Quick show of hands, Dodgers fans. How many of you, if you had a friend grow up to make his MLB debut for the San Francisco Giants, would switch your fandom and swap sides in the rivalry?
Now, quick follow-up question: Is your hypothetical friend as good at baseball as James Outman? Probably not, right?
That's what made this choice so easy (probably) for so many of Outman's childhood pals. From high school in San Mateo to college in Sacramento, Outman's entire upbringing was NorCal-centric. That means, from the redwood forests to the gulf stream waters, you're going to run across a whole lot of orange-and-black where he's from.
Until now. Because Outman, who slugged yet another triple and lit up the diamond (of course) in Monday night's action, has been converting chunks of his friends to the right side of history as his Dodgers journey has continued.
Dodgers OF James Outman is forcing Giants fans to wear blue
According to Outman, even his most uncomfortable friends are wearing blue these days:
"“I think I’ve converted quite a few, to be honest. Their support is awesome. I’ve had a lot of friends, like the last time I was here, they just couldn’t bring themselves to put on some Dodgers stuff, but they were wearing blue. I’ll take it. That was cool to see.”"James Outman
Next step for Outman backers? Moving him closer to the top of the lineup, even though it's a hard sell for this particular order. After all, you want him in the cleanup spot? You want him displacing Mookie Betts in the leadoff spot? It'll work itself out. Trust the process.
That said, anyone who's able to convert wide swaths of Giants fans to bleed Dodger Blue is clearly important and deserves a promotion.