Dodgers in Playoffs – First-round Opponent Undecided
Baseball News from L.A. Times
It could be the Mets, Phillies or Cubs, but East Coast weather could delay the end of regular season. Now that the Dodgers are champions of the National League West, they will open the playoffs Wednesday in …
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The Los Angeles Dodgers completed their rise to the NL West crown earlier this week when the Arizona Diamondbacks were defeated by the St. Louis Cardinals. The division championship comes on the heels of the Manny Ramirez trade in August and the fall of the D-Backs, who appeared to have the division in-hand throughout the season. In the end, however, the pressure of the Dodgers resurgence appears to have been too much for the young Arizona team to compete against.
The Dodgers should get a lot of credit for saving their season, which undoubtedly was a failure for new manager, Joe Torre, at least until the Ramirez trade. The Dodgers plain sucked – they couldn’t score and their pitching was questionable. Adding Manny to the lineup changed everything. Suddenly, the team could put up runs and give the pitchers some breathing room. Batting averages are up across the board and Ramirez is a legitimate candidate for National League MVP, but will likely lose it to Albert Pujols, who continues to showcase his incredible skills in all aspects of the game.
A Dodgers/Mets match-up would surely be interesting, but it will only happen if New York can avoid a dramatic failure for the 2nd year in a row. The Phillies would be interesting as well, since both teams are similar. The Cubs are stronger on pitching and offense, so I think this series would be short-lived.
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