Despite being brought up in Los Angeles, Dodgers fans showed no love for Pete Crow-Armstrong when he came to play, leading to a sour relationship. In a recent interview, the 24-year-old said that he wasn’t backing down either.

Crow-Armstrong has been outspoken about his respect for Chicago’s fanbase. He spoke about his admiration for their genuine interest in baseball, while calling the Dodgers fans casual about the game in the same breath. His comment did not sit well with the fans in LA, and as their ongoing feud intensified, PCA blamed the Dodgers fanbase.

“If we’re going to be immature and childish about it,” PCA told the Los Angeles Times after Friday’s match. “I’d say they started it; they just gave me an opportunity to kind of run with it.”

On Friday, with a crowd of 53,733 packing Dodger Stadium, boos greeted Crow-Armstrong in each of his three at-bats. He walked once while recording 1 hit and 2 runs against the Dodgers. In the ninth, PCA hit a single off Tanner Scott that brought Dansby Swanson to the plate, setting the stage for the Cubs’ victory. PCA went on a trip around the bases as Swanson hit the two-run shot to win the match.

The saga with the Dodger fanbase goes back to February, when Crow-Armstrong spoke about his love for Chicago in an interview with Chicago Magazine. He had then made a witty remark against the Dodgers fans’ dedication to the game.

“They [Cubs’ fans] aren’t just baseball fans who go to the game like Dodgers fans to take pictures and whatever. They are paying attention. They care,” Crow-Armstrong had told the magazine in February.

Fans hadn’t forgotten his remarks. But it did not bother Crow-Armstrong, and he was not apologetic for what he had said.

“Each fan base has their own personality,” PCA expressed to Maddie Lee of the LA Times. “And I was really just comparing my own two experiences: playing for the Cubs, and people showing up and enjoying it, and there’s just an air about the place; and then here, it is what it is like. Maybe if I played here, it’d be different. But I don’t.”

PCA told the LA Times he has a love-hate relationship with the LA fans, which started during his rookie season. In that series, Crow-Armstrong halted Max Muncy’s almost-homer with a right-center field catch that helped the Cubs win. And he heard from the local fans, which he enjoyed despite everything.

“They were really quick to talk … to me when I was in center field,” PCA said. “And I appreciate that kind of stuff.”

During his interview, Crow-Armstrong also said that his perception of the Dodgers’ fandom has never changed. However, he feels the love and support the Cubs’ fandom has extended toward him. He is grateful for the patience the franchise has shown him, which eventually made him agree to a contract extension.

The Cubs showed their faith in him this spring with a 6-year, $115 million extension, and Crow-Armstrong is rewarding them with a solid start to the season, evidenced by a .343 BABIP and 32 total bases.

PCA enjoys playing at Dodger Stadium; he does not hold back from poking the fans. But he has maintained that he has no problem with the Dodgers’ players on the field.

Pete Crow-Armstrong clarifies his stance

During Friday’s match, the Dodgers’ social media also got involved in the feud between PCA and the Dodgers’ fans. After Emmett Sheehan struck him out in the first inning, the Dodgers’ social media took a dig.

“A strikeout worthy of taking pictures and whatever,” wrote the X handle, while posting a video of his out.

However, PCA responded, saying he holds nothing but respect for the franchise’s players, and he did not aim his remarks at them.

“I wanted to make sure that the people on the other side of the field who I really respect knew where I was coming from, and that it had nothing to do with the people on the field,” Crow-Armstrong told the LA Times. “I wanted to make sure that nobody took it in that way, that I was going at the Dodgers.”

Crow-Armstrong further clarified that his remarks aren’t for genuine, baseball-loving Dodgers fans. He took a dig at those whom he thought took the sport casually.

“What I wish people could see through is, I’m not getting at die-hard Dodger fans. They obviously exist; they’re out there. I grew up seeing those people, too, but it’s a see-me city, man,” PCA reportedly stated. “It’s a Lakers city where people show up to sit courtside and look good. And I view it the same way here.”

Regardless, he expressed his gratitude to Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, and Mookie Betts for enriching baseball in the city where he grew up.