The LA Dodgers as a whole were a pretty subdued group, save the rookies and AJ Pollock, as they celebrated their 7th consecutive NL West Championship. AJ Pollock could only watch the last six. He was part of this one. The rest of the team was subdued because they have been here before… several times and they know that winning the NL West is just another step in their quest for a Championship.
Never underestimate what 25 human beings can accomplish when they are hungry, have been denied in the past and are truly a Band of Brothers who are all singing out of the same hymnbook. It’s just September 11th and the Dodgers now have 94 wins, 4 more than Atlanta and 1 les than NY and Houston.
Last year, the Dodgers won 92 games. With 16 games left in the season, the Dodgers will win at least 102 games…. if they play .500 ball. I think it will be more like 104 or 105 games, but that’s not important. They know what is important. The next step is the NLDS and the step after that is the NLCS. None of this matters, if they don’t execute those next steps. It’s not going to be easy. The Braves, Nationals, and D-Bags are all tired of seeing the Dodgers win and they will be after them with a vengeance!
Say what you will about Dave Roberts: he is the “glue” that brought this tem together and holds it together. Bill Plaschke can write some really good or really dumb stuff, but today he was very good in The LA Times:
The last time the Dodgers failed to win a National League West championship, the opening-day owner was Frank McCourt.
The last time the Dodgers didn’t paint a clubhouse with champagne in September, the opening-day infield was James Loney, Mark Ellis, Dee Gordon and Juan Uribe.
The last time the Dodgers finished in second place, the opening-day winning pitcher was Josh Lindblom and the save was recorded by Javy Guerra.
The Dodgers have upgraded ownership and players. This team is so much better it’s not even in the same Zip Code. As he said: WOW. JUST WOW! He went on to say:
Dave Roberts, who took over the Dodgers in 2016, becomes the first manager to lead his team to division titles in his first four seasons as a big league manager.
Andrew Friedman, the baseball boss who built upon the strong foundation laid by Ned Colletti, is a neat five for five in division championships since coming to Los Angeles from the Tampa Bay Rays.
Plaschke demonstrated why this team is unique when he wrote this:
Before Tuesday, my favorite Dodgers moment this season was the June weekend featuring consecutive walk-off home runs by rookies Beaty, Verdugo and Smith.
But then Roberts topped that Tuesday night in the Baltimore visiting clubhouse when he asked his champagne-bottle-clutching team to delay the postgame celebration until somebody could face-time injured Verdugo and Max Muncy. Only when they appeared on raised smartphones was the champagne popped, at which point it was sprayed all over their video faces.
“No man left behind,” Roberts screamed, and that is how you win seven titles in a row.
Dave Roberts is the heart and soul and also the glue that binds this Band of Brothers together. They are all-in and ready for their October Reign. We are in for some kinda’ ride!
Photo Credit: (Jon SooHoo/Los Angeles Dodgers)
Discussion (79)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I thought a good thing tonight was watching Gavin Lux sing the words to God Bless America. Cheered me up. Nice young man.
A little cranky tonight! Remember your opinion is not my reality!
We got lucky that Houston lost to Oakland, and the Yankees were rained out, though they will make that up. We are now a game behind Houston and 1.5 behind New York in the supposed battle for home field. But it’s actually 2.5 behind NYY and two behind Houston, because both of those teams would beat us on the relevant tiebreaker. So this loss tonight makes it much more difficult for us to get the World Series home field.
Tomorrow’s game is crucial, not because of home field, which we will likely lose, but because we very much need Rich Hill to be ready for the playoffs. And one hopes that the Dodgers will play their best players the rest of the way; although if we cannot get the WS home field, and we still manage to clinch the NLCS home field, we could legitimately rest players at that point.
From an interview with Dave Roberts in The Athletic: “One hour later, Roberts answered one of many questions this summer about the balance between resting and clinching. “To think you can turn it on when you get to the postseason,” he said, “that’s unrealistic.””
Myself… I don’t look at the 300 ft view.
I look at the 35,000 ft view.
The 300 ft view will make you insane.
You can throw the bullpen ERA at me all you want but it isn’t going to change the fact that most of the bullpen allows a lot of runners on base and both Garcia and Jansen are prone to allowing home runs. Oh and Ferguson has been given opportunity after opportunity and has the same results ultimately. Plus Floro is nothing but a roogy. And I still don’t trust Kelly. Not to mention if Jansen allows a runner to get on you can bet that runner will be at 2nd base in no time and will probably score.
Are the Dodgers seriously going to lose to the Orioles? Seriously?
Is Jedd Gyorko seriously being considered for a playoff roster spot? Seriously?
Home field advantage guys. Home field advantage.
Wow, this game isn’t even an hour old yet and we’re headed to bottom of 5!
Boy Belly is struggling right now. We have to get him right for the playoffs. He’s chasing outside the zone and he’s missing that middle middle pitch. He was just destroying that pitch in first few months.
DBM – Every team in our position would really like a veteran presence… Martin, AJP and hopefully Rich Hill are good examples…
Lux is not starting today after the good game he had yesterday, plus you need to play him to find out what he has at the major league level. I hope what I read isn’t true and that is Roberts is only going to start Lux against righthanders.
Jedd Gyorko is starting at 3B today. I don’t know why he is still on the team. Freese is back and looks healthy for the playoffs, so that’s not it. Is Gyorko seriously being considered for a playoff roster spot? I mean look at all the talent we have for position players that have either been with the team since opening day or who have come up from the minor leagues and contributed.
Congrats to the Dodgers on a fantastically successful regular season. It would be great to win the next 16 and maybe get the HFA. Anyway good luck to the Dodgers on the 2nd season. The PS. After 7 div champs and 2 pennants only a WS champ will be considered by fans as a success. And who can blame the fans. Been a damn long time. GO DODGERS.
When I was putting my flag out this morning, the Dodgers clinching the NLW seemed insignificant at the time… May what happened this day in 2001 never be repeated…
OK I’ll get away from the podium…
No Man left behind except Garlick
In case some might have missed it, ESPN congratulated the Dodgers as only ESPN can.
https://disq.us/url?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fmarissarose_10%2Fstatus%2F1171622488909864960%3AqXLalxPri4VUPQIXZKEx1PjnBr0&cuid=4782392
There’s nothing like playoff baseball in Dodger stadium even in the cheap seats! Can’t wait! Thx to all in the Dodger organization for making it happen once again!
There will never be a Manager like Tom Lasorda and Walter Alston. Roberts has not been able to win in World Series and doing really dumb lineups and moves. Hope this time he has learned !!!
Totally agree with your comments SoCalBum. I also enjoy the journey getting them to the WS. Do I wish they would win a championship? Yes of course. I too detest the wildcard inclusion in the playoffs. Seems a money-making decision by MLB to me. On another question, not important, really just a curiosity on my part, but is Buehler’s glove larger than most pitchers on the team or is it just my old eyes?
I’m one of those who says “get me a ring no matter what”. That’s why, as impressed as I am by a 7th straight trip to October, we need to cement this with a ring …
However, in all fairness, 7 times in a row is quite impressive, and this article from ESPN lays it out well:
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/27590714/judge-dodgers-seven-straight-titles-not-world-series-crown-chasing
I would like to applaud the efforts of Buehler who was magnificent along with Corey Seager and Gavin Lux whose home runs contributed immensely to the win. Caleb Ferguson was great too. Kudos to the whole team.
Yah, I thought the celebration was fine. Probably been a little different at home. My all-time favorite celebration was Charlie Culbertson hitting the homerun with two outs in extra innings to beat Colorado and win the NL West Title at Dodger Stadium. The tribute to Vin Scully and his words to the fans and song really made that moment special.
Then there was winning the title in Arizona and the celebration (after the stadium emptied) which concluded with the Dodgers jumping into the Arizona Holy Water and offending pretty much everybody in the state, including Senator John McCain. Loved it.
As good as this seven year run has been, just a sense, but 2020 could be even better. Sorry, I always have one foot in the present and the other in the future.
Carlos, I think they were just a little down because Puig wasn’t there with them to celebrate!
It just doesn’t get old… Whether it was sneaking into the Coliseum to save my Dad a few bucks or watching the 9th last night on my computer…
Doc is a player’s manager and with AF at the helm we have seen great success… Now we need that last step!!! Go get em Blue…
Walker B. is a stud and I’m looking forward to watching his career with the Blue…
Bet Vasquez is gutted he wasn’t traded to the Dodgers
Roberts may have his moments with bullpen management, etc. but the reason Friedman hired him was what you pointed out Mark, making the guys wait until they got Muncy and Dugo on the phone to join in. He has built a tremendous feeling of “team” and that can’t be under emphasized when talking about their success.
Contrast that with the mess that is the Pittsburgh Pirates. Two of their relievers (including Vazquez) got into a fight last night and Crick is now out for the rest of the year. Crick is a total loose cannon. He’s the one who squared off with Puig when they had their brawl with the Reds a few weeks ago.
Very interesting look at the role and relevance of minor league team in light of new player development tactics
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/do-we-even-need-minor-league-baseball/amp/
Why do the Dodgers since last year when they win the division they do not celebrate on the field anymore ? they did from 2013 to 2017 with players and staff running to the field. Now do they think they are too good to win NL West and does not deserve an on field celebration. I think one of the most exciting things in baseball is after a long season a team wins the Division. Is still a big accomplishment. Last year the same thing. I like on field celebrations. Like when Lasorda Celebrated and ran into the field. This is boring !!!!! They should do it for the fans and the kids watching and the players that have not won before.
Heartfelt congratulations to the L. A. Dodgers as they accomplished the outstanding feat of winning 7 division titles. Their season seemed hard at times and other times seemed easy but always a team effort with this goal in mind and beyond. More to come for this talented and classy group of young men and their manager, coaches and staff.
I was at Camden last night and it almost seemed a Dodger home game. A lot of Dodger fans in attendance.
In all my years of watching baseball I had never witnessed a game clinching game for the division crown. The team celebration was a bit subdued which is completely understandable.
Great year with 11 more wins needed in October. We got this!!