Max Muncy states Giants, not Padres, are Dodgers’ only true MLB rival – NBC Sports Bay Area & California

There are very few sports rivalries more iconic than the Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Perhaps New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox, or Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers or Michigan vs. Ohio State or Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears, but the list is small.

However, there is one thing all of these rivalries have in common: Decades upon decades of history. In some cases, more than a century.

While the National League West has become one of MLB’s toughest and vitriolic divisions over the years, Dodgers slugger Max Muncy believes the Giants, not the Padres are, and forever will be, Los Angeles’ one true rival, despite San Diego squaring off against the Dodgers in numerous heated matchups and playoff series in recent years.

Max Muncy says the Giants will always be the Dodgers only rival.

“For me, your rival is just one team. You don’t have multiple teams as your rival.” pic.twitter.com/9az5E3QDmX

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) June 9, 2025

“The Padres bring everything that is in a rivalry, but you only have one rival,” Muncy said in an appearance on “Foul Territory.” “I don’t like when people say you have ‘rivals.’ I just think if you have a rival it’s your, you know, your counterpart and that’s always going to be the Giants. For the Dodgers, at least. It’s always going to be the Red Sox for the Yankees.

“People always make the argument that the Astros and Yankees had a good rivalry going and it’s like, that’s true, but you only have one rival. And so for me, like I said, the Padres bring everything that a rivalry brings. For me, your rival is just one team. You don’t have multiple teams as your rival.”

Muncy himself has a contentious history with the Giants, specifically former San Francisco pitcher Madison Bumgarner, who once told him ‘Don’t watch the ball, run’ after Muncy stood in the batter’s box and admired one of his home runs in 2019 at Oracle Park, to which Muncy responded: “If you don’t want me to watch the ball, you can go get it out of the ocean.”

The Dodgers star then wore a t-shirt referencing his quote as tensions continued to escalate, which ultimately led to multiple benches-clearing incidents between the two teams over the years.

Muncy found himself at the center of it all, and perhaps those experiences are why he feels so strongly about the Giants-Dodgers rivalry.

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