Los Angeles Dodgers clinch first World Series berth since 1988
The Los Angeles Dodgers manhandled the Chicago Cubs 11-1, winning the National League Championship Series four games to one, earning their first World Series appearance since 1988.
The last time the Los Angeles Dodgers played in the Fall Classic, Ronald Reagan was president, UB40’s Red Wine was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100, America’s Most Wanted made its debut on television, and Clayton Kershaw was just months old.
The Dodgers have had a heavy presence in October in recent years due to their regular season success, but have stalled out in October, earning a total of eleven postseason appearances since ’88, including nine NL West Division crowns (1995, 2004, 2008-2009, 2013-2017), with two Wild Card berths (1996, 2006) to go along with it.
An intrical part of their success has been thanks to the golden-arm of perennial All-Star Clayton Kershaw, who got the victory in the clinching game, the biggest of his prestigious career, ending the Dodgers World Series slump.
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The Dodgers — led by manager Dave Roberts — finally got over the hump, with a 11-1 triumph at Wrigley Field, where they will await the winner of the Yankees and the Astros, earning their first World Series appearance in nearly 20 years. Cubs manager Joe Maddon went to his bullpen in the third inning, but it didn’t matter, with the Dodger’s Enrique Hernandez hitting a grand slam (one of three home runs in the game) during the third inning, the proverbial nail in the coffin for the Chicago Cubs.
The Los Angeles Dodgers earned six straight postseason wins to start the 2017 postseason, the most in franchise history –with that streak ending in game four– and look to earn four more wins to their overall postseason total, when they face the ALCS champion next week. Clayton Kershaw went six strong innings, giving up just one earned run, where he finally seems to have put his postseason woes behind him.
Rian Johnson — director and writer for the upcoming Star Wars: The Last Jedi — is a die-hard Dodger’s fan, where he has been showing his satisfaction on Twitter throughout the playoffs:
If the Yankees hold on to their end of the bargain, we will get a Fall Classic from times past, where the Dodgers and Yankees have had many battles. The two teams have faced off eleven times (with the Yankees winning eight of them), the last being a1981 Series win for the Dodgers. If the Houston Astros reign victorious, they will make their second Fall Classic berth in team history, their first as an American League squad.
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No matter the opponent, the Los Angeles Dodgers have the arms, lineup and manager that will put them over the top, where they can party like it’s 1988 once again. The 2017 World Series will kick off once the ALCS is decided, with the Dodgers having the home-field advantage no matter whom they play.