And Scene…

October 10, 2004

Out at 3-1 against the best team in the league. It’s disappointing, but I can live with that.

Even with the early playoff exit, this has been the most fun I’ve had following the Dodgers since the championship season in 1988, the season that basically made me a baseball fan. It didn’t end up with a World Series win, but this team had that same kind of magic.

It was really the first Dodger squad in a long time that actually had players that seemed to enjoy the game. Los Angeles has been saddled with a series of surly superstars, including Piazza, Sheffield and Brown. Shawn Green is still in that mold, but now he’s surrounded by guys like Lima and Werth who actually show emotion and give fans something human to hang on to.

Attitude aside, this was a team that got it done, including the best closer in the MLB, the best defensive Dodger team I’ve ever seen and a guy that put up an MVP caliber season while hobbling on a bad ankle for 162 games. 53 comeback wins. 26 in the last at-bat. It’s a team you couldn’t help but love if you followed them on an everyday basis. I’m always a Dodger fan, but they earned that loyalty this year.

… and now I get to put on my Red Sox hat and watch the rest of the playoffs.

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