This is The Curse of Ross Porter.
The post season is a crazy parallel universe in baseball. Every standard from the regular season gets shaken up and reordered. Nobodies can emerge as somebodies and can even become legends in franchise history and regular season powerhouses can wither for no discernible reason. It’s one of a million reasons why I love the sport.
I genuinely thought this was LA’s year. The prior years of media attention and preseason coronations had started to fade, they had a great roster, and seemed to have picked up that thing that can’t be purchased before the trade deadline: chemistry. The team looked like they were having fun on the field and with each other in the dugout. I am a Giants fan, but rooting for the failure of our (friendly) nemesis to the south is starting to feel like schadenfreude.
Nats fans, don’t let me take away from your joy! That was an incredible game. So fun to watch. How fun would it be to see the team win it all right after that oxygen hog of a “star,” packed up for Philly? What was I just saying about schadenfreude? The Giants started bulk ordering WS rings after Bonds retired. Just saying! :D
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As a Giants fan for more than four decades, this is pretty wonderful. For most of my life the Giants lost and the Dodgers won, and our happiness came in either beating the Dodgers or seeing them lose in big games. After our recent success, there was a brief spell of magnanimity, but we’ve reverted to normal and this loss is great.
I had the pleasure of having a short term job in LA when the Dodgers lost the World Series a couple years ago. It was interesting... For years the rivalry seemed one sided, but now Dodger fans really gloat about all there successes in the past decade, the division wins, pennants, whatever. To which we say “that’s great, you enjoying them?”
Anyway, before everyone starts thinking Giants fans are mean spirited monsters, here’s my philosophical take: People are tribal and need outlets. Not to put too fine a point on it, but perhaps sports rivalries keep us from picking up weapons and attacking our neighbors. Symbolic ritualized warfare works better than the real thing.
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Here, here!!
Regardless of who wins this year, the Giants are the team of the decade with three world series rings. Though the Dodgers have impressive seasons, they have not found the key ingredients to go all the way. Bochy and the Giants did. The Nats seem to have it this year, especially their team chemistry. Go Nats!
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Nice to see all the Giants fans in the comments section of the Times’ coverage of LA’s latest meltdown. A winning Giants season is one where the Dodgers fail to go all the way!
Since the NL wildcard game, my constant thought has been ‘What would Bruce Bochy do?!?’ And I’m certain that Boch would not have left Joe Kelly in after walking the lead off batter in the 10th! That bases-loaded situation was madness. I almost, almost feel bad for the fans. The Dodgers radio announcers called that grand slam like they were narrating the making of a bread sandwich.
Much of this Dodgers team is Farhan Zaidi’s (great!) just as Dave Roberts was Farhan’s guy (huh).
Now, it’s anybody but the Yankees....!
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It is time for major league baseball to come to terms with the monster that they have created to maximize revenue in the post season. This playoff scheme makes no sense. End the wildcard. End the 3 divisions in each league. Make 2 leagues with NO inter-league play. Have 2 divisions in each league. At the end of the season the 2 teams in each division of each league have a playoff in a best of 7 series and the winners meet in the World Series. Seven game playoffs are necessary to prevent a team that is on a hot streak from having an advantage. The beauty of baseball is its simplicity and its nuanced complexity. The END games should reflect that beauty.
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The baseball playoffs are obviously a crapshoot. Making it to the previous two World Series was impressive, but this was also a matter of chance and luck.
The Dodger's luck ran out last night, which is heartening to a Giants fan like myself.
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@Berkeley Native
ALL MLB post-season series should be best of 7. Not a large statistical change, but enough to let the cream rise. If hockey players can play 4 best of 7 series to win the Stanley Cup, baseball players should be able to play 3 best of 7 series.
But that makes the season too long, you say? If 162 games is the magic number, play more double headers to have the regular season end 10 days earlier than it does now.
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As a die-hard Nats fan, I still believe the Dodgers were indeed a better team talent-wise. Their downfall in a 5-game series is directly attributable to the lack of competition and urgency in their division in the last month of the regular season.
It's not that athletic skills erode when you're a shoo-in on Sept. 1, but rather that players and entire teams lose their edge when nothing is at stake for weeks on end.
Nats suffered repeatedly in recent years from the same malaise, with insurmountable divisional leads by Labor Day. By the time October rolled around, they were mental mush, choking like Drew Storen in 2012, etc.
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Lot of Thursday-morning quarterbacking this is.
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Showtime baseball for the Dodgers is a failure (look there's Mary Hart sitting behind home plate). Every year the hype machine uses the names of Kershaw and Koufax in Dodger lore. Baloney. Kershaw's miserable post-season record should earn him the golden 'choke collar' to go back in the doghouse. Best team won (and that's baseball).
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As well they should, the curses of Chavez Ravine and the Mexican-American homeowners displaced by eminent domain plus the curses of the ghosts of the Pacific Coast League which was poised to be the third major league still haunt the Dodgers.
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Remembering Sandy Koufax, if Clayton Kershaw happened to be Jewish. the Dodgers would be heading to St. Louis today.
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The Dodgers still lack the on field stud who leads the team as Kirk Gibson did in ‘88. They should find the guy to bring the fire.
Someone should point out to folks scapegoating Roberts or Kershaw that if the Dodger hitters had done better, Kershaw might now just be a question mark going into the NLCS. Three runs from the the NL's leader in runs, none after the second inning, their best hitter batting almost .100 points below his season average, is a Dodger squad that maybe deserves what they got.
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Dodger's loss totally avoidable. Doc's primary concern is his relationship with his players. In this case with a 3 time cy young Mvp. But after seeing 97-98 all night long, the Nats were elated, salivating to see 89 mph Kershaw fastball in the 8th. Every Dodger fan knew that was a mistake except for Doc because he is too concerned with Kershaw's feelings. That's not his job. His job is to make decisions that are best for the team divorced from emotion. Doc and Kershaw are nice guys. Nice guys...well you know.
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This really a bad article, hardly anything about the winners, The Nationals. Instead a lot of whining from the losers. I think you could have done a lot better and a show a bit more respect for the game of baseball, which is NOT about the losers.
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@Obsession That's a very interesting observation, since the article is about the Dodgers, as the headline says. Relax, at least they'll still be writing about the Nationals next week.
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So much for great pitching always dominating great hitting; Casey Stengel said it best that,
"Great pitching always beats great hitting, and vice versa."
Howie's blast in that spot was no accident; third best OPS on the roster, only 49 Ks for the season.
Right guy in the right spot.
The beautiful aspect of the game is that great pitching will almost always neutralizes advantages and exposes a club's weaknesses. I tip my cap to Strasburg, who kept his team in it, and to the grit and pluck of the Nationals, whose manager outdid the Dodgers' skipper. Last night's game proves to me why NL baseball is pure baseball, where managers must make tough decisions and live with the consequences. LGM!
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@Andrew -- Hear! Hear!
Very disappointing indeed. I now only ask that the Gnats finish what they started, and take out the Cardinals. I also pray that someone, Astros, Rays, Gnats, Cards, can stop the Yankees before they go all the way...
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@James Allen
whaaa whaaa whaaa from another Yankee hater who lives in a non-baseball playing state with 2 ex-NY football teams playing there to boot.
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@James Allen yes, because Yankee fan pain is the best pain.
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From a kid in the 1950’s, I’ve been a lifelong Dodger fan. Not mentioned in recaps of the game, was a play in the middle innings, that on first notice might seem benign, but I took as a bad omen of things to come. With the Dodgers in the lead there was a pop fly between Hernandez and Seager, that Seager dropped! That ball was for Hernandez, which he should have called for! Historically, no team knows and better plays the fundamentals than The Dodgers! That wasn’t The Dodgers I know! Wait till next year!!!
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@Counter Measures
I doubt that Seager heard, or would have heard, Hernandez coming from the opposite direction in the crowd noise. In any case, that error did not result in a score.
I doubt if any of the old time Dodger outfielders could have made those dazzling catches at the wall that Bellinger made.
I've got tickets to Game 3.
Go NATS!
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As a Giants fan, I enjoy seeing the annual Chavez Ravine meltdowns.
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The Giants still lead in not only not making the postseason at all in the past decade, but most of the 30 years prior.
@NOTATE REDMOND Not making the postseason at all in the past decade? We're in 2019, the past decade included 2012 and 2014. Those were stellar Giants World Series wins, remember?
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@NOTATE REDMOND "that's right. We would gladly trade our 3 World Series Championships in the last 9 years to win a lot of regular season games and make the playoffs." Said no baseball player ever.
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The focus on the article is on the Dodgers' loss. How about the Nats big time guys coming up huge in an impossibly tense situation? Rendon hit a pretty good pitch. Soto destroyed a hanger. And then Rendon came up big again in the 10th. 2 doubles and a homer in his last 3 ABs. That's MVP stuff, although the vote's already been taken. And Soto can't be more than a couple away from surpassing Mel Ott for all time most HRs before age 21. Big moment for a 20 yr-old and he came through with a run-scoring single for their first run and HR for the tying run. Roberts blew it, but there's no saying the outcome wouldn't have been the same regardless of who was in there. Kelly was lights out in the 9th, everything working. Understand why Roberts went with him in the 10th. Don't know why he stayed with him.
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I'd like to say one thing to LA Dodger fans "Wait 'til next year"! I think Brooklyn has got some revenge for what was done in 1956.
Max- as bill parcells said- 'you are what you're record is'
Max Muncy"We know that we’re better than what we showed"
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No Max you aren’t. This team has been a question mark since August. Kershaw relief pitching in a playoff game was insanity and what happened was predictable based on Kershaw’s playoff tendency to not pitch well while giving up HR’s.
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Funny comment I saw posted at the LA times by a Dodgers fan: "When I die, I want the Dodgers to be my pallbearers so they can let me down one last time." I'm happy the Nats won, but LA is one great ballclub and they came up about 1/16th on an inch away (that would be where the ball hit Will Smith's bat in the 9th) of advancing. It happens, LA fans. Appreciate your team, they're not the Marlins.
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@redLitYogi The team that managed to beat Cubs then the Yankees back to back yeah the Dodgers certainly aren't capable of doing that
Holiday gifts just came early for the Bay Area.
Da Bums can't win when it matters most.
What a glorious day!
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I feel sad for Clayton Kershaw, who, after disappointing outings in several post-season appearances, continues to stand on the mound and attempt to do his best time after time. Doing that is what happens to competitors and achievers—they fall down, brush themselves off, stand up, and try again.
Kershaw has been a great baseball pitcher, an exemplary person and a sports role model for years. Thanks, Clayton, for your work ethic, for overcoming injuries, and for keep trying again. I look forward to seeing you again next spring.
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@Bruce Stern he makes 30 mil a year. Im def not sad for him, I think he can get over it fine.
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@Casey I know he makes millions of dollars per year. I know the absurd $9 Dodger dogs and robber baron $7 soft drinks at Dodger Stadium contribute to a salary grossly out of proportion to what teachers and other workers deserve.
And, I can feel sad and be sympathetic about the difficulties a person experiences on baseball fields where a game is played.
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@Bruce Stern If he was a bigger man he wouldve stepped aside and said you know what, May has got better stuff, Gonsolin has got better stuff and with them we've got a better chance to win. That would've been REAL humility and guts. No one wants to say that. He is not anywhere near what he was. Nor should he have been out there. I dont thank him at all. Too many people like you are in love with his image.
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I moved to the Bay area in the 1970s and the Oakland Raiders won the super bowl. I moved to Denver in the 1980s and the Broncos won the super bowl. I moved to NY in the 1990s and the Giants won the super bowl. I moved to New England in the naughts and the Red Sox broke the curse and the Pats became the most dominant franchise in NFL history. Now I live in the DC orbit and the Nats are going to the NLDS. I predict they will win it all. Would you bet against me? (Can't really explain the Redskins though. Perhaps the gift has limits...but give it time.)
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Zarathustra, you’re worried about football? Who cares? We have The Caps. So far, at least in recent memory, our city’s Only champs. And yes, I hope the Nats pull this off. Would be very sweet indeed.
I am thrilled to see them lose, I hope that they continue to lose the same way year after year. I was 13 when Walter O'Malley took my Dodgers out of Brooklyn. He ripped my heart out and the heart out of the Borough of Brooklyn.
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@Marty Goldman I was a couple of years older than you, and was really disappointed when Walter O'Malley took the Dodgers out of Brooklyn. But, from what I've read, a lot of the blame falls on Robert Moses for not wanting to build a new stadium in Brooklyn because he didn't feel it was in the public interest to use the proposed land for a baseball stadium.
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@Marty Goldman I am totally with you and know exactly how you feel. Hope there is a curse on these LA Dodgers forever.
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@Carolyn Unfortunately Moses was right. Imagine a stadium at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic? Dodgers would have been where Mets are. Would that have been so bad?
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I have two favorite teams in all of baseball: The Giants and whoever is playing against the Dodgers. Congratulations Nats!
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@James
My sentiments exactly! I say those exact words all the time. I'm a Bay Area ex-pat and I am dee-lighted!
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@James
I'm in DC and watched the Nats at Nats Park viewing party. It was a blast! I went to the wild card game against the Brewers and games 3 & 4 Dodgers.....By the way I used to live in Seaside when my dad was stationed at Ft. Ord. Went to Del Rey Woods Elementary. Great memories of the area.
@James
...also: the Dodgers lost because of poor management. It happens and no disrespect to Dave Roberts, but it just proves Bruce Bochy's genius in managing given the nature of his three World Series teams.
As a Giants fan, I always enjoy seeing the Dodgers lose, especially in the postseason, but last night felt a bit different. Unlike the Dodgers teams with Puig and Utley, I actually like some Dodgers, like Hernandez and Dave Roberts. I respect Kershaw, who by all accounts is a genuinely good guy, and certainly one of the best pitchers of this generation. It honestly hurt a little to see him so devastated.
Much as I like Dave Roberts, though, he has to own this one. Kershaw now isn't the same Kershaw he was earlier in the decade, and he's not and never has been Madison Bumgarner, to pitch flawlessly in relief on short rest. Leaving Kelly in was a bad move compounded by a worse move in walking the bases loaded with no one out in the 10th.
All that said, I was happy to see the Nats finally get past the NLDS with my favorite non-Giant, Sean Doolittle, on the mound.
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@nwallace Another SF Giants fan here. Agree with everything you wrote--including affection for Sean Doolittle, who used to be with the Oakland A's. I liked him then, too.
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The only thing that saved Madison in 2014 was a brilliant double play made by Panic on a diving stop on a hit up the middle by Hosmer. Baseball likes to put everything on the pitcher, but many other factors determine outcomes.
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@Edward That play may have saved the game, but Affledt was on the mound for that. Bum came in for the next inning and held the line for a five-inning save, which had never been done by a starter before. Since then, managers keep throwing their starters out in postseason relief, and it often fails. That was a singular moment--I'm not sure 30-year-old Bum could do that.
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LA transplant from NY (and Yankee fandom forever) here: so sad that our wonderful Dodgers won't go any further this year. Best wishes to all the teams still playing.
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An eighty one year old Yankees fans response to the Dodger loss to the Nat’s last night.
1- 154 game season.
2- team with best record in NL plays same in AL in the World Series In September!
Last nights results are proof that ANY team can be beat in a short series.
If LA & Nat’s we’re playing in a 7 game series Kershaw would have not have been desperately force to pitch last night.
Truth is, LA should have been playing the Astros in the World Series weeks ago!
Now, because the all mighty dollar rules, the ‘boys of summer’ will now be playing baseball in late October with temperatures hovering in the low 40’s and 30’s.
That’s not baseball it’s snowball!
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@Mike
Sending the regular-season leaders straight to the Series made sense when each league was just eight teams, all playing each other the same number of times.
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@Mike One of the joys of baseball for me is that on any given night, anything can happen. A pitcher no one's ever heard of can somehow manage to pitch a perfect game. A career journeyman can hit a grand slam in extra innings to send his team to the next round. Two wild card teams can make it to the World Series and end up with the outcome hanging on Game 7. And now, with the additional wild card slot, game 162 often matters for multiple teams. It makes the stretch run interesting and exciting, unlike other sports where the outcome is usually a foregone conclusion halfway through the season. Plus hey, more baseball!
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Hey, nobody's perfect. But occasionally someone is extra imperfect.
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I'm a diehard Nationals fan. I've been a fan since the franchise arrived in DC in 2005, through the disastrous back to back 100 loss seasons of 2010 and 2011, and the first NLDS appearance in 2012. With all that being said, I expected the mighty Dodgers to prevail last night. I did NOT expect Dave Roberts's managerial malpractice in his use of Kershaw in the top of the 8th and Kelly in the top of the 10th.
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What a stunning upset, and good for them. This shows how virtually anyone can be upset in a short series. Good for Washington. They played the game very hard and very well; it payed off. In 1998, one of the Yankees greatest teams (and their most wins), they won 114 games, plus 11 in the post season. Their final record was 125 and 50. However, I'll always remember a regular season game between the Braves at the Yankees. It was the bottom of the 9th and the Yankees were very far behind. I think the score was the Braves leading by about 12 runs. With 1 or 2 outs, Bernie Williams ran as fast as he could, trying and to beat out a slow roller for a single (he didn't). Bobby Cox, the Brave's long time manager (and former Yankee player) leaned over to a rookie on the Braves, and told him: "That is why they are the champions." Even though the Yankees were 12 runs down, Cox continued: "He is running his heart out, no matter what the score is. This is what you must do to be a champion." The rookie understood.
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Glad to see the Nationals progress. We look forward to the Cardinals series.
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