Bobby Evans and Michael Young Article

Told you guys that God was real.

How else to explain the sea-splitting miracle that went down at the annual Christian Business Men’s Connection dinner Saturday in Fresno?

You had Giants General Manager Bobby Evans sharing the stage with Dodgers Vice President Michael Young, swapping stories about their shared faith in Jesus, and how even the two most bitter rivals this side of the Brooklyn Bridge really can just get along.

Throw two Giants-Dodgers executives in a room like that, and we expect a caged wrestling match to break out. Instead, we get an all-holds-barred testimony service?

“You root against the uniform, not the person,” Evans said, refusing to make Young genuflect before his three royal World Series scepters. “You know there are some good people on that ballclub.”

Good people? In Dodger blue? How is that not a sign the apocalypse is upon us?

Parted seas, we can fathom. Unblinded eyes, we can comprehend. But two Giants-Dodgers executives exchanging handshakes as brothers in the faith … not even Moses pulled that off when he was jailbreaking Israel.

Some of us grew up Giants fan, you should know. Remember the earthquake-unready stands at Euless Park, when the local Giants were Li’l and Chili Davis was a catcher, and Will Clark was parking fastballs on Clark Avenue?

The 12-year-old me hated lasagna because Tommy Lasorda loved it. Foster Farms was boycotted because they made Dodger Dogs. When Brian Wilson crossed over to Chavez Ravine, we shaved and learned to jeer the beard.

Then a born-again like Evans rides into town, and you’re ready for the Southern Baptist to go fire and brimstone on Young, thump him in the head with a Bible in the King’s English, and demand repentance.

Instead, Evans confronts us with the love of Christ at the corner of faith and sports rivalry, where hate can’t really be hate, and a game is just a game.

Beat L.A.? Absolutely. On the field, not on the sidewalks of the Embarcadero.

Beat S.F.? Try, if you must, but not on the back lots of Dodger Stadium.

You should be able to take a Dodgers-rooting friend to a Giants game, and vice versa, without the visiting fan riding undercover because it’s easier to wear neutral clothes than an obnoxious fan’s beer.

My wife is a Dodgers fan. The associate pastor at my church and all his family wears Koufax throwbacks. We went to a Dodgers game in Los Angeles, and I felt safer wearing my Giants shirt under another shirt because, though I want to go to heaven, I do not intend to die just yet.

Maybe this would be a good time to dial back the brushback pitches between fan bases. The new Dodgers manager is Dave Roberts. How are we supposed to hate that guy? He retired a Giant, then overcame cancer.

When you find yourself loathing athletes and coaches on a personal level, or taking joy in their defeat, it’s time to go for a walk, or read a book, or play catch with the kids.

Take it from a guy whose very employment hinges on beating L.A. on an every-season basis. There are better ways to handle this Giants-Dodgers rivalry than with spit wads and pipe wrenches.

“It’s not so much rooting against the other team as it is rooting for your team to win,” Evans said.