The other day, while sitting in an airport bar, I noticed a TV that was showing the Cubs vs. Padres game. Being a Dodgers fan, I instinctively hollered out "Let's Go Cubbies!"
Why was I drawing strange looks from passers-by? The Padres are ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West. It's totally reasonable to root for their opponents in hopes that the Boys in Blue might gain some ground in the standings.
But when they flashed the standings on the screen, I realized why people might not share my enthusiasm: the Dodgers were in 4th place, 12 games back of the division-leading Padres. At this point it doesn't matter how many games the Padres lose - with three teams and 12 games between them, the Dodgers aren't catching this year's surprise success story.
Then I realized it might have been the level of my voice that was drawing attention. There are acceptable times and places for vocal support of sports teams, and I guess the terminal isn't one of them. The last thing I wanted to do was to draw the attention of the TSA. I piped down and returned to my beer.
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Come to think of it, my outburst of support for the Cubs was totally unnecessary and I knew it. I can recall exactly the moment when I was sure that the Dodgers' playoff hopes had died.
The date was August 12th. I was in the shower, when my girlfriend shouted in some news. The Dodgers had a 9-2 lead against the Phillies going into the 8th inning... and ended up losing the game 10-9. "That's it," I thought. The difference between 8 games and 9 games out of first place isn't significant in the middle of August. But momentum is. And to have such a complete bullpen melt down, on the day following a shutout, in the rubber match of a series against potential Wild Card rivals spells utter disaster.
Speaking of the Wild Card, the Phillies are currently embroiled in a cutthroat battle for the Wild Card lead - they're ahead of the Giants by one game and the Cardinals by two games. The Rockies and Dodgers bring up the rear at 6 and 7 games out, respectively.
While making up 7 games in a month-and-a-third is highly unlikely, it's not unheard of... the sticking point is all those teams between them and first place. Not only do the Dodgers have to play well, but FOUR other contending teams have to play poorly. While the races are too close and it's still too far out to start talking about "magic numbers" (or "elimination numbers" if you prefer) - all I can tell you is that it will take some combination of 35 Dodgers losses/Padres wins to eliminate LA - I can tell you that it's going to be a grueling uphill climb. Especially with the recent loss of Vicente Padilla immediately offsetting the acquisition of Ted Lilly.
We just can't catch a break!
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