The Dodgers Are on the Brink
Photo from Getty Image. Additional imaging by Nick M. W.
By Nick M. W.
The best season in franchise history means a lot less if they aren’t the last team standing.
The Los Angeles Dodgers kicked ass this year. Now, they are on the brink of beginning the greatest playoff run in franchise history, or beginning the most disappointing conclusion to a storied season.
They wrapped their division by mid-September, posted a historic 111 – 51 record, tossed an MLB best team ERA of 2.80, raked a top-3 in MLB team batting average, and scored the most runs per game in the league. They were dominant this season despite losing their ace, Walker Buehler, back in June, and starting the season without (and will forever remain without) Trevor Bauer in the rotation. Remember him? It took half a season for Justin Turner to remember how to hit while Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor struggled to hover above .200 for the season. Max Muncy looked better later in the season than he did in the beginning, and Kershaw had his annual back injury during the dog days of summer. They lost out on Juan Soto to the Padres, who shot their load at the trade deadline while Tatis, Jr. shot up PEDs, and yet the Dodgers walked away with their division and home-field advantage for as far as they go in these playoffs. This is where my anxiety starts to kick in.
Because the Stakes is High
They’ve never been higher for the Dodgers. It’s a fact that any season that doesn’t end with a championship is a failure, and their can only be one champion. When you’re as dominant as the Dodgers were this season, the weight of a necessary World Series is like an elephant with its ass parked on your chest. With absolutely no clubhouse access, no team source, and no experience playing baseball beyond high school, I can only imagine that the pressure to win this season is unlike any the Dodgers have felt in these few competitive seasons. It has to be, and the national media seems to smell it in the air. All of a sudden, baseball analysts, like Harold Reynolds, don’t believe these Dodgers are built for the postseason.
Why can’t the surprise studs in our starting rotation, Tyler Anderson and Tony Gonsolin, continue to be studs? I just watched the great Max Scherzer doodoo the bed at home against the Padres. If he can be terrible, why can’t my guys be great? Stranger things have happened in the playoffs. Yes, the Braves are the defending champs, and they look to be as tough as ever. Good luck Phillies. Perhaps some familiarity will help you. And what of those old familiar foes? The Dodgers will have their hands full with a red-hot and confident San Diego Padres squad that just took a dump all over the Mets. Yes, they were 14 and 5 against the Friars this season, and they won every series against them, but it’s the regular season, and maybe that stuff doesn’t translate to the playoffs. Plus, the Dodgers might be rusty. It’s been a week since they played a real game.
Sports can be funny. The “sure things” don’t always play out that way. Just last season, as things wound down in September, the Dodgers offense was rolling. A couple of weeks later, as the Braves punched their ticket to the World Series, Dodgers fans were left shell-shocked by the absolute failure of the offense to show up throughout that precarious postseason run. I know that all that glitters isn’t gold, and although the Dodgers actually showed a lot of grit this season, the playoffs can get whacky. The Padres and their fans want nothing more than to destroy the Dodgers, utterly and completely. They want blood. Is this their year to punk the Blue Crew?
Nah. Dodgers in 4.
