TORONTO – Four wins stand between the Dodgers and a legitimate debate about a dynasty.
Of course, a team that plays with the hopes and dreams of an entire country will have something to say about that too.
Back in the World Series for the fifth time in the last decade, the Dodgers begin their quest for a third title in the last six years – becoming the first team to win back-to-back championships since the 1998-2000 Yankees – on Friday night against the Blue Jays at Rogers Center.
“Winning and then coming back is different because the target is always on your back,” Mookie Betts said Thursday. “But it’s also fun to play like that. There’s an art to it, there’s a mentality to it, and it’s something that a lot of us Dodgers have learned to embrace. I think it’s what we enjoy.”
Spending nearly half a billion dollars to bolster their roster after beating the Yankees in the World Series last October only made the goal bigger, but the Dodgers have handled it well enough so far.
“We underperformed throughout the regular season, but we always knew that when October came around, that was all that mattered,” said Kiké Hernández, the example for taking his game to the next level in the postseason, no matter what the regular season looked like.
While the Blue Jays, with the fifth-highest payroll in the game (still over $100 million less than the Dodgers), may not exactly be David, they are up against a Goliath.
“I think the one thing we can’t do is look over there and say this is Goliath,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “That’s a beatable baseball team that has its flaws, and that has its very, very good strengths. How we expose each of them will determine who wins the series. And I’ve gained all the confidence in the world in my guys.”
The matchup pits a dominant Dodgers rotation against a ruthless Blue Jays lineup; a pitching staff that had the second-highest strikeout rate (24.8 percent) against an offense with the lowest strikeout rate (17.8); and a franchise that has a chance to establish itself as a dynasty against a dynasty that is making its first World Series appearance since 1993.
For the most part, the Dodgers insist they haven’t taken much time to think about what winning another championship this year would mean in the bigger picture. But the noise surrounding it has only gotten louder with each win, first against the Reds in the wild-card series, then against the Phillies in the NLDS and Brewers in the NLCS.
“Just to be in this place, last week you start hearing the word ‘dynasty’ and stuff like that,” Freddie Freeman said. “If that gets thrown out, it means the organization is doing very, very well. So it’s very difficult to be in this spot. But to win it and possibly win it twice in a row is pretty cool.”
Of course, the last team before the 1998-2000 Yankees to win back-to-back World Series? The Blue Jays in 1992 and 1993, before the franchise, spent the next 32 years chasing another, which led them to Friday.
“I think the lack of winning history also makes it more special,” said former Yankee and current Blue Jays infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa. “If you can deliver something they haven’t had yet, that’s why we got the response we got [winning the ALCS]. …No one really talked about it [the championship drought] because it felt like it was so impossible to do. Now that we are here, everything is back on track and I think it is great for the country.”
After the Dodgers won the NLCS, manager Dave Roberts joked that his club was four wins away from “ruining baseball” — mocking critics who claimed their massive spending was bad for the sport. But the hefty wage bill only guarantees so much.
“I’ve been asked the dynasty question about a dozen times – my answer to that is I feel really blessed to be part of a culture that other people are starting to hear about, learn about and want to be a part of,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “That to me is a dynasty in itself. The culture that we’ve created as the Dodgers, where people know that when you come in, it’s all about winning. How are you going to get better? How are you going to help the team win? What at bat are you going to sacrifice to move someone to third base? Are you going to put your body on the line to help win a game?”
“That is something that everyone in the organization supports. That has always started with me [Clayton] Kershaw.
“Money cannot buy that.”
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