It’s me, Eric, writing to you without the safety net of my staff because I have a problem and need your help. For the first time in my sports fandom life, I have no idea what to do or how to feel. What is the problem that could give me so much angst that I need to pen this plea for help, you ask? Ugh, where do I begin?
First, a little background. I have been a Dodgers fan since as long as I can remember. One of my first sports memories was Kirk Gibson’s 1988 World Series home run when I was six years old. I loved Gibby, Orel Hershiser, Fernando Valenzuela, and pretty much every Dodger ever since. Lenny Harris was my favorite Dodger while he was on our team because I read an article in the Los Angeles Times about his community service when I was little. I encased his rookie card. Not joking. The two baseballs I look at when I wake up every morning are signed by Vin Scully and Shawn Green. Why Shawn Green? Because I’m Jewish and Shawn Green was a Jewish Dodger who hit 49 home runs in a season. Need I say more?
Suffice to say, I bleed blue. So what problem could I possibly be going through with the Dodgers up 3-1 and a game away from the World Series? What problem could be weighing on me with Kershaw on the mound, ready to send the Dodgers to the World Series for the first time since 1988? Good question. Unfortunately, there’s an answer, and I feel dirty revealing it (yes, I realize you already know the answer because it’s in the title to this column).
My youngest sister’s birthday was about six weeks ago. We always take one another to a sporting event for each other’s birthdays. She was out of town for the NLDS so I offered her either the Lakers’ home opener or NLCS tickets. She chose NLCS tickets. With our schedules, it came down to Game 2 or Game 6. She said it was tough and asked what I would do. I pretended to be ambivalent, but kind of hinted that I’d pick Game 6. She chose Game 6. Is it starting to get clearer? On a side note, we’re pretending that we didn’t miss out on Justin Turner’s walk-off home run in Game 2. Great catch by that fan by the way.
Now we’re here. Game 5. Dodgers up 3-1. Kershaw on the mound to send the Dodgers to the World Series. But my sister and I have this one little reason to root for the Cubs to win just one game. Just one game! That’s fair, right? Because then, we can go to Game 6 and be in Dodger Stadium to watch our beloved Dodgers clinch a trip to the World Series and celebrate it with roughly 60,000 of our closest friends. That’s not a bad thing is it?
After my sister, with my help, made her decision and I had bought the Game 6 tickets, I called her. I asked my sister, what do we do if the Dodgers are up 3 games to 1? Do we root for the Dodgers to close them out or do we root for our chance to be in the stadium for a World Series clinching Game 6? Neither of us answered.
Let me explain something to you. If you are a Dodgers fan, you love Clayton Kershaw. Not only is he the second coming of Sandy Koufax (no, Kershaw’s not Jewish), but Kershaw and his wife are amazing human beings who do great work in our world. How can I watch Game 5 and not root for a Kershaw-led Dodgers World Series clinching win? Add to that the fact that it’s been an agonizing three decades waiting for the Dodgers to return to the World Series. A friend of mine suggested that I just buy tickets to Game 1 of the World Series to alleviate all of this. Well, friend, tickets to the World Series are selling for a minimum of $700 per ticket. I have an amazing wife, but $1,400 for nose bleed tickets to take my sister to a ball game is a bridge too far. And yes, that’s my way of pinning it on my wife to absolve myself of any blame.
So here’s what I decided to do. I’m going to take my grandma to an early dinner tonight. I love being with my grandma so dinner’s a winning way to start the evening regardless. Because it’s an early dinner (my grandma is 93, so you know dinner’s going to be early, although she indulges us sometimes and will eat at 7, which is amazing of her), I’ll probably be home by the sixth or seventh inning. So I’ll check the score when I walk in and if the Dodgers are winning, I’ll root for them to win and clinch the World Series berth. If they’re losing, I’ll keep watching the score on my phone until it looks like the Dodgers have a chance to come back and I’ll root for a 9th inning comeback. That’s my compromise I’ve made with myself to avoid screwing up the Dodgers’ mojo. After all, I have to get some credit for this article that started the Dodgers September comeback, right? All of that said, what would you do? Go Dodgers!
It’s nice to see you going into comedy writing. I mean, this better be comedy writing because I will only accept this as a joke. Let me clarify, the World Series!!! Need I say more? Oh, I do…. this is our Dodgers we are talking about. Our Dodgers who have not been to a World Series since 1988. Our Dodgers who have fallen apart in every postseason for the last decade. This is our Clayton Kershaw…. World’s greatest pitcher who just hasn’t had his stuff the last few years, but who has a chance to clinch the Series and still start Game 1 at home. This is the Cubs…. the defending champs who you are considering giving a little life to and making them think they have a chance against the coach of our team who knows a little something about coming back from a 3-0 deficit.
So like I said, this better be comedy because if you are rooting for anyone other than the Dodgers to help “Fly the L” at Wrigley, your tickets should be taken away from you and given to a real Dodgers fan (but seriously, reinvest the money into Game 2 of the World Series…. it’s the World Series we are talking about!!!).
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