Thursday, November 02, 2017

Post-World Series Game 7 Thread: Absolute Sadness

This did not go the way we thought.

Astros 5, Dodgers 1

We're used to the Dodgers' season ending poorly. This pain, in general, isn't new. What's new is the added pain of how close they got. One game away. Five runs away. One fewer batter faced by Darvish away. One missed tag-up call away. One Kenley Jansen 0-2 pitch away. One ump's thigh away. One Cody Bellinger flyout away.

So. Damn. Close.

We'll second-guess this one all winter. In the big picture, the stars of this team failed A LOT in this World Series, but they still somehow stretched it to seven games. Your unlikely heroes, your Jocs, your Culbersons, your Woods, your Kikés, picked this team up and damn near carried them over the finish line.

That's the kind of stuff I'll choose to remember. The pure joy on Joc's face as he rounded the bases. The pure joy on OUR faces as the Sons celebrated Game 4's win together. And, lost in all this, is the fact that the Dodgers MADE IT BACK TO THE WORLD SERIES. That drought is over. Like the Royals before them, the Dodgers' championship drought should be the next thing to go.

It's going to be a cold, sad winter full of coulda-shouldas, but we'll be here, doing what we do. And we'll still be here this time next year, too, with a better-than-zero chance of celebrating.

I can't wait.

Wednesday, November 01, 2017

World Series Game 7 Thread: Nov. 1st vs. Astros, 5p

Yu Darvish (2-1, 4.15) vs. Lance McCullers, Jr. (1-0, 2.95)*





There are almost no words this humble Son can conjure to capture the magnitude of this moment. (Though this Son did a pretty damn good job.) A remarkable run for the Dodgers that began with absolute madness can end with absolute jubilation tonight. The opposite is possible, sure, but now isn't the time to think about that. Now is the time to sit back, grab a drink or seven, take a deep breath, and let this beautiful, hilarious, confounding, awe-inspiring, once-in-a-lifetime team take us on one more ride.

Now and always...LET'S GO DODGERS!

*Weirdly, the Dodgers website waited until the final game of the postseason to publish postseason stats instead of regular season stats. But that's where I've gotten the numbers from for every GT, so I'm not changing anything now.

On The Edge

The old Jerry Seinfeld line about sports fanaticism is that we're all just rooting for clothes. Teams sometimes move. Players are frequently traded away. Heroes always eventually retire and fade away. Teams sign multi-billion dollar media deals to not show the games on TV. The only immutable force that binds fans together, the occasional camouflage abominations excepted, is the laundry.  Now, I'm just the derelict puzzle guy, and the world is full of think-pieces exploring every conceivable angle on what a GAME SEVEN (dramatic music) means, so I'm going to write about this weird internet island we all live on instead.
This blog, and by extension, the Dodgers, has arguably made a bigger direct impact on my life than my fellow Sons, and I'll be the first to admit that I'm a bad fan on the regular. I'm petulant when the team loses, I don't post or comment enough, and I still loathe Jason Schmidt even though it's not his fault that his rotator cuff looks like Elmer Fudd's shotgun after Bugs Bunny plugs it with his finger. Sports fandom isn't inherently virtuous, and cheering for the Dodgers isn't objectively better, with profound apologies to Tommy, than supporting any other team. Watching grown men run around on a big lawn in uniforms is a crazy thing to spend a measure of your life doing, but the reason being a fan is fun for me is because of you Sons, readers, lurkers, and other assorted maniacs talking about it.

So tonight, when sitting down to watch GAME SEVEN (dramatic music), we're going to get excited about a Dodger game one last time this year. A team will win, a team will lose, and tomorrow won't be all that different in the big picture except for the shared experience. I'll remember dumb puns and obscure references as much as any of the big plays because you're a great group of people to be completely irrational with together. Can you believe it, though? That's OUR laundry out there!

Video: The Big Lebowski, Grammercy Pictures

(c) none of the above

Screencap from

This Felt Needed

In Blue We Pray

In Blue We Trust

And F Yuri Gurriel