Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Just at random recently, for no reason particular, I’ve been thinking back to 2017 and how soul crushing that whole World Series loss to the Astros really was. I’ve done this from time to time over the past two years or so, especially as the Dodgers have continued to struggle to win one.
That series was especially harsh because that specific seemed to represent everything the organization had been working towards for years since ownership changed hands, and it had finally all came together in the form of a roster that was a thrilling combination of entertaining players who were also amazing at baseball.
Lots of other people thought so as well. Hell, remember this Sports Illustrated cover?
Yeah, a 12-17 record in September kinda put the damper on their win total, but they cruised to 104 victories and were definitely one of the best teams in franchise history, which is impressive considering just how long the Dodgers history is.
Yet after powering through the Diamondbacks in the NLDS and Cubs in the NLCS, they ran into an Astros team that seemed to know what was coming. It was an impressive showing on their part of attacking the weaknesses of the Dodgers hitters and also almost inexplicably taking the best swings of the year against one of the best pitching staffs in the league at the most opportune times in the games. Breathtaking stuff.
It was pretty nuts. I mean, remember Game 5? Perhaps one of the best games ever played? Look how many runs the Dodgers got on off-balance swings compared to how many Astros swings were just on beat like a great drummer would be.
But I guess that just goes to show how great the Astros really were. Just on another level that year, I suppose. In retrospect, it was almost as if they knew what was coming, but we know that wasn’t the case because their players like Justin Verlander were among the ones leading the charge against doing that kind of stuff.
Former Dodger Alex Cora was also on the team’s staff, and he surely understood how hard it was to do and how immoral it would be.
@YomarElMaja1 If you ain't cheating you ain't trying. Dice el refrán
— Alex (@ac13alex) April 11, 2014
Plus, manager AJ Hinch is like best buds with Dave Roberts, so he wouldn’t screw over his buddy, right?
Of course not.
Plus, he later called any notion of it a joke, so everything is fine.
Even if the Dodgers win World Series in the future, the truth is that nothing will take away the hurt of losing that specific World Series because of the particular team the Dodgers had put together that year. It really did just seem magical and special to a certain extent.
But in the end, it was a lesson learned that no matter how much it seems like a team was destined to succeed, the results may not follow and that’s baseball. So we have to come to terms with the reality that the Dodgers were beaten around like a dugout trash can by a better team in the Astros.
Yeah, it sucks, but I’ll update this article if any news about this World Series emerges in the future!
Update
I regret to inform you that the Astros cheated.
Welp.
Fuck them.
