samhexum

Dodgers ‘dynasty’ could go way of 1996 Braves before they know it By Joel Sherman A quarter of a century ago to the day and 15 miles from the spot where the Dodgers and Braves played NLCS Game 6 on Saturday night, a lesson about dynasties was taught that remains as relevant today as it was then. Namely, how difficult it is to construct one — and that is even while one was being constructed at the time, just unbeknownst to all the participants and viewers. On Oct. 23, 1996, the Braves took a 6-0 lead in World Series Game 4 against the Yankees and all of the below was true midway through that contest: —  Atlanta was in the World Series for the fourth time in the past five Series (there was none contested in 1994) and was the defending champion. — The Braves had constructed a five-game winning streak (closing the NLCS with three wins and taking a two-games-to-none lead in the World Series) in which they outscored the Cardinals and Yankees by a combined 48-2. They lost Game 3 to the Yankees, 5-2, but led Game 4 by six runs with 12 outs to go. If they hung on, the Braves would have John Smoltz, Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine lined up on full rest to win one more game to repeat as champions. —  At that moment, the only significant Atlanta position player who was past his age-30 season was 32-year-old Fred McGriff. Andruw Jones was 19, Jermaine Dye was 22, Chipper Jones was 24 and Ryan Klesko and Javy Lopez both were 25. Smoltz was 29, Glavine and Maddux were both 30, Steve Avery was 26 and closer Mark Wohlers was 26. If you were in Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium that evening — and I was — as the sixth inning began and someone would have said, “By the way, the dynasty is in the other dugout,” you would have checked to see if anyone had escaped a local insane asylum. The Yankees hadn’t won a championship since 1978, had made the playoffs (newly expanded) in 1995 for the first time in 14 years and were hardly awash in as many stars with playoff pedigree as the Braves. But, of course, the Yankees won that crazy night, Oct. 23, 1996, led most famously by Jim Leyritz’s tying, three-run homer off Wohlers. They won the last four games of that series. They won that World Series and won four times in five years. The dynasty was, impossibly, in the other dugout. The Braves kept winning division titles and kept losing in the postseason. They have had two new stadiums since, but their 1995 title remains the only one the city of Atlanta has from the four major sports leagues. The Braves had all the measurables for a dynasty. As the sixth inning began a quarter of a century ago, they were making folks think about where they might land in the pantheon. But didn’t we feel similarly after the Cubs won it all, finally, in 2016? Didn’t it feel as if that was just the beginning? Yet here in 2021 we watched playoffs with Anthony Rizzo on the Yankees, Kris Bryant on the Giants and Kyle Schwarber on the Red Sox. We probably all are going to need to get on a couch with a baseball therapist to determine what we think about the Astros and their tainted 2017 title, but they have made five straight trips to at least the ALCS and now are sitting as the AL champs again, waiting for the World Series to begin. “More than anything to me, it is a couple of things,” Glavine said by phone about the ability to go back-to-back to improve dynastic perceptions. “You really have to have some luck on your side not only to win, but win two in a row. And you really have to stay healthy. Both of those things are hard to do as you see now with the Dodgers.” The Dodgers of this era had yet to fully define themselves as Game 6 began. Were they going to chase dynasty or be Glavine’s Braves? They have been to the playoffs nine straight times, the first eight after winning the NL West, and last year they finally captured their first championship since 1988.But it has felt as if the Dodgers have chased history on fumes this time around, having to win a sudden-death wild-card game, a reminder that the extra layers of playoffs also work against a dynasty. The two faces of this Dodgers era, Clayton Kershaw and Justin Turner, were out injured Saturday, and so were Joe Kelly and Max Muncy. Max Scherzer did not have the life in his arm to make a scheduled Game 6 start. Kiké Hernandez and Joc Pederson, two key supplemental pieces to the Dodgers’ recent run, were producing big moments for other teams in the postseason. Kershaw, Scherzer, Kenley Jansen, Corey Seager and Chris Taylor are about to be free agents. The Dodgers, who began this playoff run in 2013 with Adrian Gonzalez, Andre Ethier and Yasiel Puig as cornerstones, have done a terrific job reconfiguring to remain elite. So who knows how long this will go on? Those Braves won 14 straight division titles, but they are not remembered as a dynasty because they won just one title. No team has won two in a row since the Yankees’ 1998-2000 three-peat. “The fact we have not seen it in recent history, back-to-back championships, tells you how hard it is,” Glavine said. Dodgers couldn’t buy way to a dynasty in the end The Dodgers did not pursue a championship this season as much as they seemed determined to remove the concept that anyone else could win it. They had the baseball equivalent of “The Godfather” cast in capturing their first title since 1988 last year, then added the cast of “Ocean’s 11” for kicks. They made anything George Steinbrenner attempted in his heyday play like just a starter kit for overkill. Best rotation in the majors? Not enough. The Dodgers added NL Cy Young winner Trevor Bauer on an overstuffed three-year contract, ignoring warning signs about the pitcher’s character either out of arrogance or a single mindedness, akin to that of Javert from “Les Miserables,” to build what could not be stopped. At the trade deadline they did not trade for Max Scherzer or Trea Turner. They acquired both; the best pitcher and hitter dealt in July. Their payroll swelled to $60 million more than any other team spent in 2021. Other clubs worried about paying the luxury tax. The Dodgers obsessed on a repeat, damn the cost. But they did not repeat. They became the latest example of just how hard it is to do so, even if you stack your lineup, rotation and the deck. “It is hard,” Dodger Chris Taylor said. “But that is what we signed up for.” Over six months, the Giants were shockingly better than the Dodgers in the NL West. And over six games in October, so were the Braves. The Dodgers, withered physically by injury and seemingly mentally by the burden of expectation, were outplayed by Atlanta, who had a group from its chorus — notably Eddie Rosario, A.J. Minter and Tyler Matzek — outshine the stars. The team with so much starting pitching just didn’t have enough in the end. Dustin May missed most of the year after Tommy John surgery, Bauer missed half a year after being put on administrative leave tied to sexual assault allegations. Scherzer described an arm that went dead after being used in a relief outing. He could not go on regular rest Saturday. That forced Walker Buehler to have to pitch on short rest for the second time in 10 days after never doing so previously, with the hope Scherzer could take the ball in a Game 7 Sunday. But in a fateful three-batter span in the fourth inning with two outs, Buehler walked Travis d’Arnaud, allowed a double to pinch-hitter Ehire Adrianza and then a three-run homer to Rosario to break a 1-1 tie. That was the blow that keyed the Braves’ 4-2 triumph that sent them to their first World Series since 1999. Atlanta was swept in that Fall Classic by the Yankees, who were in the middle of a three-peat. And the Braves did the Yankees a double favor — they kept those dynastic Yankees as the last team to repeat and perhaps reminded those critical of the current Yankees just how difficult it is to win titles. “It is exponentially harder,” Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts said of going back-to-back. “Everywhere we go it is, ‘Beat L.A., Beat L.A.’ It is hard to be on top.” The Dodgers now carry, as the West Coast Yankees, the weight of win or bust. But they have just one championship since 1988. That came last year in the bizarre shortened season. The Dodgers were attempting to validate that title by winning another one, trying to put the capstone on their own dynasty. Instead, they are taking on the role of those Braves teams that twice lost in the World Series to the Yankees. Those fantastic squads won 14 straight NL East titles. But just the one World Series in 1995. These Dodgers captured eight straight division titles before finishing second and earning a wild card this year despite 106 victories. They survived four sudden-death games: the wild card vs. St. Louis, two in the Division Series vs. San Francisco and NLCS Game 5. Atlanta had blown a three-games-to-one advantage in the NLCS last year to the Dodgers. There was unease for the Braves. But Rosario broke a 1-1 tie and the lefty relief trio of Minter, Matzek and Will Smith combined to go 15 up, 15 down with 10 strikeouts to help the Braves garner their sixth NL pennant since moving to Atlanta 55 years ago. They will face the Astros in the World Series, beginning with Game 1 in Houston on Tuesday night. The Dodgers? “We are at a little bit of a crossroads,” Buehler said. “We have a lot of free agents.” That is Kershaw, Scherzer, Taylor, Kenley Jansen and Corey Seager. Who knows if Bauer ever plays again? The Dodgers have remade themselves quite a bit in this nine-year playoff run. They have lots of money to spend, plenty of stars remaining and tons of brainpower. But what they won’t have is a repeat; that distinction toward dynasty. They went all in and — short of the finish line and despite the single-minded obsession — here in the third week of October, the Dodgers were out.

And Diane Neal raped a male stripper in an early episode before she played Casey. The L&O franchise is famous for that sort of thing. Jeremy Sixtoes played a defense attorney on the 17th season L&O finale then started playing Cyrus Lupo the next season. Annie Parisse played a stripper before she played Alex Borgia. I believe that pic might be from when he played a drug lord on THE SHIELD on FX. Amaro was back (with a beard) for the series' 500th episode this past Thursday. Cragen appeared (via zoom), too.

I'm surprised that there doesn't seem to be any mention of this anywhere. I watched it in one afternoon and enjoyed it. I never watched BIG BANG THEORY, so my only preconceptions about Kaley Cuoco were about how ridiculous it is to have a very wealthy celebrity hawking a website for discount travel accommodations when she obviously will never need to use it and how obnoxious it is for her to implore me to spend $19/mo (or whatever the figure is) to help abused animals when she could donate $1,000,000 (one time) more easily than many people could afford $19/mo. Her character was cliched in some ways (not her fault) but I thought she did an excellent job. And seeing Rosie Perez attempt (and sort of manage) to play a character without an accent was interesting.

PLEASE... PLEASE... PLEASE... let the handsome corrupt cop slaughter all the teens before he's probably killed next episode.

THANK GOD the Dodgers lost! Now we just need Atlanta to beat Houston. This is just the latest example of how regular season domination doesn't necessarily correlate to playoff success. The 1969-71 Orioles were widely considered to be the best team, but only won 1 WS. The Braves supposedly won 14 straight division titles (the streak was interrupted by the unfinished 1994 season), yet only won 1 WS. The Dodgers just won 8 straight division titles, then a 106-win wild card, and their only WS win was in the super-freaky 2020 season. All of which makes the Yankees of 1996-2000 even more impressive.

Just clear out any 10 square block section of downtown Buffalo. Would anyone really notice? 😝😇😁🤣😎

that's enough chocolate for me.

SPEND THE NIGHT AT THE AIRPORT PRAYING YOU CAN GET A RED-EYE OUT OF THAT AWFUL SUN-DRENCHED HELLHOLE.

fantasize that I can physically or financially manage to have sex.

my opinion: LITTLE THINGS & ODE TO FREEDOM are duds, but the other 8 are wonderful.

Just think what you could have accomplished if you'd tried selling Avon.

You'll never have a career in the exciting field of telemarketing.

Tony survived and Meadow testified against him in a big mob trial, which is why she's in the Witness Protection Program as a waitress in Montana named Tonya (on ABC's BIG SKY). BTW, I assume y'all know she has MS and is Lenny Dykstra's daughter-in-law.

Don't worry about it. He was probably a secret acid freak who had plenty of trippy experiences while wide awake. 😁😎😇😝

As a Yankee fan I hate the Red Sox, but as a baseball fan I despise the Astros. So I find myself positively giddy that the Sox have grand slams in each of the first 2 innings today. I never thought I'd be able to say/write that. A bit later... Enrique (Kike) Hernandez just homered and the Sox are clinging to a 9-0 lead in the 4th. I'm impressed, jealous, and annoyed at this: Signed for 2yr/$14 mil to play 2nd, he wound up playing about 1/3 of a season's worth of games there, but wound up playing 81 games in CF, with 14 defensive runs saved. Today's game is only 1/2 over, but as of now he is 15-24, with a one, two, three, four, and five hit game in his last 4 1/2 games with 4 doubles and 5 home runs. 8 runs, 9 RBI

Please explain this term. I am unfamiliar with it. 😟☹️😭😫

Whichever one my sister and brother in law gave me when they put me on their phone plan, which I turn on once or twice every month or two to make a call then turn off right away so I almost never have to bother charging it.

Anything with Sam in the name is inherently extremely valuable.

What does living in Palm Springs have to with anything? I live in NYC and wear t-shirts and shorts from late March until roughly Halloween, when I switch to t-shirts and sweatpants.

If you die first, will you be buried with it?

I recommend getting a landline.

Well, I'd say that anyone who fucks a warehouse club is wicked.

Martha Stewart has admitted that she uses canned pumpkin, saying it's one of the few canned items she uses. For those of you that cook a lot, what pre-made mass-produced items do you use for convenience?

How about her girlfriend Holland Taylor for the older role?