By If you had told me in April that the Los Angeles Dodgers would be in the World Series and the Houston Astros would not, I would have just laughed. The Dodgers barely clinched a playoff spot with a couple of days left in the regular season, and are now headed to the World Series after defeating the Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 Saturday.
I had minimum expectations for the team heading into the postseason. I was just looking for some fun moments, a few spectacular catches and maybe a walk off or two that would end in a first or second round exit. I mentally prepared myself for a stress-free October, but the baseball gods had other plans.
The NLCS gave me flashbacks to last year’s World Series, especially in game four’s grueling 5 hour 15 minute 13 innings. Except this time the Dodgers actually came through, unlike game five of the World Series last season, a match that pushed my anxiety to its limit and one that I have never watched since.
It was a feel good moment for Dodgers fans after the heartbreak we endured in 2017. The seventh and final game of the NLCS was a sign of new hope, peaking at the right moment. Baseball is one of those sports where the best team doesn’t always win. Just look at 1988, when the mighty Oakland Athletics fell to the underdog Dodgers. This year the Dodgers are once again the underdogs against the Boston Red Sox who lead the AL with 108 wins.
It’s been 30 years since the Dodgers last hoisted the commissioner’s trophy as a non-favorite, and this might be the season that drought will end. The talent on the Red Sox is much better, but I like the Dodgers odds of pulling off an upset. The bullpen has been phenomenal, boasting an ERA of 2.79, and if the bats can be consistent the Dodgers look solid heading into the World Series.
It’s been frustrating to watch this team all year, but they keep finding ways to win, even if it’s at the very last second. Maybe the team will be able to muster up four more wins and give Kershaw his first ring, Tommy Lasorda some newfound life and Dodgers fans some closure for last year’s screw up. With that being said, Dodgers in seven.
