoy their independence enough to beam with pride when a total stranger in the supermarket checkout line gives him/her crap about wearing a LA hat, there is no chance a Bay Area kid makes it past age 6 as a Dodgers fan.

If ever there were a manual for Dodger fans living in Giants territory, this is it. Of course additional suggestions are welcome in the comments!

3 comments:

Orlando Zepeda said...

While not totally related to raising children in SF but more just living in SF, I never waste an opportunity to compliment a Dodger fan that I run into/cross paths with. Just trying to offset the trash talking they, like I probably get most of the time.

Dodger fan crossing the street? polite honk of the horn and tip your cap. Walking through the market and you spot fellow brethren? High five, always thinking blue . . .

Cliff Beefpile said...

You're doing the lord's work, Zepeda.

Orlando Zepeda said...

Fatherhood happened 3 years and 4 months after this post. Step 1, his middle name in Vincent after the great Vin Scully.