The San Diego Padres have been quietly surging for the last month or so. After taking two of three from their division rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers this past weekend, whom I’ll discuss in a bit, it showed that the Padres aren’t messing around and not backing down. As of the writing of this story, both teams are tied for the NL West lead at 74-57. After having the NL West lead for the majority of the season, the Dodgers thought they would easily cruise to another division title. However, the Padres are putting the defending World Series Champions on notice. The beef between these two teams is nothing new. Whenever they get a chance to play each other, you know it’s going to be heated.

In one of my previous stories before the regular season began, I chose the Padres to win the NL West title, because this team is fun to watch and the vibe at Petco Park, where they play, is always positive and energetic. Also, players like Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis, Jr., and Jackson Merrill are the pieces that bring this team together. Speaking of Machado, did you know he’s the Padres all-time home run leader? Say whatever you want about him, but he has grown on me and since gained a fan in me. The Padres have never won a World Series title, and I believe that this is the year that they will accomplish this feat. It’s going to be a difficult task to accomplish, but I have so much faith in them. You heard it here first on Vocal: The San Diego Padres will be 2025 World Series Champions.

The Los Angeles Dodgers—let’s talk about them. I’ve written several stories about them in previous stories, and I personally believe that their reign as NL West Champions will come to an end. Plus, I previously gave my two cents about Clayton Kershaw in couple of stories I’ve written. I mentioned in both of the aforementioned stories that I finally saw him for who he was: an angry, whiny, petty bigot. After seeing past clips of him on YouTube being angry and getting in his feelings over the smallest things, I came to the conclusion that he’s not a nice guy. He puts on this nice guy persona, as if he’s better than everyone. It’s all an act. Finally, he made disparaging comments about the transgender community during Pride Month in 2023, which I called him out for. He may be a World Series Champion and a Cy Young Award Winner, but at the end of the day, he’s a bigoted asshole. I don’t apologize for saying that, because having a religious belief is not a hall pass for being disrespectful or cruel towards a group of people you may not know or met personally. His comments made me not like or respect him anymore. I can no longer defend him. We’re both from the same state, Texas. I’m actually a few months older than Clayton, but we were born in different years. These are beside the point. I used to be a fan of his, because I thought he was one of the best pitchers that has ever played the game. Now, after learning everything I needed to know about him from other baseball fans, I can no longer look at him the same again. I believe he needs to retire, for the sake of himself and baseball fans. We don’t need any more distractions and petty behavior. I can’t stand him, and I hate him, mainly because of him being a bigot.

As for the Dodgers as a whole, they’re the most overrated, arrogant, selfish, greedy, selfish, entitled, and attention seeking team in the entire league. They give me main character vibes and not in a good way. Everything has to be about them, and everything has to revolve around them. I’m not exaggerating when I say those things because it’s true. The world doesn’t revolve around this team or Shohei Ohtani. Their offseason and in-season shenanigans, such as gatekeeping, pursuing, and acquiring Japanese players, having multiple players (some who weren’t deserving) voted to participate in the All-Star Game last month, and overshadowing the moments of other players and teams shows how much I heavily despise them. I blame this constant attention of them on MLB and the managers of their social media pages. I’m not jealous or bitter, for those who want to assume that. I’m just tired of this team making everything about themselves and talking over other players and teams. Sometimes, it’s best for them to not always be the main attraction of the league 24/7. Let other teams and players have their moment. It’s not always about you and if the things that I’ve been saying are harsh, that’s because they are and I won’t apologize for being brutally honest. The Dodgers need a reality check and realize that not everyone will like them. Plus, they will have to accept any criticisms that are brought against them. For example, if you stupidly spent over a billion dollars on several teams, then you are not exempt from criticism.

Final prediction: Padres will win the World Series in six games