Joel Wilson – Contributing Writer

jnw5443@psu.edu

LOS ANGELES – To say that the Los Angeles Dodgers have had a good season would be an
understatement. Not only did they shatter their franchise record of 106 wins, but they also
became the first club in the National League to reach the 110-win mark since the 1909
Pittsburgh Pirates. In fact, they became just the seventh team to reach at least 110 wins in the
history of Major League Baseball. With a final record of 111-51, Los Angeles has secured home
field advantage through the World Series and are waiting to start the NLDS on October 11 vs
the winner of the Padres/Mets Wild Card series.
The unparalleled success of the 2022 Dodgers is nothing new. They have made the postseason
every year for the past decade and have won their division each of those years except 2021.
Success has been a theme throughout the club’s history. The current run of dominance is
reminiscent of the fabled “Boys of Summer” teams of the late 1940s through 1950s Brooklyn
Dodgers. Those Brooklyn teams won the National League Pennant in 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953,
1955, and 1956. After moving to Los Angeles, they soon won another flag in 1959.
Despite dominating the National League, the Dodgers only won two World Series from 1947
through 1959. This has, unfortunately, been another way that the current Dodgers have
emulated their Golden Age counterparts. Los Angeles reached the World Series in 2017 and
2018- falling both times. The 2017 season ended with the now infamous sign-stealing Houston
Astros taking home the crown, and 2018 saw the Boston Red Sox take home the
Commissioner’s Trophy. While the Dodgers did win it all in 2020, many challenge the legitimacy
of a championship won after a season of merely 60 games- 102 games shy of a regular season.
As if all of this was not motivation enough, the Dodgers sadly lost their long-time announcer Vin
Scully on August 2 of this past season. Vin Scully joined the Brooklyn Dodgers’ broadcast team
in 1950 and followed them during their move to Los Angeles after the 1957 season. After over
60 years calling games, Scully retired in 2016. He was, and always will be, a legend, not only to
Dodger fans, but to all fans of the game. Upon his death, the Dodger uniforms were adorned
with a patch bearing Vin’s name and a microphone. With this sad turn of events, the motivation
to take home a championship became much more than just proving to everyone that they are a
great ball team.
So, with their recent postseason experiences on their minds, and the rallying cry of “Win for
Vin” the Dodgers look to truly cement themselves as one of the greatest teams in baseball
history.
With the NLDS beginning soon, and with one of the best rosters in the game, who should fans
keep their eyes on as the Dodgers start their most recent playoff run? The first player to watch
is starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw joined the Dodgers in 2008 and has since become,
statistically, one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. Currently, Kershaw has the lowest
career ERA among active players and has the most strikeouts by any pitcher in Dodger history.
Despite his regular season success, Clayton has struggled in the postseason with a 4.19 career
ERA. Seeing as Kershaw is in his final few years as a player, it will be interesting to see how he
will use his past postseason experiences moving forward.
The other player that fans should look out for is centerfielder Cody Bellinger. Bellinger rose to
be one of the greats after his 2017 rookie season. After an MVP season two years later, the
future was looking bright for Cody. Things changed in October 2020. While celebrating a go-
ahead home run in game 7 of the NLCS, Cody dislocated his shoulder, leading to offseason surgery. Since then, he has not been himself, posting career low numbers in 2021 slashing .165/.240/.302, and showing minor improvements in 2022 slashing .210/.265/.389. Despite his season-long struggles, Cody hit his stride last October, batting .353 through the postseason and delivering the go-ahead hit in Game 5 of the NLDS against arch-rival San Francisco Giants.
Hopefully Bellinger will be able to replicate his past postseason performance this October.
With seven of the regular starting nine players being former all-stars, three of those all-stars
being former MVPs, and a record setting season, the Los Angeles Dodgers are the team to
watch this October.