Dodgers on the wrong side of history

When Dodger Stadium opened on April 10, 1962, it was considered the crown jewel of major league baseball. Then Dodger owner Walter O’Malley had fulfilled his dream of building a new home for his beloved Dodgers that could seat over 56,000 fans and park over 16,000 automobiles, something that New York City Parks Commissioner Robert Moses had refused to allow him to do, thus prompting O’Malley to move the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles.

Were it not for the stubbornness and lack of vision of Robert Moses, The Dodgers – and Dodger Stadium – would still be in Brooklyn. Thank you Robert. Just thank you.
(AP photo)

So grateful was O’Malley that the city of Los Angeles had welcomed him with open arms and so grateful was he that baseball had finally made its way to the west coast that he designed the color scheme of brand new Dodger Stadium to represented the beaches of southern California, with seats colors matching the ocean, the sand, the sky and even the red sunset, not to mention that he surrounded the stadium with majestic palm trees. And although the color scheme has gone through many changes over the decades, it was changed back to its original color scheme after Guggenheim Baseball Management Group purchased the team in 2012.

The seat colors at Dodger Stadium were returned to their original O’Malley-designed color scheme when baseball’s third oldest ballpark underwent major renovations in 2013. (Photo credit – Darren J. Bradley)

Dodger Stadium is now 55 years old and never … never in its storied history has it had a Dodger team like the 2017 Dodgers. Never had it seen a team go on a MLB record-tying 43-7 run, not ever.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that in spite their absolutely remarkable and historic winning run this season, the Dodgers are on the very cusp of doing something that no other Los Angeles Dodgers team has ever done since the ballpark opened in 1962. Should the Dodgers lose to the NL West third-place Colorado Rockies on Sunday afternoon, they will have lost seven consecutive games at Dodger Stadium. They will have also lost 14 of their last 15 games, of which no team in MLB history has ever gone on to win the World Series after doing so.

For those who are into superstitions, bad omens and the like, it’s probably safe to say that they wish that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had never uttered the words “we’re going to win the division, I can assure you of that” last Wednesday night after falling to the hard-charging Arizona Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium. And while it is hard to imagine that the Dodgers will not make the postseason either by winning their fifth consecutive NL West division title or via the Wild Card, history has shown that their once overwhelming odds to win the World Series have fallen drastically.

Dodgers left-hander Alex Wood became the latest Dodger pitcher to add to the team’s current 1-14 run when he lost to the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night at Dodger Stadium. Should the Dodgers lose on Sunday afternoon, it would be the first time in LA Dodgers history that they have lost seven consecutive games at their 55-year-old home ballpark. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Come on Dodgers, just quit it, would you?

 

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2 Responses to “Dodgers on the wrong side of history”

  1. oldbrooklynfan says:

    Thanks to the Padres for knocking off the Dbacks for the second straight night to bring the magic number to 11.

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