Much of the conversation involving the National League West race as the regular season was winding to a close centered around one of the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants facing a one-game winner-take-all scenario.
They finished with the two top records in baseball as the Giants posted a franchise-best 107 wins, and the Dodgers tied an organization’s all-time mark with a 106-win campaign. L.A. had their streak of NL West titles snapped at eight, but they survived the Wild Card Game thanks to Chris Taylor’s walk-off home run.
Although the Dodgers advanced to the NL Division Series for a ninth consecutive year, finishing behind the Giants cost manager Dave Roberts on a personal level.
“I did lose a bet to Bruce Bochy. I lost a dinner and a nice bottle of Bordeaux because we didn’t win the division,” Roberts revealed before the Wild Card Game. “He had the Giants, I had the Dodgers.
When asked what type of wine he owed Bochy, Roberts answered, “It’s his choice, so knowing him it’s going to be some type of First Growth, so it’s not going to be cheap.”
Roberts added the bet with Bochy came to be in August, when the Giants already were well on their way to a special season. And despite already being in debt, Roberts plans to raise the stakes with Bochy.
“I’m going to shoot him a text,” Roberts began after the Wild Card Game. “We’re going to go double or nothing for the series.”
Roberts: Dodgers, Giants great for baseball
Aside from finishing with the best records this season, there is added intrigue with the NLDS given the Dodgers and Giants are storied rivals.
“I think it’s great,” Roberts said of the matchup. “It’s what baseball wants, Giants, Dodgers, one of the great rivalries in sports, and it’s happening.”
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