The root of Cardinal based Yard anxiety began gestating decades ago when Jack Clark hit a three-run bomb off Tom Niedenfuer to clinch game 6 in the 1985 NLCS. The Yard played hooky that day and went to the game with a direct report. Another quality lesson handed down by management. HOF manager Tommy Lasorda could have walked Clark to load the bases with two out. Lasorda pitched to Jack and Pop goes the weasel into the left field seats. In 1988, the Dodgers finally broke through for what was hoped to be a dynastic run of titles. It did not happen again for 30+ years. Late in that drought, the Giants broke through for the first, second and third time in San Francisco Giant history. The rivalry was already volatile but that made it nuclear. The vitriol was served dirty over the rocks with a splash of snark. The Dodgers had more historical success since both teams moved west but the Giants’ titles were more prescient until the Blue broke through in the COVID Bubble last year. The rivalry goes back a century but the two have never met in the playoffs until Friday October 9.
The Yard felt compelled to get a special edition out to press to commemorate this historic series. It will be pitting the veteran Pumpkin Patch lineup with Buster, Brandon, and Belt. They will miss MadBum for this one, but they won 107 without him. The Yard had expected the Giants to fade long before this moment, but they did not. We were shooting for mid-August oblique strain, and we would have avoided all of the palpitations of the one and done Wild Card game with the Cardinals. The Yard was in attendance last night at the stadium. We squirmed in apprehension while our mad Max grinded through the first two innings and the Dodgers trailing 1-0. Scherzer scraped through 4+ innings never looking brilliant but never giving up. Justin Turner launched a Wainwright fastball into Mannywood to tie the game, and four Dodger relievers held serve until the 9th. In the bottom of that 9th with two out and a troubled 50,000 looking on Chris Taylor ended the night with conviction. Cardinal reliever Reyes was walking off the field dejectedly while his last pitch was still in flight and resigned to its destination. The Dodgers released the tremors of winning 106 games and not making the main dance with a loss. The stadium erupted.
It is now on to the main event. Dodgers v Giants. Never have these two met in the playoffs except in 1962. In 1962, the Dodgers and Giants finished with identical 101-61 records. There was a three-game playoff won by the Giants. Other than that anomaly they have never had a more meaningful series between these rivals than what lies ahead this weekend. It will be a calibrated ulcer fest with the Dodgers coming out on top. One can dream. It is going to be a bummer missing my son’s wedding this weekend, but this series is going to be big. He will understand eventually. The Giants were hoping for the Cards who they have bitch slapped over the years in their title runs. The Dodgers are down a Kershaw and a Muncy, but Andrew Friedman built this team to withstand misfortune and chaos. They have had solid doses of each this season and here we are.
This series seems a lot like the Ryder Cup. The Giants would be the Euros. They have been playing together for years and are battlers. The Dodgers would be the US of course. They are young with some senior leaders with special skills. Crawford is having a career year when his career should be winding down. He looks like he could be in a biker bar, a rodeo or shortstop for the Giants. Posey looks like he doesn’t shave but is still a rough out. The Giants would have hoped for a Cardinal victory or a blowout loss. If the Dodgers bomb the Cards, they were supposed to do that. Battling back from a first inning deficit until the walk off in the 9th could be the spark to light the charge while the Giants were watching in disbelief. It will be a battle and we just hope for three wins, nothing more.
Yard humble opinion: Trea Turner is the highlight of our season. If he is not the NL MVP, we are not sure who is. He won the batting title, hit 27 home runs and two grand slams this past weekend. He is brilliant in the field, a threat to steal any time and has the best slide in YouTube history. The Dodgers have gone 40-12 since he entered the starting lineup including 16 straight at home. Without the trade deadline move for Scherzer and Turner, the Dodgers would be dead. Go Dodgers!
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