The Dodgers will receive another City Connect team on June 17 and we have an idea.
The team hadn't even reported to spring training when Mookie Betts said every game against the Dodgers this season would be “The other team's World Series.” The pitcher they faced on opening day, Miles Mikolas of the St. Louis Cardinals, mocked the Dodgers for playing “Checkbook baseball.” And, after Bobby Miller shut out the Cardinals in six innings in the first start of his first full major league season, a St. Louis writer dryly said that “totally expected” The Dodgers would sign Miller to a 10-year contract the next day.
The Dodgers' multi-billion-dollar spending spree last winter has made them villains outside of Southern California. They could embrace that notoriety, with an all-black City Connect “Villains” suit.
That's not in the works, but you'd be forgiven for thinking otherwise after watching a spring training broadcast, in which the camera briefly panned to a fan wearing a “VILLAINS” hat, with the word “LA ” in the middle. interlocking letters that resemble those on the Dodgers cap.
The camera shot was picked up on social media and determined fans rushed to find out where they could get their hands on one of those caps.
The answer is a barbershop in South Gate called Villains, with this motto: “We make bad guys look good.”
“The cap came about because I'm a Dodgers fan,” said store owner Anthony Madrid, who said he opened the store in 2013. “If you live anywhere in Los Angeles or California, you're going to be a Dodgers fan.” .
Somewhere in California?
“Even in San Francisco,” he said. “You would be surprised.”
The cap is not new. Madrid said he has sold “a dozen here, a dozen there” over the years, then a couple hundred or so after that TV shoot this spring.
He said the letters LA intertwined on his cap aren't exactly the same as those on the Dodgers' cap, but they are so similar that I asked him if he'd ever heard from the Dodgers.
The Villa's Tacos logo, which resembles the Dodgers baseball logo, with “Villa's Tacos” instead of “Dodgers” and a taco instead of a baseball.
(Bill Shaikin / Los Angeles Times)
He hadn't, he said. He mentioned Villa's Tacos in Highland Park, where the logo resembles the Dodgers baseball logo, with “Villa's Tacos” instead of “Dodgers” and a taco instead of a baseball.
The other day I met Víctor Villa, the chef and owner, at the grill. He led his staff in a chant before he opened the store: “Villa's Tacos, at three!” – And he personally welcomed the customers who were already queuing.
Villa said he hadn't heard anything from the Dodgers over the years, either. He said he had just opened a second store in the historic Grand Central Market in downtown Los Angeles.
“We want to go to Dodger Stadium,” Villa said.
Please do it. Villa's has won the annual LA Taco “Taco Madness” competition twice, and Dodger Stadium desperately needs to remove two pages from the Petco Park playbook: better food and more partnerships with local restaurants so Dodger Stadium reflects the best. of Los Angeles on and off the field. Shake Shack is fine, but it's also New York.
Victor Villa is the owner of Villa's Tacos in Highland Park.
(Shelby Moore / For The Times)
On behalf of its teams, Major League Baseball hires attorneys who jealously protect trademarks. The Dodgers and the league could argue that Madrid and Villa are using team logos without permission to do so.
You can put the Dodgers logo on anything from Elmo posters and Mickey Mouse pins to wrestling belts and skull pins, as long as you negotiate a deal. However, a company that does not enforce its brands runs the risk of losing them.
The Dodgers declined to comment.
I even asked Madrid if he would prefer that I not write this column, just in case a problem arose.
“I wouldn't mind working with the Dodgers,” Madrid said. “If they wanted, I am more than open to working with them. I hope the Dodgers can look at this and say, 'Hey, this is a good idea.' Let's talk to this guy. “
He'd like to make one thing perfectly clear: He doesn't consider the Dodgers to be villains.
“Everyone has the opportunity to spend that money,” Madrid said. “They could pay the luxury tax if they wanted to. The Dodgers talk the talk and back it up. They see a ball coming in, they take a swing, and honestly, the last few years they've been hitting home runs.”
The Dodgers could pull off another one, if they could find a way to work with these two small businesses, active in their communities and eager to celebrate their hometown team, not alienate it. The Dodgers can protect their interests while embracing the owners of a local barbershop and taco shop, neither of whom are trying to be villains.
