Say this much about the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Whenever they absolutely needed to win this season, they did.
Did you notice how they finally beat the Colorado Rockies to clinch the NL West after the Rockies came within a game of them? (This, after failing to clinch vs. lowly Pittsburgh or San Diego.)
Or did you notice how that virtually every time the Dodgers were slumping this season and somebody came within a game or two of them, the Dodgers started winning again?
Or how about supposedly being “overmatched” by St. Louis pitchers Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, only to sweep three straight from the Cardinals in the NL Divisional Series?
Now, the Philadelphia Phillies are supposed to beat the Dodgers for the second consecutive year in the NL Championship Series … or are they?
If nothing else, the Dodgers have proven to be the most resilient team around in 2009. They are hard to bet against at this point.
Another thing tough to bet against is the possibility of a Freeway Series matching the Dodgers and Anaheim Angels in the World Series.
“You kind of catch yourself rooting for the Dodgers, and I'm sure the Dodgers are rooting for us,” Torii Hunter of the Angels told the Associated Press. “It'd be kind of awesome to have a Freeway Series.”
There would be an irony in a Freeway Series in that Angels manager Mike Scioscia was the catcher on the last Dodgers team to win a World Series in 1988. Angels coaches Mickey Hatcher and Alfredo Griffin also played for the 1988 Dodgers.
Twenty-one years later, the Dodgers look like they may once again be a team of destiny.
Whenever they absolutely needed to win this season, they did.
Did you notice how they finally beat the Colorado Rockies to clinch the NL West after the Rockies came within a game of them? (This, after failing to clinch vs. lowly Pittsburgh or San Diego.)
Or did you notice how that virtually every time the Dodgers were slumping this season and somebody came within a game or two of them, the Dodgers started winning again?
Or how about supposedly being “overmatched” by St. Louis pitchers Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, only to sweep three straight from the Cardinals in the NL Divisional Series?
Now, the Philadelphia Phillies are supposed to beat the Dodgers for the second consecutive year in the NL Championship Series … or are they?
If nothing else, the Dodgers have proven to be the most resilient team around in 2009. They are hard to bet against at this point.
Another thing tough to bet against is the possibility of a Freeway Series matching the Dodgers and Anaheim Angels in the World Series.
“You kind of catch yourself rooting for the Dodgers, and I'm sure the Dodgers are rooting for us,” Torii Hunter of the Angels told the Associated Press. “It'd be kind of awesome to have a Freeway Series.”
There would be an irony in a Freeway Series in that Angels manager Mike Scioscia was the catcher on the last Dodgers team to win a World Series in 1988. Angels coaches Mickey Hatcher and Alfredo Griffin also played for the 1988 Dodgers.
Twenty-one years later, the Dodgers look like they may once again be a team of destiny.
