As I’m writing this, it’s Monday, October 7, 6:16 p.m. I’m in my dorm room and have been for roughly 45 minutes. I had three classes today, a school newspaper meeting and I have my weekly RA meeting in 44 minutes. I have to do some homework, exercise and make sure I’m ready and have everything done for school tomorrow. And yet, there’s been only one thing on my mind all day: the Los Angeles Dodgers.
And that’s precisely what makes us sports fans certifiably crazy. My mental health in the month of October is heavily reliant upon how well a team I have no control over does in the postseason.
Games 1 and 2 were played on Saturday and Sunday in Los Angeles; the Dodgers won Game 1, the Padres blew out LA in Game 2.
I don’t have a good feeling about this series at all. The matchup for Game 3 is Walker Buehler against Michael King. Buehler simply hasn’t been the same guy after returning from Tommy John surgery. Meanwhile, King is arguably San Diego’s ace and has been the most consistent pitcher in their rotation. Game 4 doesn’t look much better either; rookie Landon Knack is the likely starter. And while he’s had good stretches, he’s been inconsistent and doesn’t have postseason experience. Let’s hope the boys can find a way to win tomorrow night; just get the series back to LA for Game 5.
Game 3 just wrapped up. I feel A LOT worse about this series. The box score won’t reflect it, but I was impressed with Walker Buehler’s performance. He did his job. He forced multiple ground balls that should have been outs, but a couple of fluky plays snowballed into the Padres putting up six runs in the third inning. Teoscar Hernandez’s grand slam in the third gave me some hope, but both offenses went dormant and didn’t put up any runs after that. The Padres win 6-5.
The Dodgers are relying on the bullpen to get it done tomorrow against Dylan Cease. The one thing that gives me confidence is the fact that the Pads are throwing Cease on short rest. We scored five on him on full rest and saw him pretty well; my worry is if one of our bullpen arms underperforms, it could throw off the whole game plan pitching wise. San Diego’s lineup is so scary and our available arms could dwindle quickly if the Pads get off to a hot start. Though our bullpen has been great thus far, relying on them for 27 outs in an elimination game is frightening.
What a win. Our bullpen has been awesome, but I never would have expected a shutout. The bullpen was encouraging, but so was the offense. Mookie Betts hit another leadoff home run; he seems to be finding his rhythm again. Will Smith went deep to break his slump, as he started the series 0-9 from the plate. And Kiké Hernandez notched two hits in the box score, showing yet again that he thrives most in October.
I’m still pretty nervous, as the Pads are throwing Yu Darvish in Game 5. The Dodgers are hitting .198 against him; he’s owned us. He shoved in Game 2 and he’s been messing around with his pitch arsenal quite a bit, keeping the Dodgers’ lineup guessing. The Dodgers are throwing Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who only went three innings and gave up five earned runs in Game 1. If Yamamoto can keep San Diego’s lineup at bay until it’s time for the bullpen and LA can put up a few against Darvish, I really like the Dodgers’ chances.
They really did it. After going down 2-1 in the series, I had serious doubts and was quite worried the Dodgers would lose in the NLDS a third straight year. But boy am I glad my doubts were proven wrong. This was an absolute masterclass by manager Dave Roberts. He pushed all the right buttons throughout the series. From perfectly executing the bullpen game to knowing to bring out Yamamoto after five scoreless in Game 5, he did everything he could to put this team in a position to win. The Dodgers shut down the Padres for 24 consecutive innings. The bullpen showed up, and Roberts brought in the right guys at the right time.
And there’s nobody I’d rather beat right now than the Padres. I despise the Friars with every fiber of my being. They’re one of the most unlikable teams I’ve come across in my days as an avid baseball fan. Manny Machado is the leader; the same guy who said, “I’m not the type of player that’s going to be ‘Johnny Hustle’,” when asked about his lackadaisical trot down the first base line, a signature move of his. Fernando Tatis Jr. is cocky and notably got suspended for using performance enhancing drugs in 2022.
And perhaps the most unlikable thing about them is the fact that they’re such cowards. Let’s go back to May of 2023, when the Padres beat Clayton Kershaw and the Dodgers and decided to throw up a graphic of Kershaw crying on the scoreboard after the game. Really? At least act like you’ve been the big dogs in the division before. I know you haven’t, but you can at least act like it.
Or how about this series? Well-respected baseball writer Ken Rosenthal wrote a piece on Manny Machado throwing a ball directed at Dave Roberts and the frustration that he’s been throughout his career when it comes to his temperament. He also criticized Tatis and Jurickson Profar for their attitudes. Typically, the reporter should be the one worried about facing the players after ridiculing them. Instead, the Padres “banned” Rosenthal from their dugout and he couldn’t do any more interviews with the team. Can’t take a little criticism? Man up and face the music; call out the reporter if he’s wrong, don’t shy away. Perhaps the most preposterous act of them all is when San Diego reliever Jeremiah Estrada stated that if he were the commissioner of baseball, he wouldn’t allow Game 5 to be played in Los Angeles due to a fan throwing a baseball in Profar’s direction in Game 2. I get it, it isn’t a good look for Dodgers fans that that happened. But to say that Game 5 shouldn’t be played in L.A. for safety purposes … Are we serious?
And Padres fans aren’t scot-free in this either. Though the Padres and Estrada will make Dodgers fans out to be the villain, they conveniently don’t mention that a Padres fan threw a beer can at Cody Bellinger in a game in April of 2022, a very similar act to what happened with Profar. Maybe commissioner Rob Manfred should have prevented the Padres from playing any more home games that season, for player safety purposes.
I couldn’t be happier about my Dodgers beating San Diego. Not only did we beat the Padres, but we beat them without Tyler Glasnow, Gavin Stone, Clayton Kershaw, Brusdar Graterol and Joe Kelly. Freddie Freeman played on a sprained ankle and had to miss chunks of games and all of Game 4. Miguel Rojas had to sit out Game 5 due to a lingering thigh injury. This team is injured, but this team has heart. We own the West. See you next year, San Diego.
Luke Mallery