D-backs look to spoil Dodgers’ run
LOS ANGELES — When the Los Angeles Dodgers clinched the first of their five consecutive NL West titles in Phoenix four years ago, they infamously celebrated by jumping into the Chase Field pool, angering a few Arizona Diamondbacks and their fans.
According to Paul Goldschmidt, anybody looking for long-simmering hard feelings from that drama in the teams’ upcoming NL division series is all wet.
“I don’t think anyone cared then, and nobody cares now,” the Diamondbacks’ veteran first baseman said Thursday at Dodger Stadium. “When you win, you get to celebrate, and that’s awesome. That was my feeling back then. Those guys beat us. They won the division. Now they’ve done it five years in a row.”
Indeed, that pool party is a puddle in distant memory for the current players in this division rivalry, which finally gets an October chapter in Game 1 on Friday night. Arizona spent most of the season pursuing the Dodgers in the NL West standings, meeting 19 times and forging a mutual respect that outweighs any enmity.
The Diamondbacks did a little celebrating of their own Wednesday after their incredible 11-8 victory over Colorado in the wild-card game. Both teams agree Arizona heads into this best-of-five series with more momentum than the 104win Dodgers, who finished with the best record in baseball even after meandering through a late 1-16 skid.
Before Clayton Kershaw takes the mound against Taijuan Walker in the opener, the Dodgers intend to make sure everybody knows these regular-season achievements are meaningless for a team that still hasn’t reached the World Series since 1988.
“I feel like winning the NL West five years in a row leads to complacency, especially for this team, for this organization, even for the fans,” said Andre Ethier, an outfielder on seven previous Dodgers playoff teams since 2006. “You really haven’t achieved anything. It doesn’t matter how many games you win. It’s getting to the playoffs and winning the World Series.
“For the organization, it’s about changing that frame of mind coming in,” Ethier added. “There’s no banners hanging out there saying that we’re the NL West champions five years in a row. The only banners you see out there are World Series championships. So a 104-win season, 90-win seasons, they don’t mean nothing unless you’re winning. No one is going to remember in five years if this team won 104 (games) if we don’t win the World Series.”