Long time for a short season

It was definitely a season like no other, battling C-19 and a shortened 60-game schedule. The Los Angeles Dodgers survived the first 16-team baseball tournament played in a sort of bubble, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays in six games.

Los Angeles is now home to the Dodgers and the Lakers that won the NBA championship a few weeks ago, as the city of two world champions. Had Tampa been victorious, they would have joined the Tampa Bay Lightning winners of the NHL Stanley Cup. But I guess it wasn’t meant to be.

To be brutally honest, both Los Angeles teams are loaded with talent, so no one should be surprised that they won it all. For the Dodgers, most wondered why they didn’t sweep each opponent they played. One thing to take into consideration is, in a normal year they would have played most of the teams they faced in the playoffs, but in a shortened season that was not a feasible option. And in some years they may have even played their American League opponent. So playing someone they hadn’t faced since last year brought a few challenges.

Maybe the biggest challenge was during the National League Championship Series (NLCS). They were down three games to one, and won the next three games to earn the NL pennant. They accomplished this feat by playing seven straight games, since all of the games were played in Arlington, Texas. Some folks speculated that this was an advantage for the Dodgers because of their great talent and depth. Maybe, but if that was the case they should have also won the last two World Series.

Winning the World Series is not easy. The last time the Dodgers won it all was in 1988. I remember that series quite well. We get reminded of it every season when they bring out the video of Kirk Gibson who at the time could barely walk because of a leg injury. He was brought into the game as a pinch hitter by Manager Tommy Lasorda. His job was to try to get a hit off of Oakland Athletic closer and future hall-of-famer Dennis Eckersley. Gibson did the unthinkable by hitting a home run leading to a Dodger victory. Announcer Jack Buck exclaimed, “I can’t believe what I just saw!”

Dodger pitcher Orel Hershiser earned the CY Young award for the NL. He was selected as the NLCS MVP, and the World Series MVP. The World Series of 1988 was memorable for me, as it was one of the last years that I considered the Dodgers as my favorite team. The team changed and so did my affinity to them.

It’s funny looking back all of those years, whenever I see the replay of the Gibson home run I remember exactly where I was and how excited it was to see. With Eckersley on the mound, it was almost a sure bet the game was over. I guess I, too, couldn’t believe what I had just seen.

The 2020 version of the Dodgers most likely would have won a World Series playing a 162-game schedule. The acquisition of Mookie Betts helped to spark a loaded roster and create rallies when, at times, the team was flat. Speed kills, they say, and Betts has killer speed.

I’ve been a fan of Clayton Kershaw, and it was great to see him have a great playoff and World Series. He has been criticized in the past for having a great season, yet seemingly falter in the playoffs. I guess the other teams have scouting reports too. But he pitched well and the team scored runs that can help any pitcher succeed.

Mariner Kyle Seager has a tie to the World Champion Dodgers, as his younger brother Corey was named series MVP. Up until now, both brothers were without a World Series ring. However, Kyle has yet to play in even one playoff game. We can only hope that that will change in a year or two.

Anyway, the long weird baseball season that started in spring training, then put on hiatus, then started again in July, is over. There was some excitement along the way, and maybe teams understood that their biggest fans were their own teammates and not the cardboard cutouts in the stands.