As the Dodgers entered the final portion of the regular season this year, manager Dave Roberts gathered some of his hitters to deliver a late-season reminder.
Nine months earlier, the Dodgers had openly proclaimed their ambitions to complete a World Series three-peat this year, stating the goal clearly (and repeatedly) during a parade to celebrate their second consecutive championship last November.
A few months after that, they reported to spring training and were bombarded with questions about the historical significance of such a quest, reminded time and again of a feat no National League team has ever accomplished, and no club in all of Major League Baseball has pulled off since the New York Yankees from 1998-2000.
Over the course of the year, the narrative only intensified, fueled by another 100-win campaign from the two-time defending champions — and stoked by a brewing labor battle at which, ahead of a likely lockout this offseason, the Dodgers’ dominance wound up being in the middle.
Thus, shortly before the trade deadline, and with October only barely starting to appear on the horizon, Roberts wanted to make sure his veteran core was in the right headspace.
Yes, the chance for history was within their grasp.
But no, they couldn’t afford to become preoccupied with the magnitude of such a task.
“We had a little conversation with Doc the other day, the position player group, and he’s really into winning this year,” veteran infielder Miguel Rojas said at the time. “Obviously he cares about winning the last two [years], and it’s really important for him and for us. But he said he doesn’t really care about what happened the last two years. He wants to win this year. So it’s kind of like a pressed button for us to kind of continue to go and not let the rest of the league catch up to our standards. We just gotta keep it up there.”
Indeed, two months on from that day, that message continues to permeate as the Dodgers enter the playoffs, beginning with Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Braves on Saturday.
Once again, the subject of a third consecutive title has been raised repeatedly this week.
And yet, the Dodgers have brushed it off at every turn, staying hyper-focused on the challenge of simply winning one World Series — and not the larger historical stakes hanging in the balance this October.
“When you talk about three-peating, you’re putting that extra pressure on it that doesn’t need to be there,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “Winning a World Series is already hard enough as it is. So for us, we’re just trying to focus on what we have ahead of us and without the added noise to it.”
“I think if you think big picture in this moment, you’re going to lose sight of some things,” first baseman Freddie Freeman added. “You just got to take each day one day at a time. And we do understand the bigger picture. But if you’re looking at the bigger picture, then you won’t be able to get to that big picture, if you’re not focusing on the now.”
That’s all been music to Roberts’ ears.
Ever since the team set its three-peat aim at last year’s parade, he has been trying to narrow its aperture, emphasizing the need to “put on blinders” and ignore outside noise and be prepared for the adversity the Dodgers will inevitably face during yet another postseason march.
“It’s still a different season. There’s going to be different challenges,” Roberts said. “I understand our guys understand what’s at stake. But I think for me, it’s balancing the importance, the opportunity that we have, versus trying to add more pressure than there is already.”
The Dodgers have plenty of practice, of course, handling such weighty expectations.
Over the last decade, they’ve gone from trying to snap a generational title drought, to trying to validate a shortened-season championship in 2020, to trying to cement a modern-day dynasty with back-to-back World Series triumphs.
Each of those boxes has now been checked.
The one that’s left — attempting to join only the Yankees and Athletics as MLB franchises to win three straight World Series — might be the toughest of all.
That much, they know. But as another October begins, they’re trying not to pay it much mind.
“You can’t get there unless you win the game that’s ahead of you,” Muncy said. “So we’re just focused on the game we got coming up.”
