Dodgers’ Chris Taylor ‘Not Looking Ahead By Any Means’ Despite World Series Aspirations
The Los Angeles Dodgers are heading into the 2024 season with a championship-or-bust mentality. The same has been true every preseason at least since 2017, when the Dodgers reached the World Series only to lose to the Houston Astros.
The excuses for bringing home an eighth championship have never been lower than they are now. The front office went on an unprecedented offseason spending spree, and the key players are all relatively healthy entering spring training. The World Series is a sensible goal for the Dodgers and their fans.
Ask any player who’s been around the block, and he’ll give you his own spin on the old cliché: don’t look too far ahead, and take one game at a time.
Dodgers utility star Chris Taylor knows this better than anyone. Taylor spoke with Dodgers Nation’s Doug McKain and explained why the cliché holds true.
“You can’t look that far ahead. Baseball’s such a weird sport where, I’ve said it time and time again, the best team in the regular season most of the time doesn’t win the World Series. It’s really hard to win a World Series. A lot has to go right. I truly believe the team that gets hot at the end of the year typically is there in the World Series. So we understand it’s a challenge and we’re not looking ahead by any means. We’ll take it day by day and just like every other year, it starts in spring training.”
— Chris Taylor via Dodgers Nation
It’s been repeated often enough to lose meaning, but one-day-at-a-time is the correct approach to take. A 162-game season encourages participants never to get too high or too low. That’s the approach that has served the Dodgers well for years. Although it’s only resulted in one championship since 1988, the Dodgers hope this same approach, along with a more talented team, will allow them to reach the World Series again.
The Dodgers are the model franchise in baseball, if not all of professional sports. Taylor went on to say he’s lucky to be a part of a special organization that cares.
“Best part of playing for the Dodgers is you know they’re gonna do everything they can to win each and every year. We’re very confident we have a championship winning team, and we’re very we’re gonna be there when it’s all said and done at the end of October. I look back at all my best memories, and they’re all in the postseason. The regular season is great, but it means so much more when you’re playing in October and everything is heightened. I truly believe there’s no better feeling than winning games in October, and I’m just very thankful to be on an organization that is there each and every year.”
— Chris Taylor via Dodgers Nation
Success in October is the only thing that matters for Taylor and his team. As Taylor said, it all starts in February during Spring Training. This season is expected to be a season like none other.
Photo Credit: Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
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