“Bleeding Blue” is a column by Diego Ynzunza about the Los Angeles Dodgers.
It seems like just yesterday I was watching the Dodgers get bounced by the Padres from the NLDS last season. No matter how many times I’ve endured the pain of a postseason loss, nine times in the past 1o years to be exact, it never gets easier. I feel engulfed by sadness and grief. It’s hard for me to carry on with my everyday life. While the status quo eventually returns with the advent of Spring Training and a new season, the loss lingers heavily.
Postseason losses are difficult. They become especially challenging for a team like the Dodgers who, over these past 11 years have had so much regular season success, yet can’t seem to perform when it really matters, excluding the shortened 60-game season.
The Dodgers are supposed to be a dynasty. They have rolled out so much star power over the past decade that it’s not even funny. We’re talking future Hall of Famers, MVP candidates and, not to mention, All-Stars. Despite their stacked lineup, so far the narrative has been that their sole World Series win in this window was only won because of the 60-game shortened schedule, and that their exceedingly high payroll just gets them wins in the regular season and not when it really matters most.
With the conclusion of the regular season on Sunday, and the Dodgers securing 100 wins in a full season for the fourth consecutive time, you have to wonder whether this narrative is present in the minds of players in the Dodgers clubhouse. It sure is present in the minds of Dodger fans across Los Angeles, as well as MLB fandom at large.
It’s an amazing accomplishment to win the division, win 100 games and to get a bye in the first round of the playoffs. But, as Brad Pitt, portraying Billy Beane, famously said in the movie “Moneyball,” “If you lose the last game of the season, nobody gives a s***.”
So, I enter this postseason with the usual optimism, hope and excitement, but also a good amount of caution. I have every faith that, even though the Atlanta Braves are a juggernaut and the overwhelming favorites to win it all, our boys can pull through and bring home another trophy to Los Angeles. I always believe that the Dodgers will win. But, after all the postseason heartbreak this past decade, I have to start preparing myself for the reality that we may not win it all.
Don’t get me wrong, I love postseason baseball. I kind of wish I didn’t have so much stock placed in one team so I could just be a baseball fan and watch games without having the big blue monster lingering in the back of my mind. But, so goes the life of a sports fan. You ride with your team in the good and bad and never question your allegiance.
This weekend, check back in for my preview of the NLDS. We won’t find out who the Dodgers play until the conclusion of the three-game series between the Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks, so I figured I would wait until then to give a proper preview and prediction. Until then, let’s all get comfortable and turn on some great postseason matchups this week – while keeping fans of eliminated teams in our thoughts and prayers. Our boys in Dodger blue could meet that same fate very soon.
“Bleeding Blue” runs every week.