important events in dodger history 2014-25

Rather than rehash the last several years with memories of these seasons pretty fresh in our minds, I decided it would be better to touch on events that shaped the franchise 0ver the last 13 years. There have been many, some happy and some sad. But all were important to fans and to the organization.

2014: After the disappointing loss in the LDS to St. Louis, Colletti had some retooling of the roster to perform. He added Juan Uribe, Jamie Wright, Dan Haren, Chone Figgins and Dan Haren as free agents. He also signed a utility infielder who had been released by the Mets, Justin Turner. The team spent most of the first couple of months in 2nd place in the division. On May 26th, Josh Beckett threw a no-hitter against the Phillies in Philadelphia. First LA no-hitter since Nomo in 96. On June 18th, Kershaw no-hit the Rockies at Dodger Stadium striking out 14. Only an error by Hanley Ramirez kept him from a perfect game. July 27th, they moved into first place where they stayed the rest of the year, winning the West by 6 games over the Giants. Adrian Gonzalez led the league with 116 RBIs; Gordon led in triples 12 and stolen bases. Kershaw was 21-3 and led the league in wins, ERA 1.77 and won both the Cy Young and MVP awards in the NL. Turner in part-time action hit .340 to lead the team. Unfortunately, those performances did not lead to a win in the LCS as St. Louis won in 4 games. Greinke, in his second year with the team took home a gold glove. The draft brought Verdugo, Holmes, Stewart, Oaks and Ferguson to the organization. Colletti's three in season trades netted Darwin Barney, Roberto Hernandez and Kevin Correa.

2015: The biggest off-season news began with the hiring of Andrew Freidman in November to be President of Baseball Operations. He then hired Farhan Zaidi from Oakland to be the new GM. AF as I will refer to him, wasted little time putting his stamp on the team. The new farm director was Gabe Kapler, and Billy Casparino was hired to replace Logan White as the scouting director. his first trade sent Jose Dominguez and a minor leaguer to the Rays for Joel Peralta and Adam Liberatore. On Dec 11th, he traded Dee Gordon, Haren, Rojas and cash to Miami for Kike, Barnes, Chris Hatcher and Andrew Heaney. He immediately traded Heaney to the Angels for Howie Kendrick. On the 18th, he shipped Matt Kemp and Tim Federowitz to the Padres for Yasmani Grandal, Joe Wieland and Zack Elfin. The next day he traded Elfin and a minor leaguer to the Phillies for Jimmy Rollins. AF made several free agent signings involving pitchers. McCarthy for 4 years was the biggest and longest contract. The team would win the West again, this time by 8 games over the Giants. Once again, they lost in the LCS, this time to the Mets 3-2. They handed Turner the starting 3rd base job and he responded with a .294/16/60 campaign. Gonzalez led the team with 28 homers and 90 driven in. Rookie Joc Pederson clubbed 26. Greinke went 19-3 and won the ERA title with a 1.66. Kershaw led the league in Ks with 301. Both got Cy Young votes. A trade in May with Atlanta brought Callaspo, Stults and Ian Thomas. His lone major trade at the deadline was a 3-team trade with Atlanta and Miami sending Hector Olivera, and Paco Rodriguez to the Braves and three minor leaguers to Miami. In return LA received Mat Latos, Bronson Arroyo, Mike Morse, Jim Johnson, Jose Peraza, Luis Avilan and Alex Wood. Morse was then traded to Pittsburgh. He traded 2 players to the Phillies in August for Chase Utley. In his first draft the team selected Buehler, Sborz, Calhoun, Rios, Beaty and Garlick.

2016: On January 31st, Dodger legend, Vin Scully announced he was retiring from broadcasting. His eventual replacement, Joe Davis, had already been hired in November. The other major change was at manager. Mattingly was let go and in November, they hired Dave Roberts as the new skipper. His closest competitor for the job was Gabe Kapler, the farm director. On the player front, AF allowed Greinke to sign with the D-Backs when they offered him a huge deal. Anderson came back when he accepted his QO. He resigned Utley. At the December meetings, he engineered another 3-team trade with the White Sox and Reds sending Dixon, Schebler and Peraza to the Reds for Todd Frazier who was then traded to the Sox for Micah Johnson, Trayce Thompson and Frankie Montas. The star of the 16 team was ROY winner, Corey Seager. He was second on the team in homers with 26, behind Grandal and Turner who each hit 27. He also hit .308. Maeda led the team with 16 wins. Kershaw, injured for part of the year posted 12. Jansen saved 47. One of the highlights of the year came in Scully's last LA broadcast when utility man, Charlie Culberson hit a walk off homer to win the game. They won the west by 4 over the Giants then faced the Nationals in the LDS. The won the series 3-2. They then faced the eventual World Champs, the Cubs in the LCS and were beaten in six games. Both of their wins came via a shutout. Kersh won 1-0 in game 2, and Hill tossed a 6-0 win in game 2. The draft yielded quite a haul in prospects, Lux, Will Smith, Sheffield, who would later be traded to the Rockies, White, May, Peters, Raley, Gonsolin, Cody Thomas, Kremer, and McKinstry. Trades netted Taylo, Bud Norris, Chavez, Fields; for Alvarez which will be covered in the bad trades post, Hill and Josh Reddick. Chico Ruiz for Ellis.

2017: The 2017 team would do something no Dodger team had done since 1974, win 100 or more games, 104. One thing I had begun to realize was that AF was not one to sit on past accomplishments. He was always striving to make the team better. He wasted no time; he traded Kendrick to the Phillies for two players in November. He resigned Hill, Turner, to a long-term deal, Jansen also. He traded DeLeon the Rays for Logan Forsythe in January. He resigned Utley, and then signed Brandon Morrow, who would have a huge impact on the bullpen. In April, he signed a free agent infielder to a AAA contract, Max Muncy. By the end of May, the team was 12 games over .500. They then went 41-10 in June-July, at one point winning 43 of 50 games and by the end of July they were 14 games in front in the west. Adrian Gonzalez was injured and was replaced at first by 21-year-old, Cody Bellinger. Bellinger would set a new record for homers with 39, passing Mike Piazza. He would also win the ROY, second Dodger in a row. As a team, LA hit 221 homers, with Belli 39, Puig 28, Grandal and Seager 22, Taylor and Turner 21, leading the way. Kershaw had the most wins in the league 18, and the ERA title 2.31 but finished 2nd in the Cy Young vote. Wood was 16-3, the best winning percentage in the league. Maeda 13 and Hill 12 were the other main starters. Jansen saved 41 and led the league. On August 23rd in Pittsburgh, Hill threw a no-hitter for 9 innings, but the Dodgers did not score. He lost the no-hitter and the game when Josh Harrison led of the 10th with a homer. They won the West by 11 games. They beat Arizona 3-0 in the LDS and bested the Cubs in the LCS in five games. Taylor and Turner were Co-MVPs in that series. Kike hit 3 homers, one a grand slam and drove in 7 in the clincher. Not going to recap the series. We all know what happened and all Houston got was a slap on the wrist. The draft brought Wong, Pop, Zack Reks, Amaya, Jackson, and de Gues into the organization. Trades brought Cingrani, Watson and Yu Darvish. Darvish was 4-3 in 9 games and won 2 in the first two playoffs. But he lost 2 games in the Series and would leave as a free agent. He also brought in Curtis Granderson in August. Note on Brandon Morrow. He pitched in 45 games for LA with a 6-0 record and a 2.06 ERA he also had 2 saves. More impressive was he did not allow a single homer in 43.2 Innings. He would pitch in all 7 games in the World Series. He allowed 2 homers and 5 earned runs.

2018: 2018 left a bad taste in everyone's mouth, players and fans alike were pretty upset. Gomes took over as farm director as Kapler left to manage the Giants. AF did not have time to be upset; he had the roster to attend to. Darvish and Morrow left via free agency. Andre Ethier, who had been battling injuries for a few years became a free agent and would retire. On Dec 16th, he made what in effect was a salary dump trade with the Braves. Culberson, Gonzalez, McCarth and Kazmir were traded for Matt Kemp. Kemp was not expected to make the team. On January 4th, he traded Avilan and cash to the White Sox for Jake Peters, he sent Eric Mejia and Trevor Oaks to the Royals for Scott Alexander. By the end of June, they were 4 games under .500 and in 3rd place, 4 games back. From June to the end of the season, they went 66-41. They tied the Rockies for first place in the West and in game 163 they beat them 5-2 behind Walker Buehler. It was Buehler's first season and he went 8-5 with a 2.62 ERA finishing 3rd in the ROY voting. LA had six starters get 20 starts or more, Buehler, Kershaw, Hill, Wood, Maeda and Stripling. Hill led the team with 11 wins. Kersh and Wood 9, Maeda and Stripling 8. Jansen saved 38 games. Ryu recovering from shoulder surgery won 7 and posted a 1.97 ERA.

Max Muncy, the unheralded AAA free agent, was called up early in the year, played 137 games and led the team with 35 homers. Matt Kemp, not expected to make the team had a good spring and absolutely raked in the first half hitting .310 with 15 homers and 60 RBIs making the All-Star team. He hit 21 for the year and drove in 85 with a .290 BA. Turner was hurt much of the year but led with a .312 BA. Puig, Kike, Belli, Grandal and Pederson all hit 20 homers or more. They finished with 235. POSTSEASON: They beat the Braves in four games in the LDS. In the LCS they faced the Brewers. They split the first 4 games, three of them decided by 1 run. Milwaukee had a 4-0 shutout in game 3. Kershaw won game five 5-2 sending the series back to Milwaukee. The Brewers won game six, 7-2 beating Ryu. Buehler started game seven, went 4.2 innings allowing 1 run on a homer by Yelich in the first. The rest of the game was covered by the pen, and Kershaw who came in to pitch the 9th. No runs scored after Yelich's homer. LA scored 2 in the 2nd on Bellinger's homer. 3 more in the 6th on Puig's 3-run shot. Bellinger was named the MVP. The faced Mookie Betts's Red Sox in the World Series and were totally overmatched. They would lose in five games, their only win and 18 inning game won on a Max Muncy homer. Neither team hit that well. LA hit just .180, and the Sox .220. Steve Pearce was named the series MVP. AF tweaked the roster quite a bit during the season. Corey Seager went down early to an injury and played in just 26 games. Chris Taylor spent a lot of time there as his replacement. In July, he traded a couple of minor leaguers for Zach Neal and Dylan Floro. On July 18th, he traded five players to the Orioles for Manny Machado. He then traded Forsythe, Raley and Smeltzer to the Twins for Brian Dozier. He made two trades on August 31st that worked pretty well, getting David Freese from Pirates for a minor leaguer, he then got Ryan Madson from the Nationals. Freese would be very valuable off of the bench, and Madson pitched well in the LCS. Machado played ok, but nowhere near the level he did in Baltimore. He also garnered unneeded attention by intentionally spiking the Brewers first baseman in the LCS. Fittingly, he struck out to end the World Series. He had just 4 hits in the series, all singles. In the draft they got Michael Grove, Rooney, Outman, Feduccia, and Avans. On May 18th in Mexico City, Buehler, Cingrani, Yimi Garcia and Liberatore pitched a combined no-hitter against the Padres. It is so far, the last one by Dodger pitching.

2019: The 2019 team was a beast. The broke the franchise record for wins with 106, beating the 53 team, 105. They slugged 279 homers, by far the most ever for a Dodger team. Bellinger won the MVP with a .305/47/115 line. In his first 54 games, he had 20 homers, 52 driven in and 77 hits. He would cool off considerably. He was now playing the outfield. Pederson hit 36, Muncy 35 again. Seager hit 19 in his return to SS, Kike 17, Turner 27, AJ Pollock had 15, Taylor and Verdugo 12 each, Will Smith 15 after his callup, his first was a walk-off against the Phillies, and Freese hit 11. Seaager led the NL with 44 doubles. Ryu 14-5 2.32 ERA, best in the league, Kersh 16-5, Buehler 14-4 and Maeda 10-8 led the starters Hill was injured and missed a lot of the season. Jansen saved 33 of the teams 44 saves. LA went into first place on April 17th and remained there. On June 21st, they started a 3-games series with the Rockies in LA. They won all 3 games on walk off homers On Friday; Matt Beaty hit a 2-out 2-run homer off of Jairo Diaz for the win. On Saturday, the game was in the 11th inning when Alex Verdugo hit his 2nd homer of the game off of Jesus Tinoco for the 5-4 win.

On Sunday, Will Smith hit a 2-out 3-run PH homer off of Scott Oberg to deep center for the win. It was his second walk off of the year. They won the west by 21 games. They would lose the LDS to the Nationals in 5 games. They won games 1 and 3. After losing game 4, the teams came back to LA for the decider. LA had gone up 3-0 after two innings on homers by Muncy, a 2-run shot, and Kike off of Strasburg. That score held until the 6th when DC got 1 off of Buehler. He was in trouble when Doc pulled him with 2 outs in the 7th, Kershaw came in a struck-out Eaton to end the inning. For some reason, Roberts sent him back out to pitch the 8th. He gave up solo homers to Rendon and Soto and the game was tied. In the 10th inning, Joe Kelly went back out to pitch his 2nd inning of relief. That decision by Roberts would be second guessed all winter long. He gave up a grand slam homer to Howie Kendrick with 1 out and Jansen came in to get the last 2 outs. In the winter, prior to the season, he did another salary dump, sending Kemp, Puig, Farmer, Wood and cash to the Reds for Homer Bailey, who was almost immediately released, Jeter Downs and Josiah Gray. He traded for Russell Martin in January; he would back up the new #1 Austin Barnes until Smith was called up. Pollock was signed to a 4-year deal. Most of the in-season trades were minor. The draft netted Busch, Pepiot, Jack Little, Ward, Robertson, Gamboa, and DeLuca.

2020: In February, AF got the player he had been wanting for quite a while. He traded Verdugo, Wong and Jeter Downs to the Red Sox for Mookie Betts, David Price and cash. It was a salary dump for the Sox. The same day he traded Jair Camargo and Kenta Maeda and cash to the Twins for Luke Raley, Brusdar Graterol and future considerations. We all know, the season was delayed by the Covid outbreak. AF would sign Betts to a 12-year deal. When the draft rolled around in June, it was shortened. LA picked four players, Bobby Miller, Beeter, Knack and Stone. The season finally started in July. His only in season trade sent Stripling to the Jays for a couple of players. They would play 60 games, winning 43 of them. They only played teams from the West, in front of no fans, just cutouts.

On August 13th, Betts slugged 3 homers against the Padres in an 11-2 win. It was the sixth of his career tying him with Johnny Mize and Sammy Sosa. Betts and Pollock led the team with 16 homers each, Seager added 15, Muncy and Bellinger, 12 each. Seager led the team with 41 driven in. The team hit 118 homers in 60 games. Kershaw's 6-2 led the team. Nine pitchers had 3 wins, including Stripling before he was dealt. Jansen had 11 of the teams 15 saves. They beat the Brewers 2-0 in the Wild Card, then dispatched the Padres in 3 games in the LDS. The LDS, LCS and World Series were all played in Arlington Texas. Smith had five hits in game 3, most ever by a Dodger in the postseason.

They then moved on to play Atlanta in the LCS. They lost the first two but won game 3 with an 11-run first inning outburst capped by Muncy's grand slam. The Braves beat Kershaw 10-2 in game 4, now one win away from the Series. After falling behind 2-0 in game five, LA scored 7 unanswered runs in a 7-3 win. The were the home team for the next two games. Game 6 was a 3-1 win, they scored 3 in the first, and the Braves got nothing off of Buehler, but scored 1 in the 7th off of Trienen. Baez and Jansen were perfect the last 2 innings and the series was tied. Game 7 was a nail biter. The Braves scored single runs in the 1st and 2nd off Gonsolin and May. LA scored 2 in the 3rd off of Anderson on a single by Smith. Atlanta went up 3-2 in the 4th with their second run off of Gonsolin. It stayed that way until the 6th inning when Kike hit a PH homer off of Minter. In the 7th, Bellinger homered off of Chris Martin with what proved to be the winner. The bullpen shut Atlanta down with Urias pitching the last 3 innings for his 4th win of the playoffs. The Dodgers power made the difference in this series, they hit 16 to the Braves 9. Corey Seager was named the MVP. World Series: The would meet the Rays, AF's old team. A small number of fans were allowed to attend.

They split the first 4 games. Kersh beat Glasnow 8-3 in game 1. LA fell behind 6-2 by the sixth inning of game 2 and could not overcome the deficit. Buehler pitched 6 innings of 3-hit ball with 10 Ks and LA won game 3, 6-2. Game 4 was a win for the Rays as they scored 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th on a bloop hit and a misplayed ball by Taylor. Jansen took the loss. Game 5 was a 4-2 win for LA, Kershaw beating Glasnow for the second time and getting his 4th postseason win. Game 6 featured Blake Snell against a bullpen game for LA. Gonsolin gave up a homer to Arozarena in the first. Snell dominated LA, striking out 9 and allowing just 1 hit in 5 innings in the 6th, with 1 out, he gave up a single to Barnes. Cash came out and pulled him from the game with Betts coming to the plate after just 73 pitches. Betts doubled off of Anderson sending Barnes to 3rd. He then threw a wild pitch allowing Barnes to score, and Betts went to third. On an infield grounder to first by Seager, Betts scored on the throw home and LA led 2-1. Betts added a homer off of Fairbanks in the 8th. Urias pitched the last 2.1 innings for the save, striking out Adames to end the game, and giving LA its first title since 88.

2021: The team would win 106 games, and finish 2nd in the division to the Giants who won 107. It was the first time they had not won the West since 2013. Kike left as a free agent and signed with the Red Sox. Freidman concentrated on bullpen arms in the winter. He traded for Knebel, Vesia, and Clevinger. He signed Kahnle, and Trienen. He also signed 2020 Cy Young winner, Trevor Bauer to a 3-year deal. The team would not have a single month where they had under a .500 record. 14-12 in July was their worst. Muncy hit 36 homers and drove home 84 to lead the offense. Some of the regulars, Seager, Bellinger, Betts and Pollock, all missed games due to injuries. Belli and Seager played just 95 games each. Turner 27, Smith 25, Betts 23, Pollock 21 and Taylor, helped add power. As a team they hit 237 homers and scored 830 runs. Albert Pujols signed as a free agent after the Angels released him and was an important bench piece. LA traded for Trea Turner and Max Scherzer at the deadline. Turner hit .338 in 52 games and added 10 homers. He would win the batting title. On the mound, Urias was 20-3, Kersh 10-5, Buehler 16-Gonsolin 4-1 and Bauer 8-5. But Bauer was placed on administrative leave on July 2nd because of an investigation of sexual assault. That was the main reason they traded for Scherzer. In his 11 starts, Scherzer was 7-0. In September he pitched 7 perfect innings against the Padres and recorded his 3000th career K. He finished 8 innings allowing 1 hit and striking out 9. Jansen had 38 of the teams 56 saves. Max Muncy suffered a shoulder injury on the last day of the season and missed the playoffs. That would impact the offense a lot since Beaty was his main replacement.

Because of placing 2nd, LA was forced to play the wild card game against the Cardinals. Wainwright started against Scherzer. Scherzer pitched 4.1 innings allowing 3 hits, 3 walks, striking out 4. Wainwright went 5.1 innings, giving up 4 hits, 2 walks striking out 5 and allowing 1 run. It was a game tying homer by Justin Turner in the 4th. The bullpens took over and both teams were shut down. In the bottom of the 9th, McFarland got 2 outs and then he walked Bellinger. Alex Reyes relieved him and came in to face Taylor, who was hitting in Graterol's spot. Jansen who relieved in the 9th was slotted in the 6th slot. Taylor then hit a walk off 2-run homer to deep left, and LA was in the LDS against the Giants. The series started in SF and Webb shut LA out 4-0 in the opener. Urias beat Gausman in game 2, 9-2. The series shifted to LA and Scherzer lost a 1-0 decision on one of the windiest days in LA in years. A few of LA's hitters hit deep drives that were knocked down by the wind. Each team had just 3 hits, but Longoria hit a line drive homer in the fifth which was the decider. LA won game 4, beating DeSclafani 7-2 in a game started by Buehler who went 4.1 innings allowing just 1 run. Game five was a nail biter. LA scored in the 6th when Seager doubled in Betts. SF tied it in the bottom of the 6th on a homer off of Urias by Ruf. It stayed tied until the top of the 9th. JT was hit by a pitch. Lux then singled. Bellinger then singled up the middle off of Doval scoring Turner. Scherzer came in to pitch the 9th. With one out, Kris Bryant reached on an error by JT. Max then struck out Wade and got Flores for a K on a checked swing call that was very controversial. But LA got the win and moved on to face Atlanta in the LCS for the second straight year.

The Dodgers lost the first two games in Atlanta, both by 1 run, both by walk offs in the 9th off of the bullpen. Back in LA, they won a squeaker of their own, falling behind 5-2 after leading 2-0, they scored 4 in the bottom of the 8th, 3 on a homer by Bellinger to win the game. On a day where they had a bullpen game, Atlanta scored 5 off of Urias in his 5 innings of work, he gave up 3 homers, and then 4 off of Gonsolin in the top of the 9th for a 9-2 win. Down 3-1 for the second straight year, LA responded with an 11-2 thumping of the Braves. Almost all of the damage coming from the bats of Chris Taylor, 3 homers 6 RBIs and AJ Pollock, 2 homers 4 RBIs. Did not faze the Braves. Back at home for game 6, after LA tied the game at 1, Rosario clubbed a 3-run homer off of Buehler that was too much for LA to overcome. 4-2 was the final, Rosario was named the MVP hitting 3 homers in the series.

2022: The season would feature the most wins by any Dodger team in its long history, and the passing of an icon. Some familiar faces left, and they had a new GM, Brandon Gomes in his first year at the post. Zaidi had left to run the Giants in 2020. Jansen, Scherzer and Seager left as free agents, Seager signing a huge deal with Texas. The first free agent brought in was Andrew Heaney. He was followed by Hudson; they resigned Taylor to a 4-year deal and brought back Kershaw. Hanser Alberto was brought in as a utility player. On March 18th, AF landed his big fish, Freddie Freeman, not offered a deal by the Braves who had traded for Matt Olson, signed a 6-year contract. Just before the season started, they made 2 trades. First Matt Beaty was sent to the Padres for River Ryan, then AJ Pollock was traded to the White Sox for Craig Kimbrel, who was slated to be Jansen's replacement. They also made an under the radar signing of Tyler Anderson to a 1-year deal.

On paper, the team was a juggernaut. There were two question marks in the lineup, both players who had been injured, Muncy and Bellinger. The line up had Smith C, Freeman 1B, Lux 2B, Trea Turner SS replacing Seager, Muncy 3B, JT DH, Taylor LF, Bellinger CF and Betts RF. The starters were Anderson, Buehler, Urias, Kershaw, Gonsolin, Heaney, with Kimbrel, Phillips, Bickford, Vesia, Graterol the main arms out of the pen. Freeman led the league in runs 117, tied with Betts, doubles 47, hits 199, and OBP .407. He hit .325/21/100. Betts hit 35 homers to lead the team, and as a team they hit 212. Muncy hit .196 but slugged 21 homers battling injuries. Bellinger raised his BA 45 points to .210 after a dismal 21 when he was recovering from surgery. Except for Lux, the entire starting 9 hit double figures in homers. Trayce Thompson hit 13 in a part-time role. The pitching was pretty good posting a 2.80 ERA. Urias 17-7, Gonsolin 16-1, Anderson 15-5, Kershaw 12-3 in an injury riddled year. All four of those guys had ERAs at 2.57 or below, Urias won the ERA title with a 2.16, but Gonsolin's was .02 lower. Kimbrel saved just 22 games while posting a 6-7 mark. David Price, who came over in the Betts trade pitched in 40 games, mostly in relief. The rest of the pen saved 21 collectively. LA did not make any major trades at the deadline. They drafted Rushing and Freeland in July. So, how did a team that won 111 games, finished 22 games ahead of the 2nd place team in the West, lose the LDS to that same team in four games? Well, they simply missed a lot of scoring opportunities, and the pen was tagged with 2 of the 3 losses. Urias gave up 3 runs in his win, almost blowing a 5-0 lead. In game 2, after the offense tied the game at 3, the pen gave up 2 in the late innings for the loss. The team was 0-8 with RISP. Game 3 starter Gonsolin lasted 1.1 innings, allowing 4 hits, a walk and a run. Heaney pitched 3 innings and gave up what would be the game winning homer to Grisham in the 4th. LA scored 1 in the 5th off Snell on a Betts single but they were 0-9 with RISP. In game 4, LA was up 3-0 going into the bottom of the 7th. Kahnle and Almonte gave up 5 runs between them, and LA lost 5-3. They were 2-9 with RISP in that game. Too many missed chances.

2023: For the fifth time since Roberts took over as manager, LA won 100 games or more. That was as many as they had from 1890-1974. No Dodger team had won 100 since 74. Trea Turner left as a free agent and signed with the Phillies. JT left as a free agent and signed with Boston, joining Kike there. Bellinger was non-tendered, became a free agent and signed with the Cubs. So, they went to work, Shelby Miller was signed and Kershaw resigned. Jason Heyward was signed as a free agent in December. JD Martinez was signed to replace JT as the DH, and they signed Noah Syndergaard. They traded prospect, Jacob Amaya to the Marlins for Miguel Rojas to be a utility guy. Trevor Bauer was released after his suspension was shortened by MLB. LA ate the last year of his deal. They also added David Peralta as a fourth outfielder and bench bat. James Outman, a rookie, won the CF job and would finish 3rd in the ROY vote, he slugged 23 homers. The race in the West was close most of the year until LA got red hot in August winning 24 games. They went 16-12 in September for a 40-17 mark for the last 2 months. They won their only game in October. Freeman led the offense hitting .331/29/102 with 59 doubles, leading the league and 211 hits. He would finish 3rd in the MVP vote. Betts slashed .307/39/107 and led the league with an 8.6 WAR, he finished 2nd in the MVP vote. Muncy .212/36/105 in 135 games and JD Martinez .271/33/103 provided the power. They hit 249 homers as a team and they scored 906 runs. They would need all of them.

LA started off with a 5-man rotation consisting of Kershaw, Urias, Gonsolin, Syndergaard and rookie, Bobby Miller. No starter would make more than Kershaw's 24 starts. Grove would start 12 games. The surprise was Miller. He was 11-4 with a 3.76 ERA, Kersh won 13, Urias 11 and the Cat Man won 8. Syndergaard was a total bust and would be traded. Phillips became the closer and saved 24 games with a 2.05 ERA. Graterol posted a 1.20 ERA and had 7 saves. As a staff, they had a bloated 4.06 ERA and gave up a whopping 200 homers. As a staff, they allowed 699 runs. They won the West again, this time by 16 games. This particular season, they were forced to add some pitching because of injuries and poor performance. In June they signed Ryan Brasier after he was released, he became a trusted piece of the pen pitching in 39 games and having an ERA below 1. In July, AF began making roster adjustments. He first traded 2 minor leaguers to the Red Sox for fan favorite Kike Hernandez. A day later he traded Syndergaard and cash to Cleveland for Inf. Amed Rosario. He then traded Nick Nastrani, Trayce Thompson, and a minor leaguer to the White Sox for Joe Kelly and Lance Lynn. Thompson had had one of the best days at the plate by a Dodger all season on April 1st in the third game of a four-game series, he homered 3 times and drove in 8 in a 10-1 win over Arizona. His first was a first inning grand slam off of Madison Bumgarner. His last trade brought Ryan Yarbrough from the Royals for 2 minor leaguers.

After winning the West by a whopping 16 games, they faced Arizona in the LDS. What happened over the next five days would totally stun Dodger fans. Especially since they were 8-5 against Az in the regular season and had owned the first games starting pitcher, Merrill Kelly. Kersh started and was hammered for 6 earned runs in the first inning, getting just 1 out. LA lost 11-2. Miller started game 2 and lost a 4-2 decision to Zac Gallen. Lynn started game 3 Pfaadt and was gone by the 3rd inning after allowing 4 home runs. LA would score two off of the D-Backs pen, but it was too little too late. A team reliant on the home run, they hit just 1 in the series, JD Marinez, batted .177 and scored just 6 runs. Arizona hit 9 homers, 4 in each of games 1 and 3, and a solo shot in game 2. The Dodgers went home for the winter to lick their wounds and retool for the next season shocked at such an ignominious exit.

2024: Freidman and Gomes had a lot of work to do that winter. They needed to strengthen the starting rotation, add a closer and get some help for the bench. After a bounce-back year, they resigned Jason Heyward. Five days after he signed, LA shocked nobody by landing the biggest free agent fish in history, Shohei Ohtani signed a 10-year-700-million-dollar contract with 680 million deferred. Under the radar, he resigned Joe Kelly the same day. Hudson was brought back and four days after that, they swung a trade with the Rays brining Glasnow and Manuel Margot over for Johnny DeLuca, and Ryan Pepiot. Rays sent cash too. They immediately signed Glasnow to a five-year-extension. 11 Days later, they signed Yoshinobu Yamamoto to a 12-year-325-million-dollar deal, he was obviously one of Japan's best pitchers, and he was just 25. They sent Busch and Almonte to the Cubs for two minor leaguers with huge upsides, Jackson Ferris and Zahir Hope. The next day they signed slugging outfielder, Teoscar Hernandez to a 1-year-deal. James Paxton was signed to a 1-year contract to help round out the rotation. They brought back some of their own, Brasier, Kike, Kershaw.

Gavin Lux was slated to be the starting SS. But his defense at SS was so bad that they decided to move Mookie to SS since he had already been moved to 2nd to make room for all of the new outfielder. They started the season in Korea, playing two games against the Padres. They won the first and lost the second. Mookie started the season off hot. Through April, he hit .368 with 6 homers, 23 driven in, 10 doubles and 8 stolen bases without being caught. Mookie cooled off a little, but he was hitting .304/10/40 and had walked more than he struck out when on June 16th, he was hit by a pitch in a game against the Royals. His hand was broken and he would be out until August. Ohtani, unable to pitch because of surgery in 23 on his elbow. Free to concentrate entirely on hitting, Ohtani had a historic season, 54 homers, 59 stolen bases, the first 50-50 player in MLB history. 134 runs and 130 RBIs led the league, he also led in OBP, OPS, SLG, OPS+ and WAR. On September 19th, in Miami, He went 6-6 with 3 homers, 2 doubles and 10 RBIs, hitting his 49th, 50th, and 51st homers. LA won 20-4. He hit .310, just a few points behind the batting champ, Luis Arraez. Hernandez added 33 homers, Freeman 22 and Smith 20. Betts would finish with 19. Muncy, injured much of the year hit 15. Glasnow won 9, Paxton 8 before he was dealt at the deadline, Yamamoto 7, Miller 2, and Buehler, returning from TJ surgery 1.

On the pitching side, Gavin Stone, in just his second year, was forced into the rotation with all the injuries and he was the only pitcher who won in double figures with 11 wins. Phillips saved 18, Hudson 10 and Vesia 5. Kershaw pitched in just 7 games and was 2-2. Jack Flahery, picked up at the deadline, won 6. LA used 39 different pitchers. They had a 3.80 ERA and allowed 198 homers. Because of injuries to Muncy, Betts, and some others, they brought in guys like Cavan Biggio, Nick Ahmed, Amed Rosario, for the 2nd time, and because Outman had flopped in his second year, and they wanted a LH option for rookie Andy Pages in center, Kevin Keimaier. They made a 3-team trade with the White Sox and Cardinals that brought Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech to LA. Miguel Vargas, and 2 minor leaguers was the cost. With all the injuries and substitutions, they had to make, the race for the West was tight. Despite all of that, they went into first place on April 1st after their 7th game and were never caught. Their biggest lead was 9 games in mid-June, but on September 24th, after losing to the Padres it was down to 2 with 5 games left. They won 5 in a row from that point on finishing 5 games in front.

It was only fitting that they had to play the Padres in the LDS, at least they could get some revenge for 22. LA won game 1 in LA in a game where neither starter, Cease for SD, Yamamoto for LA, were in the game for more than 3.1 innings. Yoshi gave up 5 runs in 3, and Cease 5 in 3.1, the big blow against him a 3-run shot by Ohtani. SD flattened LA 10-2 in game 2 beating Flaherty. Padres won game 3 in SD, 6-5 by scoring 6 runs in the 2nd inning off of Buehler. In game 4, Roberts decided on a bullpen game. The pen responded by throwing a shutout as the offense woke up, beat Cease again, LA won 8-0. Game five back in LA featured Yoshi vs Yu Darvish. It was a pitcher's duel. Yamamoto and the pen would shut the Pads down on just 2 hits, and 1 walk. LA managed only 4 hits, and a walk, but 2 of the hits were homers. Kike in the 2nd and Teo in the 7th, and neither one was a cheapie. Just 4 days before the series had begun, the Dodgers announced that Fernando Valenzuela had been hospitalized and would not return to the booth. They had retired his #34 in 2023. Two days after the completion of the NLCS with the Mets, Fernando passed away at age 63. He would be honored at Dodger Stadium before the first game of the World Series.

The Mets were next and LA won game 1 at Dodgers stadium 9-0 extending the scoreless streak to an MLB record tying 33 innings. The Mets struck back in game 2 winning 7-3. LA took the first 2 in New York 8-0 and 10-2. The Mets finally slugged the ball and won game 5 12-6. Back in LA for game 6, the Dodgers jumped out to a 6-1 lead on a bullpen day by the 3rd inning and the Mets never got closer than 3 runs in a 10-5 win to take the pennant. Edman who was the series MVP, drove in 4 runs with a double and a homer. He had 11 hits in the series. Now it was time to take on the other New York team. Those games are still so very fresh in our minds. The walk-off grand slam by Freddie in game 1. His homers in four consecutive games. Teo throwing Stanton out at home by a mile. Judges error opening the door for LA to score 5 and tie the game in the deciding 5th game. Betts hustling on a grounder just like one he had made an out on earlier in the game driving in the 1st run. Freddies 2-run single, Teo doubling to drive in the tying runs. The toughness of Treinen who pitched 2.1 innings, getting out of a bases loaded jam when Graterol walked the bases loaded in the 6th. And finally, Buehler, in his last game as a Dodger, coming out of the pen as the last man standing and striking out 2 and getting a ground out to win the series. LA finally got its parade.

2025: The memory of 25 is fresh, so here are some of the highlights. 2025 MAJOR FREE AGENT SIGNINGS: Blake Snell 5-years, Michael Conforto, Roki Sasaki, Teo to a 3-year deal, Tanner Scott 4-years and they brought back Kike and Clayton. MAJOR TRADES: Lux to the Reds for Sirota. May to the Red Sox for Tibbs III and Ehrhard, two minor leaguers to the Nationals for Alex Call, Feduccia to the Rays for Gervase, Serwinski and Rortvedt, Outman to the Twins for Steward. GOODBYE OLD FRIENDS: Austin Barnes and Chris Taylor were both released in May. An under the radar trade got them Will Klein in June from the Mariners. NOTABLE PERFORMANCES IN THE POSTSEASON AND DURING THE REGULAR SEASON: Kershaw announced he was retiring at the end of the season. On Jule 3rd, Kershaw struck out 3 White Sox players to reach the 3000 mark at Dodger Stadium. LA started the season in Japan with a 2-game set against the Cubs. They won both and then won the next six games to set a record for the most consecutive wins by a Championship team to start the next season. That 8th win was won on a walk-off homer by Ohtani. Pages won the CF job and would hit .325 at Dodger Stadium in 25 with 19 of his 27 homers being hit there. Ohtani set a new season record with 55 homers and won his 2nd MVP as a Dodger.

Major Moves: Signed Snell to a five-year deal. Conforto 1 year, Treinen 1 year, Teo 3-years, Kim from Korea 3-years with 2 option years, Sasaki from Japan, contract length not mentioned, Scott, 4-years. Major Trades: Lux for Sirota, May to Bosox for Erhard and Tibbs III, two minor leaguers to Nats for Call, Feduccia to the Rays for Serwinski, Gervase and Rortvedt, Outman to Twins for Stewart. Goodbye old friends: Chris Taylor and Austin Barnes both released in May. The Sirota deal for Lux is important because Sirota is a top prospect and could be a Dodger very soon. Tibbs and Erhard were both very good at AAA this year. Sirota advanced from High A to AAA this season. The Feduccia trade brought Rortvedt who filled in for Smith and had some important at bats down the stretch. He was nicknamed Benny Biceps. He had 7 at bats, 2 hits, an RBI and 2 sac bunts in the wild card and LDS. Stewart pitched in just 4 games but had a more important role in the 26 team.

2025 Postseason: The Dodgers went 9-1 in the first 3 rounds of the playoffs. They beat the Reds 2-0, then Philadelphia 3-1, then they swept the Brewers 4-0 after losing all 6 to them in regular season play. Snell and Yamamoto dominated the Reds in the wild card. Snell had 7 innings allowing 2 runs with 9 Ks. Yoshi pitched 6.2 allowing 2 runs with 9 Ks. In both games, the pen gave up runs in the 8th, but LA won game 1, 10-5, and game 2, 8-4. Teo and Shohei hit 2 of LA's 5 homers, and the Reds hit none. Dodger pitchers were sharp in the first two games of the LDS with the Phillies. Ohtani gave up 3 runs in the 2nd, but he and the pen shut the Phils down the rest of the way as the Dodgers scored 5 unanswered runs for the win. Big blow a 3-run shot by Teo in the 7th. Snell went 6 scoreless in game 2, allowing just 1 hit, walking 4 and striking out 9. LA scored 4 in the 7th off of Luzardo and the pen, just 2 were earned. Sheehan gave up a run in the 8th, and the Phillies tagged Treinen for 2 in the 9th before Vesia and Sasaki shut the door. LA headed home up 2-0. Yamamoto was touched up by the Phillies for 3 runs in the 4th in game 3. He left after the 4th. The Phillies then jumped all over Kershaw for 5 in the 8th, he allowed homers to Schwarber, his 2nd of the game, and Realmuto. LA scored 2 off of the Phils pen, 1 coming on an Edman homer. Game 4 was a nail biter. The Phillies scored on a double by Castellanos off Sheehan in the 7th. LA would score in the bottom of the inning when Betts drew a walk with the bases loaded. It stayed tied until LA loaded the bases with 2 outs in the 11th. Luzardo gave up 2 hits and was relieved by Kerkering with 2 outs. Kim was at 3rd, running for Edman, and Dean was at 2nd, running for Call. On a 2-2 pitch, Pages hit a ball back to Kerkering that he bobbled for an error and Kim Scored the winning run. LA advanced to the LCS.

2025 LCS: The Brewers were the Dodgers opponents. Milwaukee had beaten LA all six times they faced during the regular season. In the LCS, the Dodgers pitching made the difference along with some timely hitting. Snell was Snellzilla in game one. The lefty, who pitched in just 11 games during the season, going 4-1 with a 2.35 was brilliant. He pitched 8 innings of 1 hit baseball striking out 10. Freeman got him a 1-0 lead with a homer in the 6th, and LA scored another in the 9th before the pen took over. The Brewers scored a run off of Sasaki in the bottom of the 9th. He was replaced with 2 outs and 2 on by Treinen, who walked Contreras to load the bases again. But Treinen then struck out Turang to end the game. Yamamoto pitched a complete game in game 2 winning 5-1. He gave up just a 1st inning homer to Chourio. LA took the lead for good with 2 in the 2nd, one on a homer by Teo. They added single runs in the 6th, 7th on Muncy's homer, and 8th for the 5-1 final. Yoshi struck out 7, allowed just 3 hits and a walk. Game 3 in LA was started by Glasnow who went 5.2 innings, allowing 1 run on 3 hits with 8 Ks, The pen shut them down the rest if the game. LA scored in the first on an Ohtani triple and Betts double. The Miz came in to relieve and pitched 5 innings and was charged with 2 runs on 3 hits and a walk, he struck out 9. Edman drove in 1 with a single, the other scored off of Uribe on a throwing error. LA won 3-1 to go up 3-0. Game 4 had Ohtani against Quintana. Ohtani walked Turang to lead off the 1st but then struck out the side. In the bottom of the 1st, Ohtani then homered off of Quintana, on the one-year anniversary of him doing the exact same thing when Quintana was pitching for the Mets in 24. He became the first MLB player to homer after doing that. The Dodgers scored 2 more on singles by Edman and Teo. Ohtani homered again in the 4th off of Patrick, this one leaving the stadium over the RF pavilion roof. Estimated distance 469 feet. Looked a lot further to me! He homered again off of Megill to left center in the 7th. Treinen replaced Vesia in the 8th and gave up the Brewers only run. Ohtani pitched 6 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits, 3 walks and striking out 10. He was named the LCS MVP.

2025 World Series: What can one say about the 25 World Series? It was probably the most exciting World Series in my lifetime. It would be won by the winning team capitalizing on every mistake the other team made, and some outstanding plays by both sides. Leads would be lost, and the most unlikely hero would emerge. It also featured some outstanding pitching, and some not so good. The roster was much different than the one that started the season. Poor performance kept Conforto off of the roster for the entire post-season. Injurie and poor performance also kept Tanner Scott on the sidelines. Alex Freeland was a victim of the numbers crunch. The series started in Toronto with Snell, who was 3-0 in the playoffs on the mound. Yesavage started for the Jays. LA struck first with single runs in the 2nd and 3rd on singles by Smith and Kike. The Jays tied it in the 3rd with a 2-run homer by Varsho. Snell, despite not being a sharp as he was in Milwaukee, kept the Jays quiet until the bottom of the 6th. The roof fell in. Snell was tagged for 3 more runs, and Sheehan 3 runs, and Banda 3 runs, threw gas on the fire. Banda gave up a grand slam to Barger and a 2-run shot to Kirk. Ohtani hit a 2-run homer in the 8th for LA's last 2 runs. 11-4 was the final. Yamamoto pitched against Gausman in game 2 and threw a complete game 5-1 win. His second complete game of the playoffs. He allowed 4 hits, a run, and struck out 8 with no walks. The Dodgers scored 1 in the 1st on a Freeman double and a single by Smith. Smith and Muncy went deep on Gausman in the 7th, chasing him from the game, and they scored 2 more in the 8th, one on a wild pitch scoring Pages. Smith then drove in his 3rd run with a forceout.

The series headed to LA for the next three games. Game 3 would be a marathon with many ups and downs. Scherzer, becoming the first pitcher ever to start a World Series game for four different teams was on the mound for the Jays against Glasnow. Neither would make it out of the fifth inning. Dodgers scored first in the 2nd on a homer by Teo. They scored again in the 3rd on a homer by Shohei. The Jays scored 4 in the top of the 4th. Kirk hit a 3-run homer, and Giminez a sac-fly for a 4-2 lead. In the bottom of the 5th, LA tied the score when Scherzer left after walking a batter, left-hander Mason Fluharty took over. He gave up an RBI double to Ohtani who was then driven in by Freeman. A ball hit down the line by Bichette that caromed away from Teo, scored Guererro all the way from 1st in the top of the 7th. In the bottom of the 7th, Ohtani crushed his second homer to tie it again. He became just the 2nd player, and the first since 1906, to have 4 extra base hits in a World Series game. After that, neither team would score for the next 10 1/2 innings. There were some close calls. Sasaki got out of a jam by getting Lukes to ground out to 1st in the 8th. In the top of the 10th, France had a 2-out single. Schneider ran for him. Lukes then doubled to left but Schneider was thrown out at the plate. In the top of the 12th, Sheehan loaded the bases with 2-outs. Kershaw relieved him and on a 3-2 pitch, got the hitter to ground out to first ending the threat. It would be his last MLB appearance. In the 13th. Eric Lauer, who in 2026 would pitch in 26 for the Dodgers, loaded the bases with 2 outs by intentionally walking Ohtani and Betts. Freddie Freeman just missed ending the game with a long drive that was caught by Varsho. Lauer and Will Klein, who came in to pitch in the 15th inning, kept both teams at bay. Brenden Little came in to pitch the 17th and just walked Ohtani for his 5th walk of the game before retiring Betts, faced Freeman leading off the 9th. Freeman then hit a shot to dead center for the walk off homer. Muncy had done the same thing in game 3 of the 18 World Series with Boston. LA led the series 2-1.

Over the next 2 games, the Dodgers gave up 12 runs to the Jays, 6 in each game and they scored just 10 hits. 1 of those hits was Kike's 17th career post season homer, his 12th as a Dodger. Most of Kike's better contributions in this series would come on defense. Ohtani lost game 4, and Snell took the loss in game 5. The teams headed back to Toronto.

What took place over the next 2 games is still hard to fathom. Yoshi started game 6 for LA facing Gausman. LA stuck for 3 in the top of the 3rd. Edman doubled, a walk to Ohtani then a Smith double. Gausman loaded the bases with a walk to Freeman. Betts then drove in 2 with a single making it 3-0. LA would not score again. Gausman kept LA off the scoreboard through 6th. Yamamoto allowed a run in the third on a single by Springer. In the 9th, with Sasaki on the mound, he hit Kirk. Barger then hit a deep drive to left center that got lodged under the padding. Dean threw his hands up and that kept the pinch runner, Miles Straw from scoring. Still with no outs, Toronto was just a long fly ball away from a championship. Glasnow replaced Sasaki. He got Ernie Clement on a pop up, and then Giminez hit a liner to short left field, Kike ran in and caught it firing to Rojas at 2nd who caught the ball on a hop while falling down for a double play ending the game. Game seven would feature even more drama. With the series tied, LA started Ohtani against Scherzer. Shohei was not sharp. He did escape a bases loaded jam in the 2nd when he struck out Giminez. But in the 3rd, Springer singled, he struck out Lukes, then walked Guererro, Bichette then homered to left center, and the Jays were up 3-0. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the top of the 4th, but Varsho made a diving catch on a ball hit by Teo, Smith scored, but that was it. Wrobleski almost started a riot when he hit Giminez in the 4th, he allowed a single after that but got out of the jam. In the 6th, Betts and Muncy walked against Bassitt and Betts would score on a sac-fly by Edman making it 3-2. In the bottom of the inning, Clement singled off of Glasnow and scored on a Giminez double, it was now 4-2. A Dodger attempt to score was thwarted by Freeman grounding into a 3-6-3 double play in the 7th. In the 8th, Muncy homered to deep right off of Yesavage to make it 4-3, this prompted the Jays to bring in Hoffman for a 4-out save. In the top of the 9th, with 1 out and Ohtani on deck, Miggy Ro worked a 3-2 count and then hit a breaking ball over the left field fence tying the game at 4. I most remember the shot of Doc Roberts in the dugout putting his hands on his head in disbelief. Rojas became the first player in MLB history to hit a game tying homer in the 9th inning or later. Snell, who had entered the game in the 8th, went back to the mound for the 9th.

Now the real drama begins. Snell got Guererro to fly out on a 3-0 pitch. Bichette singled and was pinch run for by Kiner-Falefa. Barger walked and Doc brought in Yoshi, who had made 96 pitches the night before. On the second pitch, he hit Kirk loading the bases. Varsho came up and hit a slow grounder to Rojas who after losing his footing threw to Smith just in time to get Falafa. Jays asked for a challenge saying Smiths foot had come off of the plate. The replay showed he got it back down just ahead of Falefa touching the base. Clement came up with the bases loaded and slugged a pitch to deep left center. Both Kike and Pages, who had just come into the game as a defensive replacement for Edman, who still had a bum ankle, raced back. As the two converged, Pages came over the top of Kike and caught the ball with Kike going to the ground. It has since been dubbed " The Catch", they even made a bobblehead of it this year. The threat averted, the game went on. The Dodgers loaded the bases in the 10th but did not score. With a chance to still win, Yoshi put the Jays down in order in the bottom of the 10th. Shane Bieber came in to pitch for the Jays in the 11th. Rojas and Ohtani made outs bringing up Smith. He then hit a shot to deep left for the go ahead run, LA now led 5-4. Guererro hit a leadoff double in the bottom of the 11th. Kiner-Falefa hit a sac-bunt moving him to 3rd, so the Jays had a golden chance to tie or win the game. Barger then walked bringing up Kirk. On a 0-2 pitch, Kirk hit a broken bat grounder to Mookie who stepped on second and fired to Freeman for the game and series ending DP. LA had their back-to-back championships.

Yamamoto was named the MVP of the series he won 3 games. The Dodgers batted just .203 to the Jays .267. They were outscored 34-28. They did outhomer the Jays 11-8. LA gave up almost 4 runs a game, while they Jays were closer to 3. The difference came down to getting the clutch hit or making the clutch defensive play. LA did the little things that made the difference. The Dodgers now have 9 titles, behind St. Louis for the most in the NL. They still have won only one while playing the deciding game at home. Game 4 of the 1963 World Series.