Pennant Race Daily: Closing Down Dodger Stadium, Nothing Solved

A moment is a memory. During a pennant race – there are lots of moments. I want you to remember them; so I’m going to write a nightly post that tells the tale of emotions of a pennant race and hopefully; a ride back to the World Series. On Sunday the Dodgers turned out the lights on the summer long party at Chavez Ravine. They did however – do it in style. 

I think of Dodger Stadium as; well I think of it as kind of like a party atmosphere. In the world of baseball, it’s all that is holy and serene. When the Dodgers are playing there – wearing the home whites – nothing can be that wrong in my world. Since I was a kid, it’s served as the perfect backdrop for a ballgame. Although the shades of blue and players within it have changed through the years; and even the voice that graces it’s presence on my screen, it’s remained my happy place. My favorite place on earth.

I was fortunate enough to make it to the stadium this summer and be part of the celebration of Dodgers baseball for a few nights.

So Sunday for me was a bit melancholy, being the final time during the regular season and 2018 year that the Dodgers will play a home game. Where did the time go? It was just yesterday that it was that March 29th afternoon that the team was opening things up with the Giants. We had everything out in front of us then – the schedule was full of games and possibility.

And now, we have whittled down to just this. A 14-0 victory culminated in a 44-37 home record for the Dodgers at home this season. That will be the final tally. There is but one way we get to see the stadium opened for business again, and the party continues onward. Only if the Dodgers pass their final exam this last week of the season, do I get to see one of my key indicators of ‘summer’ once again.

The season is long, but in regards to Dodger Stadium I always desire more. There’s just no way that the Dodgers should play just 81 regular season games there. That’s a place where the team should play year-round right? A place filled with so much magic, happiness, and tradition should be open and going every day of life; if life was perfect.

Hyun-Jin Ryu continued to play the part of dominant pitcher no one could solve (and hitter, for that matter). The platoon lineup left it’s detractors silent for yet another day. And the Colorado Rockies continued to win – with such a certainty that – one didn’t even need to look at the out of town scoreboard to know that we would enter this final week just 1.5 games up in the standings.

It was always meant to play out this way. Nevertheless, it will play out exactly this way. A week from now we will know our fate, and we will have our answer and destination. I’m not ready to say goodbye yet, but the Dodgers determine that. I will never forget the summer of 2018 at Dodger Stadium as long as I live. The Dodgers told a story there in their own words, never to be forgot.