Take me to the magic of the moment, On the glory night Where the children of tomorrow dream away In the winds of change
When President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman took over the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2014, he set about building an team capable of being very very good, for a very very long time.
Through trial and error, that team finally arrived in 2017. That team felt special right from the beginning of the season. Personally, I’m always hopeful about my team, but I just knew that team was destined for greatness. And they were. Until.
We won’t rehash what happened in the 2017 World Series, because what’s done is done. But it’s just one of the injustices that befell this team in it’s quest to be a Dynasty. And if the Dodgers had won that year as they should have, then the slow dismantling of that team would not hurt as much.
The Dodgers returned to the World Series in 2018, only to fall short to the Boston Red Sox. 2019 was a stupid early exit, and then, finally, in 2020 they got that elusive championship ring.
But of course that ring came with a caveat, as a little thing called a pandemic happened that year and that championship happened in a bubble. While the players all consider that ring to be legit and it in many ways was harder to attain than other years, there are many that will always view that win as less than.
2021 and 2022 brought record breaking wins and early exits, again. And it also began in earnest the departure of many of that super team. Corey Seager went to Texas. Kenley Jansen went to Atlanta, and now to Boston. Kiké Hernandez to Boston. Cody Bellinger to Chicago. And now, Justin Turner, also to Boston.
Change comes for every team, and fans understand that. And along the way, the Dodgers have added some pretty cool players along the way, like Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. And one decidedly not cool signing in that pitcher who will not be named.
The signing of that pitcher also adds to the disappointment of this end of an era. The Dodgers apparently were waiting the outcome of that decision of MLB of a suspension before moving forward with their payroll decisions, supposedly making it too late of a decision for Jansen and his departure. Since the outcome of that pitcher’s appeal is still outstanding, it could have come in to play with this offseason’s moves.
Sports are more heartache that joy, we all know that. The baseball playoffs are something of a crap shoot where rarely the best team wins.
Still.
That 2017 team deserved better. Clayton Kershaw’s one WS ring shouldn’t have a side note to it. And so many players that didn’t end up getting a ring will most likely never get one.
Overall, yes. We are so lucky to be fans of one of the best franchises in all of professional sports, and to have witnessed all the incredible plays and wins that we have over the last decade with this team and these players. It hurts to watch players move on because of various reasons, especially when some of those reasons include a huge mistake the front office made in signing someone with questionable morals, and are replacing a pillar of the Los Angeles community with another of questionable thoughts.
Now, it seems the Dodgers are embarking on a new era, seemingly looking to turn to their young players and up and comers from the farm system. And for all we know, we may be on the precipice of a new dynasty. One that brings more rings in this decade and beyond. Even though it seems in flux right now, I have no doubt the future is still bright for the Dodgers.
But there will always be that heartache for what might have been, and what should have been. That team will always hold a special place in our hearts.
Thanks for the memories, boys. Each and every one.
