After wrapping up their seventh consecutive NL West crown, the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrated. It was a subdued one, but a celebration nonetheless.
It’s a sense of accomplishment, a 162-game grind while coming out on top in your respective division. It is certainly worth popping bottles and the champagne shower that only six division-winning teams get to share at some point during the regular season. Enjoy it.
However, no team understands more than division titles do not equal the highest level of success desired than the Dodgers. Historically, there are only two other teams who have won their division at least seven consecutive seasons. So, by no means is the feat something to snicker at. It’s a big deal. By now, it’s routine and comes with the yearly reminder of their World Series victory drought.
It takes 11 victories in October to bring home a ring. 11 wins, in any order, will stop the questions of “when.” The Dodgers can literally win every other game in each of the three series in the postseason, so long as they win every Game 1, and come away with their first World Series championship in 31 years. There aren’t many people who wouldn’t trade seven straight division titles for one World Series ring.
To get that ring, and as October gets closer, there seems to be a lot of questions that need to be addressed. Alex Verdugo’s injury is lingering, Max Muncy is trying to get back from a fractured bone, Rich Hill is on the bump for the first time Thursday, September 12, against the Orioles, and what in the world is going to happen with the bullpen?
I would guess these are questions Dave Roberts would like to get addressed before the calendar flips to October, but they are all minor questions compared to the biggest one. Is this the year the Dodgers finally win?
What would you prefer? Seven division titles with no guarantee of a World Series championship or one assured championship and futility in the same seven-year window?
Featured Photo: Jon SooHoo
