Cause that was then and we have taken diff’rent roads
We can’t go back again there’s no use giving in
And there’s no way to know
What might have been”
I walk to the sink, fill up my Dodgers cup I saved from the stadium, and take a long drink of water. In the background is the Baseball Tonight crew going on about the winds blowing out at Wrigley Field. And I wonder — what would I be feeling now if it was the Dodgers in the World Series instead of the Cubs.
I think the series would still be tied at one each. Corey Kluber most likely would have shut the Dodgers offense down in Game 1, but they would have been able to bounce back in game two. Clayton Kershaw would have had a good outing after stopping the Cubs in game six of the NLCS. After all those times, Kershaw has finally stopped all his detractors about him not being a post season pitcher. And I feel good, because he and Rich Hill are still able to go once more in the series, if needed. The Dodgers just need to get ahead in the games first, so they can avoid Andrew Miller. I know that Kluber is looming again on the horizon, but I’m feeling good about the Dodgers chances. The Indians are a good team, but the Dodgers are feeling like a team of destiny after the year they’ve had. Each time I imagine this, it’s a different player who has stepped up — Grandal and Turner and Puig, oh my!
But, of course, this is not the reality for us Dodgers fans. It is the Cubs in the World Series and not us. Sometimes, I am okay with this fact. The Cubs were the best team all season. And, selfishly, I am very tired of hearing about how the Cubs haven’t won since before sliced bread, so why not get it done and over with? Other times, as I listen to the coverage, I cannot help but feel the pang of longing, the ache of knowing they were so close, yet again.
But I console myself with knowing that the Dodgers were the second-best team in the National League this year, even with all the injuries they had. The depth that got them to the NLCS will keep them firmly at the head of the class in the National League for years to come. The truth that I tell myself when I can’t stand to listen to the drivel of national broadcasters, but am still wishing they were going on about the Dodgers. Mike and Mike went to The Cubby Bear to broadcast today — would they have traveled to LA? I highly doubt that. I feel that the storyline would be much more Cleveland heavy, with the Cavs having just won a championship of their own, and the long drought for the Indians. What Dodger would Joe Buck fall all over when they do make the postseason? Would it have come close to his love for Javier Baez? Or would it be an Indians player?
Thoughts I amuse myself with when my mind wanders to what might have been.
Think Blue Planning Committee 