As a Dodgers fan, I haven’t said much about the World Series while it’s going on. So on the one-year anniversary of the Dodgers winning the World Series over the Yankees, and as this year’s Series teams head back to Toronto (boo!), I’ll write a little about it.
First off, Game 2 and Game 3 – in my opinion the two most interesting games in the series – are now two of my most favorite World Series games in the nearly 50 years I’ve been watching the Fall Classic. Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s victory in Game 2 was a great one, and while not terribly unusual in the annals of World Series starting pitchers, this performance was a rarity in the last twenty years and a callback for pitchers like Hershiser, Reuss and Sutton. Very exciting.
Game 3 was even better: a replay of Game 3 of the 2018 World Series, filled with so many wonderful, exciting moments that it was hard to remember them all. I thought my work schedule would only allow me to watch Game 2 of the entire series. But Game 3 lasted so long that I came home when it was in the 10th inning and continued watching the next eight innings!
As for the other three games, these are the Dodgers I know from the regular season. Someone said, “I didn’t know the Dodgers bullpen was that bad.” Yes. That’s what I’ve been shouting about all season. I wasn’t making it up.
As for hitting, that hasn’t happened the entire Series, except at certain times. I’m sure the Blue Jays’ pitching had something to do with that, but the Dodgers should have hit Kevin Gausman more than they did, and a pitcher I didn’t know existed even a month ago shouldn’t be able to shut down a team of MVP veterans. The Dodgers hitters are in one of those tough times that I saw popping up repeatedly in 2025.
They could come back, but I won’t be too upset if the Blue Jays win Game 6 or 7. When I listed the playoff participants in order of preference at the start of the postseason, the Blue Jays were third (below the Mariners). They haven’t done much to make me dislike them, although I don’t know how some of these guys do what they do. I just don’t watch the American League much.
The most aggravating part, as usual, is social media rooting. It’s about 90 percent anti-Dodger, and while I have no problem with Blue Jays fans opposing the Dodgers, or even with fans of the Dodgers’ traditional enemies opposing them, I realize I can’t stand it when fans without a dog in the fray express their preferences over and over again. Why do I need to hear what a Mets or Mariners fan thinks about my team’s pitcher? How can I disable that? I don’t give an opinion on their favorite teams’ offseason moves.
But I know that’s just me. I used to be able to watch my team in the World Series without any remorse outside of a few family members or co-workers. I want to go back to that. The next time the Dodgers are in the postseason, I’m probably going to turn off social media.
Finally (I realize this is a lot of words without card pictures) for a fan of a World Series team, the postseason is a mental strain. I know this will make fans of the Pirates or Rockies break out little violins, but this is a real problem, a first world problem.
Supporting your World Series team now requires a one-month commitment. That’s a lot. There is a wild card series, a division series, a championship series and a World Series. This takes up all your free time and sometimes causes you to be distracted at work. For a whole month. You cram dinners, errands and obligations around the big game, and there are so many big games now.
During all my rooting days in the ’70s and ’80s, this was a two-week rush, two weeks off your schedule. It was fun, like a nice vacation in the fall, and then you went back to normal life. The postseason now turns fans of the teams that go the furthest into month-long baseball zombies where only one thing matters. That’s fun for a few weeks, but around day 20 it gets a bit tiring and things start to pick up again. I’ve been sick for a week, I should go to bed early and not stand in my living room for eight extra innings.
I can only imagine what it’s like for players. Yes, it’s thrilling and exciting and you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else, but that kind of commitment has to take its toll. And I’ll admit, after the Dodgers have reached the World Series three times in the last six years, I wouldn’t be secretly happy if I didn’t have to mark the entire month of October next year.
Listen, I’m so distracted that it’s affecting my ticket purchase. I bought a record number of doubles for a month. Three of them arrived today when I accidentally ordered 1970 Fleer World Series cards instead of the three 1971 Fleer WS cards I needed.
But soon everything will be back to normal and we’ll be whining about no baseball until March.
Anyway, here are a few current cards of current Dodgers that have recently arrived that are not dupes.
Yes, that’s it. There are still a few, but they are older Dodgers or they are not on the current postseason team.
I also tried to add a few cheap Ohtani cards to my first purchases since naming him my current favorite player, but all four were removed from my cart. Note to self: Do not leave Ohtani cards in your cart for more than 12 hours.
I’m going to buy more serious cards again soon when I’m not juggling so much.
Obviously I’m hoping for a Dodgers comeback. But I’m also looking forward to that Twins-Reds World Series next year.
#Offday #World #Series #thoughts