The Los Angeles Dodgers professional baseball team finally clinched the National League West title this past Saturday. It was truly a bittersweet moment. Sweet in the sense that, well, we finally clinched. We’re officially the winners of the NL West division with an impressive stat line of 95 wins to 67 losses, a feat we haven’t achieved in 24 years. Bitter in the sense that the only way we could’ve brought it closer to the wire was losing on Saturday and getting that last win on Sunday afternoon, the last game of the regular season.
The Dodgers just avoided an implosion of epic proportions. I hate to use that word “epic”, a remnant of the geek chic culture that we live in but no other phrase seems more suitable It’s not looking good for the boys in the blue and I’m a fan that bleeds Dodger blue. I should be happy for my team and all that they’ve accomplished but I’ll have to remain a skeptic because the team we’re facing the first round is no second-rate team — the fearsome St. Louis Cardinals helmed by Sir Albert Pujols, the best player in baseball.
The Dodgers had lost the five previous games before they were finally able to pull it together and squeeze out a much-delayed win. All the sport pundits and writers thought the Dodgers were going to cruise through the last stretch of the season. We were finishing the year off with a bunch of scrub teams: the Washington Nationals (the worst team in baseball) and the San Diego Padres (the worst team in our division). Cakewalk, right? Despite how things might look on paper, the team that shows the most desire to win usually ends up winning and to the frustration of Dodgers fans all over Southern California, the boys in blue have been looking listless and overmatched for the final leg of the season. The adage “finish strong” doesn’t seem to be a part of the culture of the Dodgers.
You’d think they’d want to gain momentum as they head into playoffs. You’d think they’d try to show the rest of Major League baseball that they aren’t flukes. The Dodgers started the season with a bang, quickly tallying the best record in all of baseball. Maybe by being critical of them, I’m setting myself up to be pleasantly surprised if they prove to do otherwise, but from what I’ve seen in the last couple of weeks of the season, the Los Angeles Dodgers don’t deserve to go very far into the playoffs. I’d be surprised if they made it out of the first round unscathed.
Everywhere I look, I see holes. Our lineup doesn’t have enough pop with Manny Ramirez now not powered by a healthy smattering of human growth hormones. Our role players are too young and inexperienced. We have no true superstar, with the aging Manny on the decline. We’ve left too many players stranded on the bases, unable to convert important RBI opportunities. Our starting pitching is suspect; the best pitcher is an inexperienced 21 year old baby-faced southpaw named Clayton not known for his consistency. I’ve seen more than one game where our supposedly “lights out” closer has blown saves and since then, I’ve never really allowed myself to completely trust him.
I really can’t see it happening this year (sorry Angelinos!) but the playoffs are the playoffs and you can never really tell what might happen. So my beloved Dodgers, I dare you to prove me wrong!
