Editorials

Remembering The Best Dodgers Moments From The 2017 Season

One of my all-time favorite actors is Jim Carrey. Last year when I ventured out to LA to say goodbye to Vin, the only thing I wanted to do while I was there, besides bask in the glory of Dodger Stadium, was find his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and put my hands in his hand prints, where he had written the following truth:

Merrily merrily merrily merrily, life is but a dream



Most people associate Jim Carrey with comedy, at which he is no doubt brilliant, but I have been in awe of his dramatic acting skills since I was recovering from a broken heart in my late 20’s and saw him perform in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. In the brilliantly told and performed film, Carrey and Kate Winslet play a couple so scarred by the end of their relationship that they each choose to have all memories of the other erased from their conscious minds, something any of us who has endured this unbearable pain has likely considered.

The twist, of course, is that since memories are forever linked and intertwined in our subconscious, to remove all painful memories of one person would forever deprive us of all of the other happy memories their presence in our lives brought us, along with any and all memories of any person we’ve met or place we’ve been because of them. Sure it’s a heady concept, but I couldn’t take my eyes off of any part of the movie, and I remember becoming quite emotional at the thought of having to give up a huge chunk of my life just so that I could forget the man who had broken my heart.

At one point during the long healing process after that breakup, if I had had all memories erased that would have helped me forget the guy I was trying to forget, I would have been left with very few friends, no job, and very little happiness, which is the situation Carrey’s character finds himself facing. To keep all of our memories intact means remembering the good with the bad, and appreciating that each experience defines who we are.

Life goes on; like any heartbreak, I did eventually get over it and will happily be in attendance when this same former love is getting married later this month. It took some time, but you pack your experiences and take them with you and let them become a part of who you are.

I woke up last night thinking of this movie and it’s premise as I come to terms with the end of this Dodgers baseball season, and how I’ll be able to re-watch Games 5 or 7, though that day will come. To wipe any memory of the postseason losses from our minds and make them “spotless” would be to deprive ourselves of the countless hours and moments of pure joy this season brought us.

To wipe all memory of the World Series from your mind would mean that you would have any and all fantastic images of the rest of the glorious postseason from your memory, and you’d be depriving yourself of every minute of that thrill ride.

To forget the postseason would eliminate the memories and pure joy brought by the 104 wins that we witnessed, and those moments seem endless. You would forget the images, moments and thrills brought to us by possibly the best Dodgers team we will ever see.

In no particular order, here are just some of the season highlights that come to mind – and this is just the regular season!

Absolute Madness:

Kyle Farmer’s walk-off on Sunday Night Baseball vs Giants:

Logan Forsythe’s walk-off in the bottom of the 13th inning:

The arrival of Cody Bellinger:

Ross Stripling pinch running:

Chris Taylor’s grand slam vs Milwaukee:

Clayton Kershaw reaches 2,000 strikeouts:

Rich Hill’s 9 innings of no-hit ball vs Pittsburgh:

Clayton Kershaw leaping into Puig’s arms after his walk-off double:

Rich Hill’s RBI double against San Francisco:

Corey Seager’s go-ahead grand slam, after Hernandez’s very long at-bat during which Dieter Ruehle played Thriller:

Yasiel Puig’s three-run home run in Miami to go ahead in the 9th:

Brandon Morrow and Kenley Jansen. Pretty much every single thing they did out of that bullpen:

It’s a testament to this incredible season that this list could literally go on and on and on. Each person could have his or her own top 10 and none would be wrong. When your team wins 104 games in a season and comes within 9 innings of winning it all, the memories are endless.

Along with the incredible baseball on the field, we also cannot forget the many friends and connections we’ve each made with other Dodgers fans along our journey. I appreciate the memories so many of you have given me and look forward to many more.

Let’s not deprive ourselves the joy of remembering any of this, friends. It may hurt now, but someday soon, it will once again be time for Dodger baseball, with many more irreplaceable memories to be made.

I’ll be revisiting specific season highlights during the off-season as we also begin to look forward to 2018. What are some of yours?

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Gail Johnson

Biggest Dodgers fan north of the border, living about 3,500 miles from my beloved Boys In Blue, in Moncton, NB, Canada. I think Dodger Stadium is the happiest place on Earth. I'll catch up on my sleep in the off-season.

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