Plenty has been accomplished throughout the history of the Los Angeles Dodgers, and more so if including the franchise’s time in Brooklyn. But with their comeback win on Tuesday, the 37th such victory this season, 2017 Dodgers stand alone in Los Angeles franchise lore.
At 84-34, the Dodgers were 50 games above .500 for the first time since Brooklyn accomplished the same feat in 1953. Throughout the season manager Dave Roberts has declined to reflect on his team’s various accomplishments.
He took a moment Tuesday to appreciate the Dodgers’ current standing in history. “If you look at 50 games over .500, it’s kind of unchartered territory,” Roberts said. “We’re playing good baseball. It means a lot.
“There have been a lot of great teams in this Dodger franchise, a lot of great players. To be talked about to this point as one of the greats, it’s a credit to the guys in the clubhouse. To be in that conversation is really special.”
A 9-11 start to the season has been wiped out by Cody Bellinger’s arrival, a 43-7 run, several winning streaks of at least four games and other dominant stretches. The Dodgers not only bested their remarkable 42-8 summer run from the 2013 season, but became the first team to win 43 of 50 games since the 1912 New York Giants.
“You never get tired of winning and shaking hands,” Roberts said. “It’s those days that we don’t win, we don’t know what to do with ourselves.” The Dodgers’ success has fostered an expectation to win on a daily basis, regardless of circumstances.
That environment and culture, however, carries on without much discussion. “We just like to win,” Alex Wood said. “We’re not really thinking about how much we’ve won. We’re just going to continue plugging along and playing our game.”
Justin Turner echoed a similar sentiment: “I don’t think it’s something too many guys in here are thinking about. It’s something that maybe down the road you’ll look back and get to talk about.
“Right now, our focus isn’t on being 50, 60, 70 games over .500. We’re trying to figure out what we’ve got to do to win a World Series.”
While the Dodgers continue to runaway with the National League West and threaten the Major League record of 116 wins in a single season, they’re hardly resting on their laurels.
“We understand there’s still a lot of work to do,” Roberts said.
