Back in August Vin Scully announced he would be returning for his 67th season with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The announcement came at a perfect time as the Dodgers were pushing toward another playoff run and there was an obvious excitement to have the legendary broadcaster back for another year.
Unfortunately, Scully missed the Dodgers postseason after undergoing a recommended medical procedure. At 88 years old, he was told to stay home and rest rather than work the playoff games.
While Scully was unable to work during the postseason, he watched the Dodgers’ National League Division Series against the New York Mets, and took solace in how much of the organization’s history he’s been part of.
As for the Dodgers’ first-round exit, Scully explained to Alanna Rizzo in an exclusive interview that aired on SportsNet LA he wasn’t necessarily surprised with the outcome.
“I was giving that a lot of thought and one thing really popped up: if you looked at the Dodgers during the course of the year, and it was the same the year before, they were doing exceptionally well against teams under .500. As soon as they got out of the western division and started to play teams above .500, they did poorly,” Scully said.
“So now there they are. They’re stepping out of the western division and they’re really playing the way they’ve played all year. It comes as a shock to those who don’t follow statistically what was going on,” he continued. “But that was so obvious, that this was a team that could beat the unders and not the overs. That’s the way it’s been for a couple of years.”
Records against winning teams is a statistic that’s difficult to place too much merit in, and one that lends to plenty of debate. With records constantly fluctuating, some teams go back-and-forth from being over and under the .500 mark.
The Dodgers finished 46-30 against teams in their division. Along with the San Francisco Giants, they were the only two clubs in the NL West that finished over .500.
While it appears as if the Dodgers struggled against opponents outside their division, the regular season standings appear to suggest otherwise.
Against the NL Central, one of baseball’s toughest divisions, the Dodgers finished 10-10. Additionally, Los Angeles went 19-13 against the NL East and 7-6 against the Mets and Washington Nationals, the two teams that finished with winning percentages in that division.
