Tommy Lasorda had a lot of things to say, many of which still stick in our heads after all these decades.
He exulted in the fruits of victory. He dubbed Dodger Stadium “Blue Heaven on Earth.” He warned you might not get into the real heaven if you did not root for the Dodgers.
He also had a simple formula for success.
“No matter how good you are, you’re going to lose one-third of your games,” Lasorda liked to say. “No matter how bad you are, you’re going to win one-third of your games. It’s the other third that makes the difference.”
If you believe the hype, these Dodgers are out to make a liar out of Lasorda.
Under Lasorda’s axiom, no team wins more than two-thirds of its games. For the Dodgers, that would be 108 games.
“117 would be a nice number,” former Dodgers pitcher and current broadcaster Orel Hershiser said. “Set the record.”
The record indeed is 116, set by the Chicago Cubs in 1906 and tied by the Seattle Mariners in 2001.
“There’s just a lot of excitement,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base.”
Nine teams in history have won 109 or more games. One of those teams: the 2022 Dodgers, winners of 111 games during the regular season, eliminated by the San Diego Padres in four games in October.
Two Brooklyn Dodgers teams won more than two-thirds of their games: the 1953 team, which lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series; and the 1942 team, which lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League, at a time there were no divisions and the league champion advanced directly to the World Series.
These Dodgers enjoyed a ring ceremony Friday. They plan to enjoy another one this time next year.
“That’s our only focus right now, to go back to back,” Roberts said. “We have the best team.”
Hershiser pitched under Lasorda, who managed the Dodgers to two World Series championships in 20 years. In 1977, Lasorda’s first year, the Dodgers won 98 games. In 1978 they won 95. Never again under Lasorda did the Dodgers win so many games.
This is not a knock on Lasorda, who is in the Hall of Fame. Teams are not supposed to win two-thirds of their games, and yet here we are watching a team so talented and deep that not winning two-thirds of its games might be a letdown to its fans.
“It’s going to be really hard to continue to think of glowing things to say about this team,” Hershiser said. “I think the adjectives are going to get real thin.”
Hershiser has allowed himself a moment or two to have some fun with the anticipation of greatness. At the start of the season, he said, the Dodgers’ broadcasters had a group text for predictions about how many games the team would win.
Hershiser smiled as he told the story. The regular season features 162 games. His text read 162.
It was a joke. The fans, he said, should have some fun too.
“I would hope it’s fun,” he said. “I guess it’s less excitement when you win, and more disappointment when you lose. It’s not quite as balanced of a feeling.”
For fans of every other team, the exhibition season is over. For fans of the Dodgers, the exhibition season extends through September, and the meaningful games start in October. The last time the Dodgers failed to make the playoffs: 13 years ago.
Yet a baseball season is a book with 162 chapters. There is plenty to savor within, new players and surprise storylines, a bounty to celebrate and appreciate as the summer unfolds.
This is not as easy as the Dodgers plan to make it look, even with their 4-0 start.
When I asked Roberts what he would suggest to fans already counting down to October, he channeled one of the greatest champions in our city’s history.
“My advice would be what Kobe said: The dream is a journey. And when we’re in your living rooms every night, when you come to the ballpark — 4 million people come to the ballpark every year — enjoy the journey.
“If you’re just waiting to win a championship, and that defines the season for you and your joy, then you might want to find something else to root for, because you’re missing a lot.”