Even though the MLB playoffs have already started I'm stuck in time. I've been here before. I've watched the Dodgers get as far as the National League Championship Series. Only to once again run into the St. Louis Cardinals. Well, there is no Cardinal team this time around. The Giants are in and that also scares me. Winners of 3 of the last 5 World Series I never take them lightly. When Madison Bumgarner pitches a game he usually wins. I also can't hope for the Cubs to beat the Giants because you have to be careful what you wish for. I do know that it is a very long season at 162 games to exit the playoffs without a ring after all this time. It has been since I was 12 years old in 1988 that I have seen the Dodgers in the World Series.
Here is what I believe we will know after these playoffs. Nothing bigger than answers about Clayton Kershaw. In sports you can be as successful as anyone in the regular season but unless you do it in the playoffs you have failed in the eyes of many. A great example is Dan Marino with the Dolphins. He was the first to pass for 50 touchdowns and 5000 yards but he never won a SuperBowl. He made it there once and lost to the 49ers and Joe Montana. I'm not saying it's fair just reality. Clayton Kershaw has easily been the best regular season pitcher in at least the last five years. His era is #1 and he has won several Cy Young awards. I have his autographed jersey hanging in my closet from his 2011 Cy Young. But, Madison Bumgarner has had not as impressive regular seasons but thrives in the playoffs. He has 3 World Series rings and a World Series MVP. Just letting him and the Giants in the playoffs is a mistake in my opinion. The Dodgers can only blame themselves losing three games in a row to let the Giants into the playoffs. While Clayton has been celebrating Cy Young Awards Madison is counting championships. This is the season that will go down in history as the defining moment for Clayton Kershaw.
Now for the Nationals. The Nationals have already lost three pivotal players including Stephen Strasburg and Wilson Ramos. In sports it's the next man up mantra. Nobody feels sorry for you. They are still a formidable opponent and in the playoffs anything can happen. In 1988 they had to beat the Mets in the NLCS and then also the best team in the league the Oakland A's in the World Series. As an 11 year old for most of the season I was always hopeful but even back then I was realistic. Beating the Mets was a huge hurdle and then the A's with the bash brothers seemed impossible. Orel Hershiser had to pitch amazingly in the NLCS game 7 to beat the Mets and everyone knows how he pitched in the World Series. It took his performance and as Vin Scully described it "In a year that has been so improbable the impossible has happened". Vin Scully said it best because if you look at the Dodgers starting lineup compared to the Mets or A's you would almost start laughing.
Now, here I am only three hours from the start of game one of the NLDS series against the Washington Nationals. I'm uneasy and even maybe a little grumpy. I'm on edge wondering what this chapter will read like once it's done. Will it be another short ending or a triumph that I can go back and read about and remember fondly? Once again Clayton Kershaw is pitching game 1. Game one has not been kind to the Dodgers in the NLDS. In 2014 Kershaw was 0-2 in the NLDS with a 7.82 ERA. In last years NLDS which the Dodgers lost to the eventual National League Champion Mets Kershaw was 1-1 with a 2.63 ERA. He was outpitched in game one by a very young pitcher named Jacob deGrom. deGrom was 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in that series. Beating both Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. In life it sometimes feels like you only have one opportunity to make it. But I guarantee you it's more. Clayton Kershaw might not have stepped up the way other Hall of Fame pitchers have in their career up until now. But he has the chance to still go down in history with the names like Orel Hershiser and Sandy Koufax. Nobody will care about the previous years if he carries the Dodgers to the championship. Will it happen? I'm anxiously waiting for it to start, and I'm going to be a wreck until it's all done.
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