We have a lot to unpack Toto!

During the Dodgers first 65 years in the National League, they won the pennant ten times.  They lost nine times in the WS, six to the Yankees. Their only WS victories were The Boys of Summer in 1955 who finally beat those villainous Yankees.  Yankee Don Larsen returned the title perfectly in 1956. NY City Planner Robert Moses had allowed the house that Ruth built for the Yankees to rise along the Hudson.  Walter O’Malley and the Dodgers were afforded no such consideration by Mr. Moses.  First term LA city councilwoman Roz Wyman heard of O’Malley’s and Moses' mutual disdain.  Their stern stalemate was documented in the press. She reached out with a deal that forever changed the trajectory of the Dodgers. O’Malley dragged Horace Stoneham and the NY Giants with their wagon train west.  The Willie Mays led Giants won the 1954 WS. NY lost both championship franchises because of Robert Moses' singular clout. In 1962, he allowed the Mets to build on the land O’Malley had originally desired. The move paid immediate dividends for the Los Angeles Dodgers with three WS titles in their first decade in the City of Angels. The City was eternally invested, and Yard youth was infected. The Giants had to wait fifty years for their titles but with better stadium concessions.

Tony at the Yard was launched in October of 2007. Dr. Jerry was still running the Lakers with his crazy kids. They were on the cusp of their second repeat and fifth title of the decade. Pete Carroll was pursuing championships at USC with his latest Orange County stud QB Mark Sanchez. The Karl Dorrell experience was limping towards its delusion.  Ben Howland was about to lead the Bruins to three consecutive Final Four trips sans titles.  The Rams were still in St. Louis dancing with Georgia Frontières’s minions.  The Rockies swept to the World Series only to be swept by a historic Red Sox team.  Grady Little had just resigned as Dodger manager after guiding the team to 4^th place in the NL West. The steroid era was being exposed. It was fertile ground for this cub writer. 

The Yard has never cloistered our rabid Dodger demons.  In 2007, the Dodgers were not our lead story.  The Lakers were always relevant with Kobe on the floor.  The Dodgers were a boring mix of young Matt Kemp, ordinary Russell Martin and Brad Penniless. This was the Dodger period of extreme averageness. Tommy Lasorda managed the team to finally beat the Yankees again in 1981.  Tommy conjured up the improbable impossible 1988 championship over the mighty A’s. It would be almost 30 years before the Dodgers would return to the WS. Our Dodger fanaticism was skewered with trey Giant WS titles during the bitter interlude.  We were tortured by the 2017 trashcan Astro ball.  Clayton continued his regular season mastery followed by postseason misery. Red Sox Mookie and company crushed the Dodgers 4-1 in 2018. Our affliction was suppressed with the 2020 COVID title in the Texas bubble but not exorcised.

In 2024, the Dodgers were vindicated with a second title in real time. This time we got the parade with the tee shirts!  The Yard boldly predicted that last year’s championship was the end of the beginning. Andrew Friedman had moved the pieces into place and Dave Roberts maneuvered them with precision. Padre Manny and the steroid kid pressed the Azul to the edge of the barranca. The Mustard and Brown clenched while the Dodgers clinched for two straight years. The Padres were the anointed before they were the quieted. This year they were just quiet. The Yankees' misfortunes are best told by others.  

There is a lot to unpack with these 2025 playoffs. The Dodger stumbled through the season.  The vaunted starting pitching would have but 33 victories.  Kershaw and Yoshi had 23 of those wins. Max Muncy would only play in 100 games.  Mookie Betts would have his worst season since joining LA.  The bullpen was the strength in 2024 but a liability in 2025. The pen’s ERA in September was 4.90 and 6.16 in the postseason. Relievers had 43 saves with 27 blown saves. They were ranked in the lower half of MLB all season. The expectations for the WS were aflutter.  Toronto had a better record in the more competitive AL East with comparable well-paid talent.

In the main event, the Blue Jays matched the Dodger pitching; they had more hits and runs than the Dodgers.  The Dodgers had three more homeruns. It was those last three home runs that mattered most. To snatch victory from a Toronto franchise that had never lost a WS, in Toronto before 50,000 pissed off Canadians was Yard shattering. They don’t like Trump, Ohtani or the Dodgers. After surviving the protracted 18 inning death march, the DTSS Dodger Traumatic Stress Syndrome reached DEFCON 2.  Every game was a sofa grind of anxiety snacking malaise.

 The Dodgers have played in consecutive WS three times all versus their New York nemesis. The PinStripes won two and split with Jackie Robinson’s teams. For a team to repeat as MLB champions is Big Red Machine stuff.  The Dodgers are the only team in the last 25 years that has a chance to Three-Peat TM Pat Riley.

Game three was a cross section of the entire series. It was essentially a doubleheader.  The first game was a slugfest ending in a 5-5 tie. The second game was a pitching battle ending with another Freddie WS walk off 1-0.  Ohtani getting on base 9 straight times is timeless. He would walk five times, four of them intentional. Seven players were thrown out on the bases. There were manager challenges at every base. There were over 200 baseballs used. 25-year-old Will Klein came in to pitch the 15^th inning. He was the last available pitcher in the bullpen. Will joined the Dodgers in July and was just added to the World Series roster. The most innings in any game that Klien had pitched was 1.3 all season.  He needed to go four on this night and he did with 5 K’s and a WS W.  Not a lot of major league pitchers have one of those WSW’s. He will be forever remembered in Dodger lore.

The 2025 team is largely intact for 2026. Ohtani will pitch more.  Mookie will probably hit better and might win a Gold Glove at shortstop. Freddie and his special sauce will be penciled in at first most nights. Yoshi’s greatness has been revealed which questions the loser Josh Reddick’s intelligence. Snell and Glasnow will start and win more games. The bullpen will get figured out. There are lots of salaries going away with Kershaw retiring and Conforto getting kicked to the curb.  Tanner Scott is a glaring liability.  The Giants are rebuilding.  They are .500 since their last title in 2014.  They are going to give it the old college try in 2026. The Padres have a clubhouse that scowls off managers.  The Diamondbacks can’t decide if they are in or out but mostly out.  The Rockies are an embarrassment to the MLB. The team that led to the gentrification of downtown Denver lost 119 games and finished 50 games out. When we launched Tony at the Yard, the Rockies were in the World Series and Mark Sanchez was a first round pick.  Hope Pete gets the Raiders back to being competitive. How far have we come, Toto?

Our prayers to Alex and Kayla Vesia’s for their tragic loss of their newborn daughter Sterling Sol. Class act with Blue Jays bullpen staff stitching Vesia’s number in their hats to show support for one of their brethren in arms.

Interesting facts: Shohei Ohtani set a record with the four intentional walks in Game 3.  Three of the walks were with the bases loaded.  Ohtani has intentionally walked 88 times in his career.  In his MLB career, he has never issued one as a pitcher.  Congratulations on your 4^th MVP in five years.

The Fall Classic

The World Series is the pantheon of sports championships. It takes an Iliad and the Odyssey for any MLB team’s journey to raise the chalice. The first World Series was played in the 1903 classic between the Boston Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The Sox won the best of 9 series 5-3.  The NFL was decades away from its founding and basketball was still played at the YMCA.  The Americans would become the Red Sox and would go on to win five WS titles by 1918 when they traded Babe.  The second curse of baseball mythology was hatched in that transaction.  The Red Sox broke the curse in 2004 and won another three WS in the 2000 teens.

The Sisyphean effort of pushing the rock for 162 games was ingrained in the Yard like a continuous loop documentary via the LA Times sports section.  The Dodger historical grapples in WS history percolates in our intestines each fall. The Azul has lost in the WS 14 times.  The Toronto Blue Jays have never lost in the WS. Our Magic 8 Ball says Future Uncertain. The first two games at Dodger Stadium were emblematic of our strife. Most certainly, either the BJ’s finally lose one or the Dodgers take the overall title for most WS lost.  They are currently tied with the Yankees at 14.  Yard tea leaves request to see two victories on the horizon for our team. Dreams like the foliage, fall to the ground and get bagged.

In 2018, the stars aligned and World Series tickets became available to the Yards. It was the uncursed version of the Red Sox.  They had this kid Mookie Betts playing right field.  Betts would win the AL Batting Title, Gold Glove, Silver Slugger and AL MVP in 2018.  October 26 was a beautiful fall night in Los Angeles.  The Dodgers had already lost the first two games in Bean Town so a lot was at stake that night. Of course, Kenley Jansen blew a 4 out save opportunity with a homerun to the first batter he faced. The Dodgers battled that night for 18 innings.  It was 1-1 through 13 innings before the Sox scored in the top of the 13^th. The Dodgers returned the favor in the bottom half of the inning.  The game would be scoreless until First Baseman Max Muncy homered in the bottom of the 18^th. It would be the last gasp for that version of the Dodgers.

First Son of the Yard has inherited some of our genetic bile as well as managing the season seats.  With the malaise in the bullpen and the injuries the World Series did not seem certain in early August.  Expectation dipped with the reality of attempting to repeat as champions.  Everyone hates the Yankees, but the Dodgers are a close second according to some of our industry insiders.  You know you raised your kid right when he takes you to a WS game, bravo son. Monday October 26 would be game 3 of the 2025 World Series.  We settled into our seats at 4:30 PM PST. The Yard does not need to report on how the Monday game turned out.  A few other outlets released the details before I could get to my MacBook Air. Let Freddie Reign! It was a 2 for 1 sale.  First game balls flying everywhere, Ohtani showing all his $700 million portfolio.  Second game 1-0 with another First baseman walk off homerun.

Being an LA Dodger fan beyond the constant base level anxiety is also knowing when to stay and when to go.  As the game persists, getting out of Dodger Stadium looms in your psyche. Ball one, Fletcher Drive or Stadium Way? Fouled off. Maybe sneak through ChinaTown. Is Phillipe’s open late? Ball two. What is the score again?  Who is warming up? Foul ball down the line stays foul. When Kirk Gibson hit his momentous homerun in 1988, in the corner of the shot are all the redlights heading out the Academy Road gate.  We are pilloried fans and deservedly so, but LA traffic is real.  Both games had a 14-inning stretch.  First game only the Churros and Sodas finally played after the 11^th inning.  Monday night, 25 people were in line for Dodger Dogs when Freddie went to the Yard.  Jason Bateman and Sean Hayes were there at the finish. And so were we!

This is not a David vs. Goliath Series with the big bad overpaid Dodgers beating up on Canada.  Canada has been a bit brow beat since late January by mouths that are loud.  The Blue Jays have the 5^th highest payroll in the MLB.  They have Vlad Jr getting his $500 million Canadian.  This is US vs Canada, and the quiet kids always scared us.

Make the Ryder Cup Great Again!

The Ryder Cup is our favorite biennial event. In 1927, British entrepreneur Samuel Ryder donated the trophy and hatched the competition between US and British professional golfers.  From 1927 until 1979, the US record in Ryder Cup play was 19-2-1.  With the 1981 Ryder Cup, the match had evolved into US versus Europe, The US record since the change is 8-14-1.  It has been an ugly ride, and it seems patently unfair.  Our US golf warriors must now take on practically the entire world to reclaim what is rightfully our championship.  The president has been busy, but golf is his thing.  He is already pissed off at Europe anyways.  These Euros had to pass through US border control to get to Bethpage Black.  Curly Joe Homan has lots of juice, he could have created some travel delays, right?  He should have started with Tommy Touchdown Jesus Fleetwood.  There is an agitator sheen on that one.  And did you see Rory’s behavior at the course? Just because NY fans degraded his wife during his back swing, he doesn’t get to drop F-bombs on national TV. He should have been deported Saturday night. DT, you can make it happen.  Tariff Ryder cup back to just US v. UK.  Not sure how you negotiate that but work it in on one of those Big Bad Deals. Make the Ryder Cup Great Again!  We know, it is all Biden’s fault but do what you can.

The Yard has relocated back to our Las Vegas HQ.  It was a spectacular summer in the Pacific Northwest. The seafood, Orcas and scenery were sensational, but Cal Raleigh became legend.  The Seattle Mariners have had some great teams over the years but never a World Series attendee.  In 2001, the Mariners won 116-46 and lost to the Yankees in the ALCS.  They became the first team ever to win 110+ games and not go to the World Series.  This inglorious record was matched by the Dodgers in 2022. Raleigh had the greatest year in Mariner history eclipsing Junior’s 56 HR with a cool 60. The switch-hitting catcher is a refreshing; throwback player and we judge him to be the MVP.

The MLB playoffs are here minus the New York Mets.  The Yard staff and Brian of the PNW are not fans of the Metropolitans.  F- the Mets is a common refrain. The Yard had forecasted that billionaire Mets owner Steve Cohen would not honor his commitment to MLB ownership to not “overspend” on payroll.  The Mets began the 2025 season with their highest payroll of $342 million in team history.  On June 12, 2025, the Mets had the best record in MLB baseball 45-24.  The Yankees were struggling, and the Mets had their moment in the NY sunlight.  Three and a half months later, the Mets slogged to their fate. On the final day of the season, the Mets could still make the playoffs if the Reds lost and they won their final game.  The table was set when the Reds lost early on Sunday.  The Mets could not muster a single run in their 4-0 loss to the freakin Marlins.  The Marlins, who were eliminated from the playoffs in July, loved spoiling the Mets last chance.  The Fish played like it was a game 7.  Steve Cohen continues to reap what he sowed with SAC.  It was ironic to see the Reds celebrating with champagne after their last game loss almost kept them out. Then the Mets punched the Reds ticket for champagne and goggles.  In the end, Juan Soto got what he sowed.  He wanted the other NY Team. Yankees did not miss him one beat.

Clayton Kershaw has been destined for the HOF since high school. He went 13-0 with 139 K’s in 64 innings during his senior season at Dallas Highland Park.  One of the highlights was an all-strikeout perfect game that was shortened to six innings due to the mercy rule.  Kershaw ridiculously had 15 k’s and a grand slam in the five-inning game.  Sophomore year, he had given up being Matt Stafford’s center to concentrate on baseball.  Stafford was still his shortstop that senior season.  Number 22 went on to have the HOF career foretold in the stars. 2025 will be his final season and he let us all know right before his final home start. He told his teammates and then the world.  He never wants the attention on him, just the team.  He has had huge success and pitching nightmares in the playoffs throughout his career.  He had a brilliant regular season this year.  With the Dodgers starting rotation, he gets his starts, but he is not number 1 or 2 anymore. He is still playing if the Dodgers do.  He gets to exit this grand game on his terms. All Hail Clayton.

 

A'ja Wilson is the WNBA’s Michael Jordan if they needed one.  MJ won a title at every level and is always in the greatest ever conversation.  A'ja plays with an aggressive grace and demonic polish that sets her above any bar.  She won in high school and at South Carolina.  She has two WNBA titles, two Olympic Gold Medals, four MVP awards and she is only 29.  In May 2025, Nike would release her signature sneaker, the A’One. The Aces were having a middling season when A'ja lit a fire and willed them to a 16-game win streak to close the season and into the WNBA finals.  The first game is Friday night in Las Vegas.  Go Aces!