<P> The Dodgers--Giants rivalry is a rivalry between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants baseball teams of Major League Baseball (MLB). It is regarded as one of the most competitive and longest - standing rivalries in American baseball, with some observers considering it the greatest sports rivalry of all time . </P> <P> The rivalry between the Dodgers and Giants began in the late 19th century when both clubs were based in the New York City area . The Dodgers played in Brooklyn (then a separate city, before being incorporated as a borough of Greater New York in 1898) and the Giants played at the Polo Grounds in Manhattan . </P> <P> After the 1957 season, Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley decided to move the team to Los Angeles for financial and other reasons . Along the way, he managed to convince Giants owner Horace Stoneham (who was considering moving his team to Minnesota) to preserve the rivalry by bringing his team to California as well . New York baseball fans were stunned and heartbroken by the move . Given that the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco have long been competitors in the economic, cultural, and political arenas, the teams' new homes in California were fertile ground for the rivalry's transplantation . </P> <P> Each team's ability to endure for over a century while leaping across an entire continent, as well as the rivalry's growth from a cross-city to a cross-state engagement, have led to the rivalry being considered one of the greatest in sports history . </P>

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